A decade ago, there was a clear plan in place for Jeremy Renner to become Hollywood’s next major action hero, but for whatever reason it never happened.
When he first boarded the cast of Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, there were whisperings that he was being lined up to assume the mantle of leading man from Tom Cruise, but his presence in the franchise these days is virtually non-existent.
Spy spinoff The Bourne Legacy was also designed to launch a Renner-centric series, but lukewarm reviews and underwhelming box office put paid to that notion, too. Luckily, the actor always has the Marvel Cinematic Universe to fall back on, with his role as the decidedly mortal Hawkeye meaning he can’t rely on CGI to carry the burden in terms of stunt work.
Speaking to CinemaBlend, the veteran superhero compared the rigorous set pieces to a theme park ride when discussing the first episode of his Disney Plus show’s car chase, that was designed to look like a single unbroken take.
“Yeah, that’s not a typical way to shoot a car chase sequence, as a oner. You know, as a one-shot, where the camera’s… Everybody else is doing the work, and the camera’s just kind of sitting there. So it was an interesting ride, like Disney ride-like feeling shooting it. And you’ve got someone driving our car, but… I don’t know it’s weird to have us be so free and still do the scene and act in it and be in it while still watching what the audience is watching, for the most part.”
Renner revealed somewhat ironically that he wasn’t sure about committing to a multi-picture Marvel deal because he didn’t want to be suiting up in tights when he was 50, but having reached the milestone in January of this year with Hawkeye now airing on Disney Plus, his decision has been well and truly vindicated.