Jeremy Renner made a big splash by joining the ensemble of the Mission: Impossible series, so why hasn’t he shown up since Rogue Nation? Over the course of 24 years (and counting), the Mission: Impossible franchise has evolved into one of the most enduring and surprising ongoing major movie series. Each new Mission: Impossible movie brought on board a new director to bring their own flair to the project but the focus was always on Tom Cruise's Ethan Hunt and the astounding stunts the actor pulled off himself. As the movies have passed, the formula has been set in stone for Mission: Impossible: Lavish set-pieces, a complex but ultimately easy-to-ignore plot, sprinkles of backstory for Hunt, and an ensemble of familiar faces acting as Hunt’s team.
Ving Rhames is the only actor aside from Cruise to have appeared in all six Mission: Impossible movies. Simon Pegg has appeared in four, while Rebecca Ferguson, one of the newer additions, is in two, and is signed up to appear in parts seven and eight. With Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol - the movie that kicked off the current age of the franchise - the team had another new addition in the form of William Brandt, as played by Jeremy Renner. The character appeared in two movies then disappeared without a trace.
When Renner signed onto the series, he was primarily known as a character actor with two Oscar nominations to his name and a bright future ahead of him as Hawkeye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. At the time, The Avengers was still a year away and the notion of Renner signing onto not one but two massive franchises seemed like a smart move for an actor of increasing popularity and growing commercial clout. But it seems his commitment to one got in the way of the other. Director Christopher McQuarrie, who has helmed more Mission: Impossible films than any other filmmaker, explained to Empire Magazine that the issue was one of run-of-the-mill scheduling conflicts:
“Jeremy had his commitment to Avengers, which ironically they ended up not exercising, and we didn’t know what the [sixth Mission: Impossible] movie was, so we couldn’t provide a schedule. We needed absolute freedom. The unfortunate thing for Jeremy is that he got caught in this perfect storm of, one can’t use you and one doesn’t know how to, given the massive complications they had with Avengers.”
It's hardly surprising to discover that being part of one movie franchise is a major time commitment, let alone two, and the Avengers movies are months-long productions shrouded in secrecy that one can’t merely step away from for a few days or weeks at a time - not to mention the havoc of possible reshoot scheduling, as Henry Cavill found out when he and his mustache encountered various complications during the reshoots for Justice League while he was tied to Mission: Impossible – Fallout. Furthermore, McQuarrie also discussed a plan he had to bring Renner’s character back in Fallout and kill him off to provide Renner with closure:
“I had this whole idea that the movie would start with the death of a team member [...] So I said to Renner, ‘Hey listen, I have this idea for an opening sequence where you sacrifice yourself to save the team, and that the mission-gone-wrong not only involves losing the plutonium, but involves the death of a team member.’ And Jeremy was like, ‘Thanks, but no thanks’ […] He was smart not to take the short paycheck for three days of work and getting blown up."
Since Renner’s character is still alive, the door is always open for him to return and anything is possible in the Mission: Impossible franchise. As always, it’s a question of scheduling, especially since Hawkeye is still part of the MCU and now has his own Disney+ show in development. Still, stranger things have happened in the world of Ethan Hunt and company than the unexplained disappearance and return of one character.