'Avengers: Age Of Ultron' Spoilers From Jeremy Renner Reveal Hints About Hawkeye's Future

Just before the release of the newest “Avengers: Age of Ultron” trailer, Jeremy Renner teased some details about what we can expect from everyone’s favorite sharpshooting hero, Hawkeye. For one thing, we will be seeing more of the character on the big screen. For another thing, the actor revealed he could be open to playing the role on the little screen, as well.

While the “Avengers” film sequel coming in May promises to introduce four new characters to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), many fans are excited about really getting to know more about Hawkeye. Thanks to the critically acclaimed Marvel comic-book series by Matt Fraction, the character was already a fan favorite, but Renner’s movie version has become pretty popular, too. The actor has even managed to capture attention despite his character’s incredibly limited space in the MCU to date.

The character first appeared in “Thor” in 2011. He played a bigger role in “The Avengers” the following year, but Hawkeye spent most of the film under mind control, making it difficult for Renner or writer/director Joss Whedon to explore him. After being one of the only characters to not appear in any of Marvel’s Phase 2 movies, Hawkeye is looking to make a big splash in “Avengers: Age of Ultron.”

“Part of the fun for me, definitely this time around, is writing Hawkeye,” Whedon told the crowd at Comic-Con in 2013, as reported by ScreenRant. “He did get possessed pretty early by a bad guy and had to walk around all scowly for most of the movie, so now it’s nice to actually have the character there and see him interact with the other guys.”

In a recent interview with Marvel.com, “The Bourne Legacy” star talked about how fans will catch up with the character after three years. Many of them were scratching their heads when Hawkeye was unceremoniously absent in “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” last year, despite the fall of SHIELD having a major impact on his character.

“You’ll know in this movie where he’s been,” Renner said with a laugh. “It’s a really wonderful reveal. It’s pretty awesome.”

Although the explanation sounds exciting, Renner’s absence in “The Winter Soldier” was not cause by a lack of trying. According to ScreenRant, Anthony Russo and Joe Russo, the brothers who directed the film, planned a sequence in which Captain America and Hawkeye met up. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen due to scheduling conflicts.

In the lengthy interview with Marvel, the actor said audiences will not only see more of Hawkeye’s personality but also his physicality. The character is known for his sharpshooting abilities, as well as his high-tech arrowheads. While there will be more of those in the movie, the actor is mostly excited to continue to explore this character, whether it’s in “Avengers: Age of Ultron” or in some other Marvel project.

“There are always opportunities in the Marvel universe to jump into a lot of different scenarios. I do not know the future, but I’m happy to be doing it now.” Renner said. “There has to be a good rhyme or reason for it. I like the character enough, and anything to explore him more is something I’m always open to.”

While Renner has said in the past he expects to be a part of the planned film “Captain America: Civil War,” he could also be hinting that he would be open to a guest role on one of Marvel’s television properties. The character has been directly referenced in ABC’s “Agents of SHIELD” and shared the screen with the show’s star, Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg). In addition, Marvel is rolling out five superhero miniseries on Netflix in the coming year. Maybe Renner’s comments mean he’s open to bringing the lower-level hero off the big screen and onto the little screen?