He first appeared on the big screen in
Thor and then signed on to have a larger role in
The Avengers but Hawkeye seems to be the forgotten hero in Marvel Studios' Phase 2.
Why is this? One of The Daily SuperHero's Hollywood sources might have that answer but we'll get to that in a moment.
It all started when actor Jeremy Renner may have dug himself into a hole, with Marvel, talking bad about his character's involvement in The Avengers.
"For 90 percent of the movie, I'm not the character I signed on to play," Renner said to Total Film. "It's kind of a vacancy. [He's] not even a bad guy, because there's not really a consciousness to him. To take away who that character is and just have him be this robot, essentially, and have him be this minion for evil that Loki uses ... I was limited, you know what I mean? I was a terminator in a way. Fun stunts. But is there any sort of emotional content or thought process? No."
In support of Renner's comments has a point since an evil Hawkeye is not want fans wanted to see but at the same time he really should've kept his mouth closed. This isn't the first time an actor has talked bad about Marvel's portrayal of their character on the big screen. Hugo Weaving did something similar, with his Red Skull villain, in
Captain America: The First Avenger and said he has no interest in reprising the role again. And he probably never will.
Looks like there is a trend where when an actor talks negatively about their Marvel role, after the movie is released, Marvel Studios moves on without that actor. Weaving will not be in future Marvel movies, despite the multi-film deal he signed with them. Now, per The Daily SuperHero's Hollywood source Renner is done as Hawkeye mainly due to his negative comments after
The Avengers.
No surprise since Hawkeye has not been mentioned once in Marvel's Phase 2 by studio president Kevin Feige or Phase 2 helmer Joss Whedon. Renner's best chance to reprise his character—pre-Avengers 2—would've been in the heavily S.H.I.E.L.D. featured
Captain America: The Winter Soldier. But with new S.H.I.E.L.D. additions Agent 13 and the Falcon being introduced, Hawkeye would have once again been more in the background and probably continuing to anger Renner.
Even though nothing official has been said about Hawkeye's involvement in
The Avengers 2, Whedon has said he will introduce a new brother/sister duo to the superhero ensemble team. More reasoning that Renner's days are over because the hero depth chart is filling up fast and there might not be any room for the archer.
The source hints that there's the tiniest chance Renner will reprise his role in
The Avengers Sequel but the source also said there is a greater chance Hawkeye will be recast (like War Machine and the Hulk have been recast before). Finally, the source said if Hawkeye is to be recast there is a solid chance he could be incorporated into the new television show
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as a primary character.
Of course without Marvel Studios confirming any of this, take all this information as you will. However, if Hawkeye does get recast and ends up in the S.H.I.E.L.D. TV show that would be a very, very cool thing. If DC can have a successful TV show starring their archer, the Green Arrow, Marvel may use that tactic too. But that's just speculation on our part.
Hawkeye has a large comic book following and is quite a popular character, so his fans would appreciate more Hawkeye whether it's on the big screen or TV screen.