Jeremy Renner Says He Definitely Won't Be Playing Hawkeye

A few weeks ago rumors broke over the Internet that Jeremy Renner, star of “The Hurt Locker,” would be playing the superhero Hawkeye in the upcoming “Thor” and “Avengers” movies.

Nothing was concrete, but it seemed like a realistic proposition at the time. As it turns out, the idea never really got off the ground, and in an interview with Movieline, Renner gave an update on the situation and explains what happened with Marvel.

According to Movieline, Renner said: "That was just one of those things that got blown way out of proportion. It was an idea. Those Marvel guys, I'm a big fan of them. They're so smart about how they want to do these things--they have "Captain America" and "Thor" coming around, "Iron Man 2," and then I happen to know Zak Penn, who's writing 'The Avengers.'”

Renner added: “So, they thought Hawkeye is an interesting role, and asked me if I knew anything about him. I said no, so they gave me their sort of spiel on what he was, and I thought that it was kind of interesting. The only reason it came out this early, because 'Avengers' is two years away, is that they're thinking OK, we may throw him in 'Thor,' we may not, as a cameo. You know what I mean? So, there's truth that we talked about it, but there's no truth to me doing it."

To be honest, I’m actually kind of disappointed that this isn’t going down. The cameos have played well so far in the Marvel films, especially in “Iron Man.” On top of that, after seeing how fantastic Renner was in “The Hurt Locker,” he would have brought an interesting angle to the superhero role. It’s not clear whether the character of Hawkeye will actually appear or not in either film, but clearly Renner won’t be playing that part.

Look out for “Thor” May 20, 2011.