Jeremy Renner may be known to millions as one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s leading Avengers, Clint Barton aka Hawkeye, but like several other MCU stars, the 51-year-old actor has enjoyed a distinguished career dating all the way back to the mid ’90s.
Distinguished may not be how some think of Renner’s first project out of the gate, National Lampoon’s Senior Trip in 1995, which has an eye-watering Rotten Tomatoes score of zero percent (yes, zero). But first impressions don’t always offer the full picture, as we know. Renner has gone on to star in huge Oscar-worthy films like The Hurt Locker and American Hustle as well as the box-office shattering MCU movies like Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War.
His works have varied in scale, tone, and genre, but throughout it all, he’s maintained top-notch performances. That being said, this is not a ranking of Renner’s best performances, as he’s had many that were not necessarily aligned with the quality of the film. Instead, this is a ranking of which movies and TV shows we think shined brighter than the rest.
10. Mayor of Kingston (2021)
Every once in a while a TV or movie comes around that completely tanks in the eyes of critics but soars in the hearts of viewers. That is the case for Paramount Plus’ Mayor of Kingston. Although the series has a dismal 32 percent critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, the fans awarded it an eyebrow-raising 89 percent, suggesting all those interested ignore the critics, throw caution to the wind, and just watch it.
Created by Yellowstone mastermind, Taylor Sheridan, Mayor of Kingston follows Renner’s character, Mike McLusky, the mayor of Kingston, Michigan ,“where the business of incarceration is the only thriving industry,” according to the show’s description. The description continues, “Tackling themes of systemic racism, corruption, and inequality, the series provides a stark look at their attempt to bring order and justice to a town that has neither.”
9. The Immigrant (2013)
Amidst an all-star cast, Renner plays the character Emil, an illusionist who goes by the stage name Orlando. After falling in love with Polish immigrant Ewa (Marion Cotillard), he is overcome with emotion, so much so that he finds himself in a life-or-death situation that puts both his future with Ewa in jeopardy, as well as hers, for she wishes to be reunited with her sister at Ellis Island.
The movie did not land an Oscar nomination but it did win an 85 percent freshness score on Rotten Tomatoes with critics praising his performance.
8. Hawkeye (2021)
After helping the Avengers save the world from Thanos, Renner’s Clint Barton is finally looking to spend some quality time with his family. But when Kate Bishop shows up on his metaphorical doorstep, they are forced to work together to confront the ghosts of Barton’s past, and in the process uncover a pandora’s box of calamity.
7. Arrival (2016)
The sci-fi/thriller genre can sometimes be a hit or a miss, but it was a full-on bullseye when it came to Arrival. The Paramount Pictures film tells the story of one linguistics professor played by Amy Adams who helps the human race communicate with a group of extraterrestrial alien spaceships that touch down on Earth. Renner plays Ian Donnelly, a physicist recruited by Adam’s character to help decipher the alien language.
The movie has an impressive 95 percent freshness score on Rotten Tomatoes, and a laundry list of compliments from critics who couldn’t get enough of the “genuinely affecting emotion” weaved throughout.
6. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011) and Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (2015)
As the fourth movie in the franchise, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol became the highest-grossing Mission Impossible movie until Mission Impossible: Fallout in 2018. The film earned a whopping $694 million at the global box office and a certified fresh Rotten Tomato score of 93 percent. Its sequel, Rogue Nation, scored even higher, with an audience score 11 percent higher than its predecessor. Jeremy Renner starred as William Brandt in both films. Before that, he was actually supposed to take over for Tom Cruise. As we all know, that didn’t happen, and his role as Brandt was much better suited for the franchise.
5. American Hustle (2013)
This wild and eclectic film saw Renner starring as the mayor of Camden, New Jersey, Carmine Polito, a character based on the real-life politician Angelo Errichetti, who was at the center of the infamous FBI Abscam operation from the 1980s on which the movie is based.
Featuring a star-studded cast including Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Amy Adams, Robert De Niro, Louis C.K., and Michael Peña, among many others, the movie follows two con artists, Bale and Adams, as they worked to bring down Carmine Polito (Renner) and his corrupt empire. The movie received a total of 10 Academy Award nominations.
4. The Town (2010)
This Academy-Award crime thriller scored Renner his second Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Written and directed by Ben Affleck, the movie follows a group of tight-knit bank robbers, Affleck and Renner included, who, in their effort to plan their most ambitious robbery to date, are tossed a wrench when one when them falls in love with a former hostage.
3. Wind River (2017)
Written and directed by Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan, Wind River is an emotional thriller that follows the murder of an 18-year-old woman on Wyoming’s Wind River Indian Reservation. Cory Lambert (Jeremy Renner), a veteran wildlife hunter, teams up with FBI Special Agent Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen) to solve the murder that winds up becoming rife with unexpected developments.
The movie saw an unfortunately small amount of love due to its involvement with disgraced and convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein, whose credit as a producer on the film was all but wiped from existence. As a result, the movie was not let within an inch of the Academy Awards and never received the credit it was due.
2. The Hurt Locker (2009)
Renner truly made a name for himself with the 2009 Academy Award-winning film The Hurt Locker. Starring as Staff Sergeant William James, Renner plays the leader of a U.S. Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team, where he must go toe-to-toe with life and death situations as well as the squad with whom he shares opposing methods of execution, as they work to disable and defeat explosives in the Iraq War. The film proves just how fragile life really is, and how, like the bombs he works with, Sergeant William James must handle it with care. Renner was nominated for Best Actor for the role but eventually lost to Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart. Still winning Best Picture, The Hurt Locker won a total of six Academy Awards.
1. Avengers: Endgame (2019)
It’s safe to say Renner never imagined taking on the character of comic book superhero Hawkeye would lead to him starring in one of Hollywood’s biggest films of all time, but alas, it did, and here he is, going down in history as the actor who brought the live-action version of Clint Barton aka Hawkeye to life. While several movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have devoted fans associated with them, Endgame is that rare gem that happened to make a fan out of everyone, leading to nearly $2.8 billion at the box office and a legacy that will outlive the actors who starred in it, Renner included.
