Although Empire hasn’t posted the article online, The Playlist has transcribed quotes from an interview the magazine did with Hurt Locker actor Jeremy Renner, where he says that he’s been talking to Marvel about taking the role of Hawkeye in several upcoming movies.
Rather than giving the comic book archer his own film, it sounds like the plan is to have the character appear in small roles in a couple of upcoming Marvel movies, including Thor, while giving him a bigger presence in The Avengers, when all the superheroes come together.
Renner says, “Hawkeye could be interesting. They’re going to send me some stuff on it, see what it is. But I think they’re pretty awesome, trying to make superhero movies almost plausible and not just some fantasy thing.”
It’s certainly feasible, as Marvel already have Sam Jackson under contract for numerous small appearances as Nick Fury in the run up to The Avengers, who will gradually work on bringing the likes of Iron Man, Thor and Captain America together for the superhero team film. Also signed for multiple films is Scarlet Johansson, as the villainous Black Widow. She’ll first appear in Iron Man 2, but will also pop up in other Marvel movies.
The more we hear, the more we love Marvel’s plans to make a massive interconnected superhero universe on screen. It’s certainly going to be fascinating to see what they come up with, and whether the whole thing works as well as we reckon it ought to. Adding Hawkeye to the mix certainly seems to be a good idea, as while not particularly well known, if they keep the original storyline of the character, he falls in love with Black Widow but later wants to go straight and applies to join The Avengers, which could make an interesting development if he goes from villain in Thor to good-guy in The Avengers.