Marvel star Jeremy Renner explains the frustrating reason why Hawkeye Season 2 never happened, and his comments will likely make fans angry at Disney. During an appearance on the podcast High Performance, the actor opened up about the conversations he had with the studio about the possibility of returning for another season of the TV show. Renner revealed he turned an offer down due to a disagreement over the pay. When Disney came to him, Renner was offered half the salary he earned for Hawkeye Season 1. Unimpressed, Renner opted to pass. He made sure to clarify Disney accountants, not Marvel Studios, were to blame for this.
“They asked me to do Season 2, and they offered me half the money,” Renner said. “I’m like, ‘Well, it’s going to take me twice the amount of work for half the amount of money, and eight months of my time, essentially, to do it for half the amount.”
Renner then referenced his gruesome snowplow accident when trying to discern Disney’s reasoning for lowballing him. “I’m like, ‘I’m sorry? Why? Did you think I’m only half the Jeremy because I got ran over? Maybe that’s why you want to pay me half of what I made on the first season,’” he said. “This is not Marvel, mind you. This is like, just Disney, not even really Disney. It’s just the penny pinchers, the accountants … Sadly, I still love the character. I’d still love to do it, but I I had to defend myself. I didn’t ask for any more money, mind you. Just pay me what I made made the first season. So it’s all disheartening that that didn’t happen, but that’s fine.”
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After appearing as Clint Barton/Hawkeye in five films during the Infinity Saga, Renner headlined the Disney+ series Hawkeye, which premiered in 2021. The show also introduced Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop, who Clint takes under his wing. Back in February of this year, Marvel executive Brad Winderbaum stated Marvel was looking at the possibility of making Hawkeye Season 2, feeling the setting and character dynamics lent themselves to a continuation.
Renner is hardly the only actor to have a pay dispute with Marvel. Carrie Coon didn’t return as Proxima Midnight for Avengers: Endgame due to salary issues. John Malkovich, who has a mystery role in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, turned down previous Marvel offers over pay. He felt the money wouldn’t be worth the amount of work required for the role. Additionally, Djimon Hounsou has discussed his struggles to consistently make a living despite having numerous high-profile credits to his name.
Even with the other recent headlines regarding actors’ pay, Renner’s revelation is quite surprising. He is one of the more prominent figures in the MCU, having been involved with the franchise since the Phase One days. It’s sad that the best Disney could do was offer him half the money for what would have been an extensive shoot. Even if Hawkeye Season 2 was going to focus more on Kate Bishop, pushing Clint to a more supporting role, there’s no real reason why Renner couldn’t have earned the same salary — and the actor is more than justified in his stance. Marvel productions are time-consuming affairs, which would limit other projects Renner could take on. If he was going to set aside other creative endeavors to jump back into the MCU, he understandably didn’t want to do it for less money.
Renner’s future as Hawkeye in the MCU remains up in the air. Though Clint is one of the few original Avengers still active in the Multiverse Saga, Renner was not one of the actors confirmed for Avengers: Doomsday. Marvel has announced there are future casting reveals still to come, but it’s unknown if Renner will be in the ensemble. The Hawkeye Season 2 situation might have soured him on the prospect of coming back, even if he maintains a good relationship with Marvel. But fans looking forward to seeing Hawkeye fight with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes shouldn’t completely give up hope just yet. Perhaps in the wake of these comments, Disney will look to make amends with the star and offer him a proper payday to suit up for Doomsday or Secret Wars.
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