Will Marvel REALLY Recast Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye? | Screen Rant
Marvel Studios and Disney are facing a new dilemma over what to do about Jeremy Renner in Hawkeye, but despite demands from fans, will Marvel really recast the actor? Over a year after James Gunn was initially fired, Marvel is steeped in controversy once again, this time due to accusations against Jeremy Renner which involve an alleged murder threat.
Jeremy Renner has played Earth's Mightiest Marksman in five Marvel movies, beginning with a cameo appearance in 2011's Thor. This was followed up by a role as one of the six superheroes in The Avengers. Renner has expressed his disappointment with the role, considering that Hawkeye was mind-controlled through most of the film. Hawkeye factored more prominently into the story of the sequel, Avengers: Age of Ultron, where it was revealed that Clint Barton had a secret family. Renner returned as Hawkeye again to fight on the side of Steve Rogers in Captain America: Civil War. Hawkeye famously skipped Avengers: Infinity War, and re-emerged as the swordsman "Ronin" in his most recent (and perhaps final) film appearance in Avengers: Endgame.
Of the six original Avengers, only Hawkeye isn't getting the solo movie treatment, so his on-screen presence in the MCU has been limited to supporting roles that only reveal tidbits about his backstory. Marvel Studios will soon have a chance to rectify this with Hawkeye, a TV series that will launch on the new streaming platform, Disney+. The series will see Jeremy Renner return to the role of Hawkeye, and for the first time ever, Renner's character will take center stage. However, recent developments surrounding Renner threaten Marvel's plans for the show.
In 2014, the Hawkeye actor married Canadian actress Sonni Pacheco and split after one year on account of "irreconcilable differences". Due to a custody battle with Pacheco over his six-year-old daughter, Ava, court documents have emerged which allege that Renner threatened to kill his ex-wife and himself. According to Pacheco, who wants full custody of the child with Renner only receiving monitored visitation, Renner stuck a gun in his mouth and fired it at the ceiling with the child in the room.
Furthermore, Pacheco claims that in November 2018, Renner was at a club, high on cocaine and alcohol, when he started talking about killing her. She says that Renner told someone at the club that he just wanted her "gone". Another threat to Pacheco's life allegedly came when the child's nanny overheard Renner say that he was going to kill both Pacheco and himself. Pacheco has described Renner's issues with substance abuse and states that he has been under the influence while with his child. If these allegations are true, it's a serious situation and a problem for Disney, since Jeremy Renner plays a key character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and is set to have a starring role in an upcoming TV series.
What Marvel will do about Jeremy Renner's role as Clint Barton isn't clear-cut, as there are multiple ways Marvel can handle the situation. Of course, the simplest and easiest solution is to keep Renner and hope the controversy fades away over time. But if Marvel wants to avoid further controversy, they can cut ties with Renner and recast Hawkeye with a different actor, which wouldn't be a first for the MCU. Mark Rufalo, Don Cheadle, and Zachary Levi weren't the first actors to play Bruce Banner, War Machine, and Fandral, respectively. These characters were originally played by, respectively, Edward Norton, Terrence Howard, and Josh Dallas. That being said, it would still be a major shift. Unlike Renner, the other actors who were recast had only played their characters once, but over the last eight years Renner has become closely associated with the Hawkeye role, so replacing him may not be that simple.
Alternatively, Marvel could adjust their plans for his character. A reduced role for Jeremy Renner could be a way to minimize his importance to the MCU and put significantly less focus on the actor. Or, Marvel could just write him out of the story. After all, Hawkeye is about Clint Barton meeting Kate Bishop and training her to taken on his mantle. Instead, the show could skip the training stage and have Kate Bishop serve as both the star and the only Hawkeye. This could happen, even though it would throw a wrench in their current plans. Hawkeye producer Trinh Tran has confirmed that Hawkeye will explore Clint Barton's backstory.
Rumors are swirling that Marvel is considering cutting or recasting Clint Barton for the show, but none of this is being corroborated by any official sources. Some Marvel fans are calling for Hawkeye to be recast and Jeremy Renner dropped from the show (and the MCU). But is this really the right way for Marvel to deal with the problem? Firing Jeremy Renner just might be premature at this stage.
Renner has strongly denied the allegations [via TMZ]. In court papers, Renner says Pacheco suffers from psychological problems. Renner has accused her of lying and being unstable, and he referred to her statements about his murder threats as "absolute nonsense". Renner says that he took drugs tests to disprove Pacheco's claims about his substance abuse and that the results all came back negative. The court papers describe a situation where Pacheco hit him with several false accusations of physical and sexual abuse against Ava after Renner refused to try to repair their marriage. Renner has pointed out that Child Protective Services has investigated and cleared him of any wrongdoing.
So far, this a "he said, she said" debacle with no real evidence that Renner has done anything wrong (at least none that have been made public). With these things in mind, it seems entirely premature for Marvel to make any definitive decision regarding Renner. If Pacheco's claims are backed up by further evidence as the story develops, then recasting the character may become necessary. Until then, it's too early to demand that Marvel fire Jeremy Renner, especially not before more facts are known.