Remember a couple of years back when 2012’s “The Avengers” was a huge gamble for Marvel Studios? Director Joss Whedon had an incredibly difficult task of introducing new characters while servicing all the other huge superheroes in the film.
Although the end result was a juggernaut success worldwide, many thought that Hawkeye, played by Jeremy Renner, was one of the show’s weaker spots. As it turns out, the actor himself agrees. So much so that he wanted his “Avengers” character killed off in the first movie.
During an interview at the recent London Film and Comic-Con event, Renner got brutally honest about how he would fake heart attacks at the end of every scene in “The Avengers” just in case the producers wanted to kill Hawkeye off. He wasn’t pleased that there was no personal arc for his character and felt that it was better to burn out than to fade away.
“I never really told anybody this, but in the 1st ‘Avengers’… I was just getting to know who Hawkeye was, and then zap, I go round like a zombie, I’m like Loki’s minion. And I’m still not even sure who Hawkeye was at that point. So I’m a little frustrated, because I was so excited to figure out who Hawkeye was,” Renner told the audience.
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The 45-year-old actor then added: “I just had a heart attack in every scene – I’d just be walking with … Scarlett Johansson, and just be like, ‘Ugh.’ And they said, ‘What are you doing man?’ ‘I’m giving you an option, if you just want to kick me out of this movie. Just you know, at any given moment, if you wanna kill me off, daddy’s gonna be having a heart attack.'”
Looking back, Renner is glad that Hawkeye did not die and the hero’s family was even introduced in “Avengers: Age of Ultron”, making him more relatable to the movie audience. “I don’t really want him to die now. I really got to explore him a lot, and I can’t wait to explore him more, and there’s some really cool ideas coming up,” the movie star shared.
We don’t know what’s next for the sharpshooter, but Renner is expected to reprise his role as Hawkeye in “Avengers: Infinity War”.
Sources: Collider, Cinema Blend.
