Jeremy Renner’s Marvel Cinematic Universe tenure didn’t get off to the most thrilling of starts, with the actor making his debut as Clint Barton via a cameo in Thor that was almost laughably shoehorned in, before his arc in The Avengers left everyone feeling a little underwhelmed, including the man himself.
It wasn’t until Joss Whedon’s sequel Age of Ultron that we got a better insight into the man behind the bow and arrow, with the reveal that Clint was actually a married father of two living off the land taking many fans by surprise, not to mention his fellow members of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
At a press event hosted by ComicBook for upcoming Disney Plus series Hawkeye, Kevin Feige explained how Age of Ultron set things in motion that are set to factor heavily into the plot of the upcoming streaming exclusive.
“All of these roles have been fairly small. And then Ultron, we got a little more. And then he just starts stealing all of these scenes. But it was always the intention to explore much more. The character’s history is vast. And also, the Matt Fraction comics, which I am sure people have been spending a lot of time talking about, was a big tonal inspiration for us. And seeing that and this new dynamic.
There are moments within all of Jeremy’s appearances where you see this mentor under the surface. This reluctant hero, this reluctant mentor under the surface. One of my favorite scenes in all of our films is the scene with Clint and Wanda in Sokovia. Where he basically says, ‘When you go out that door, you’re an Avenger.’ And motivates her to join the fight. And that was the kernel of how we could connect our MCU incarnation of Clint Barton into the Matt Fraction storyline in relationship with Kate Bishop.”
Renner has been biding his time for a decade waiting to take center stage in his own MCU project, and the early reactions to Hawkeye have indicated that he’s knocked his debut leading role out of the park with some flustered and wholesome dad energy, thanks Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop getting added into the mix as his protege.