Florence Pugh praises Jeremy Renner’s ‘Hawkeye’ performance

Given the volume of headlines being generated by almost every aspect of the show, Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton hasn’t been one of Hawkeye‘s major talking points all that often, despite the fact he’s the star of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Disney Plus series.

While that partially doesn’t come as a surprise when you consider the fanfare that’s greeted the debuts of Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop and Alaqua Cox’s Maya Lopez, the return of Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova and the reintroduction of Vincent D’Onofrio’s Kingpin, Renner had quietly been doing some of his best work in years.

Flitting between wholesome dad energy and world-weary resignation that he’s been drawn back into the crimefighting business again, it’s another accomplished turn from the two-time Academy Award nominee. Co-star Pugh has certainly noticed, paying tribute to Clint’s emotional heart-to-heart at the Avengers memorial in this week’s episode.

It’s not an easy job Renner has in Hawkeye, acting as the anchor that grounds the story as wild and crazy shenanigans continue to unfold all around him, but he’s nailed it so far. Not a lot of MCU fans would call the expert archer their favorite member of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, but he’s been winning a whole new legion of fans with each passing week.