Avengers: Infinity War was already teeming with a wide array of the MCU’s most recognizable faces. However, one presence that was definitely missed was Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton/Hawkeye. A scene in Infinity War revealed that Clint agreed in live under house arrest after violating the Sokovia Accords, thereby explaining his absence in the film. Renner himself discussed his character’s reprieve in a new interview with Variety.
“I could come up with a lot of things, but I think it ultimately had to do with the storytelling of it all,” said Renner. You leave it to the Russo brothers to make those decisions and [Kevin] Feige and all them. And I think it was the right thing to do. And I wanted a vacation. I had stuff to do, man. Take a break.”
Hawkeye’s ample screen time in Avengers: Endgame certainly makes up for the filmmakers’ decision to omit him from Infinity War. But like most of his co-stars, Renner was kept in the dark about his character’s fate until the film’s premiere.
“All you ever kind of know in these scenarios is that the storytelling is so big, so vast,” added Renner. “Like, it’s 21 films to get to this film. That’s giant storytelling. That’s a decade [of] storytelling. The only thing that I can do, which is different than other movies, is just stick to what I’ve got to do and what my point of it is. In other films, I think about the audience and the director’s perspective and really try to help the director tell their story and encompass that. But I can only do that by doing my part in this thing.”
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Renner also shared his continued shock over seeing his face plastered all over the MCU films’ promotional materials.
“You’re on a Cheerios box all of a sudden,” said Renner. “I remember when I was a kid growing up in the ’70s, a Wheaties box, if you got on that was like, ‘Wow, you’re like a big sports star or something.’ I’m on underwear, too. That’s weird.”
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