Jeremy Renner Questioned if He Was an Extra While Filming ‘The Avengers’
Marvel’s blockbuster hit The Avengers included actor Jeremy Renner in the superhero team-up feature.
But there were times Renner had no idea what they were doing in the film.
Jeremy Renner once shared he was lost in ‘The Avengers’
Renner confided that The Avengers had a lot of moving parts. At the time, it was one of actor’s biggest movies, and saw him collaborating alongside several actors to bring the Marvel heroes to life. Renner commended filmmaker Joss Whedon’s ability in juggling all of those characters at once.
“It was the ultimate challenge for Joss Whedon, who knows that universe so well. There was no one better to write it,” he once told Collider (via Digital Spy).
Still, even with Whedon’s help, Renner was pretty confused most of the time when portraying the superhero Hawkeye.
“I don’t know how you put that many characters in a movie like that. It’s immense. But, with that, you pass the baton. You get to work with very few of them ’cause everybody’s got their own thing going on. Someone’s in the air, flying around. I’m on the ground, shooting a bow and arrow,” he said.
For all Renner knew, he wasn’t sure if he was even given a major role in the project.
“There are a lot of things happening. I have no idea what that movie looks like. Zero idea. Most of the time, I have a good idea of how it’s going to turn out because I’ve seen so much of it, but I have no idea. I feel like I might be an extra in it. I’m not sure,” he said.
Jeremy Renner joked that it was creepy teaming up with his co-stars in ‘The Avengers’
Marvel’s superhero team-up film was a highly anticipated event. But Renner initially wasn’t sure how his character could share the screen with other super-powered heroes. Especially considering that Renner’s own Hawkeye was powerless, and relied on gadgets and skills. But he learned Hawkeye was written in a way where he was formidable against the other Avengers.
“Well, yeah, initially I thought that it was going to be weird, but then I found out a lot more about… for me, for Hawkeye, I’m like, ‘What’s a bow and arrow going to do against the Hulk?’ Actually, I have specialized things that I can’t tell you anything really about, but I can put him down so it’s pretty cool,” Renner once told Collider. “Yeah, all we are is humans with high skill sets, and I think what makes all characters interesting is that they all have weaknesses. That’s what makes them human in that regard. What’s Tony Stark without his suit?”
Speaking with Assignment X, Renner also confided that seeing his co-stars together wearing their superhero outfits was the highlight of The Avengers. But he joked that also had a creepy vibe.
“That’s the most memorable and creepy. Getting to play with Thor’s hammer while he stroked my bow – here we go, that’s going to get me in trouble,” Renner quipped. “No, just getting all of the actors in one room, all in costume. It was like Halloween – they’re human, now they’re dressed up like silly people and it’s great to laugh at each other and that will always stick in my mind.”
Jeremy Renner was frustrated with how Hawkeye was written in ‘The Avengers’
Renner had a few gripes with how Hawkeye was portrayed in the first Avengers film. According to Radio Times, he expressed some displeasure with the direction Hawkeye was taken in.
“I never really told anybody this,” he said. “But in the first 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.”
