‘Did you think I’m only half the Jeremy because I got ran over?’: Contract disputes with Disney spells the end of Hawkeye

Disney accountants have pulled off something even Thanos couldn’t: kill off Hawkeye.

Jeremy Renner stopped by High Performance for an interview, and the inevitable question came up — would he reprise his most iconic role as Clint Barton, better known as Hawkeye? Renner didn’t mince words. He called the entire situation “disheartening.” He asserted that a contract dispute with Disney’s “penny pinchers” means he’s letting the role go for the foreseeable future.

At this point, it’s no secret that, culturally speaking, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been going through a lack of fresh, engaging ideas. The recent five-hour stream of empty director chairs revealing the cast of Avengers: Doomsday is a prime example. Perhaps the franchise got too big, and the ideas too many and convoluted to fit into the public consciousness. And it’s not just fan cynicism either — the producers of the Marvel machine have been feeling the pinch as well. Marvel President Kevin Feige himself was quoted in TIME, saying it’s been hard lately for them to capture the zeitgeist because they release too much product.

So there’s a reasonable assumption to make: Hawkeye Season 1 didn’t earn as much as expected. And that caused them to offer Jeremy Renner half the pay for Season 2. Or maybe they planned to give him a more secondary role as he eventually passes the torch to a very capable Sinners star Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop. Regardless, Renner wasn’t having that. To the star, the offer felt insulting — especially coming so soon after his life-threatening snowmobile accident. Renner said:

“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.’”

Considering Marvel is synonymous with box office success, you’d assume their financial compensation with stars is exemplary. But you’d be mistaken.

As early as Iron Man 2, actors like Terrence Howard were pushed out of the franchise over salary disputes. John Malkovich, set to debut in Fantastic Four: The First Steps, shared that he turned down the franchise multiple times due to lowballed offers.

Carrie Coon, too, said the only reason she didn’t return for Avengers: Endgame was a lack of a salary increase. She even claimed people would be “surprised” by Marvel salaries. And if her performance in the last episode of The White Lotus is anything to go by — your loss, Marvel.

Luckily, however, it seems Feige is learning from past mistakes. In his acknowledgment that they may have flooded the market with too much product, he vowed to slow down and be more intentional going forward.

Unlike these other stars, Jeremy Renner is one of the founding faces of this franchise. Renner truly deserves to be treated as such. Because with every single complaint that reaches the fans, the goodwill Marvel has ridden on for nearly two decades chips a little bit more.

Marvel has yet to comment on the situation. The focus now is on Thunderbolts, which is getting glowing reviews from all the major publications. Perhaps Jeremy Renner leaving and Marvel injecting some new blood is best for everyone involved.