Jeremy Renner is looking to avenge his salary at Marvel.
The actor, who starred as Clint Barton in the “Avengers” films for the studio, claimed in an interview with High Performance that he was offered about “half” of his paycheck to return for Disney+ series “Hawkeye” Season 2. The show debuted in late 2021 and co-starred “Sinners” actress Hailee Steinfeld and “Thunderbolts” star Florence Pugh. In short, Renner didn’t see eye to eye on the “Hawkeye” pay cut.
Renner even went as far as to say that after his near-fatal 2023 snowmobile accident, perhaps Marvel thought he was half of the actor he was prior to his injuries — which included eight ribs broken, a broken right knee and ankle, a broken left leg, and a broken shoulder.
“I’m like, ‘I’m sorry? Why? Did you think I’m only half the Jeremy because I got ran over?” Renner said. “Maybe that’s why you want to pay me half of what I made on the first season.’”
Renner continued, “They asked me to do Season 2, and they offered me half the money. I’m like, ‘Well, it’s going to take me twice the amount of work for half the amount of money, and eight months of my time, essentially, to do it for half the amount.’ This is not Marvel, mind you. This is like, just Disney, not even really Disney. It’s just the penny pinchers, the accountants. I told them to go fly a kite. I mean, just at the insult offer. So we didn’t see eye to eye on it.”
To note, though, Steinfeld’s character was a co-lead with Renner: It’s unclear if she would have been the main role in a second season, with Renner as supporting, and if there were discussions of a second season, when that would have occurred.
IndieWire has reached out to Marvel for comment.
Yet Renner would still love to be back as Hawkeye, either in the eponymous series or another franchise installment.
“Sadly, I still love the character. I’d still love to do it, but I had to defend myself,” he said of holding out from Season 2. “I didn’t ask for any more money, mind you. Just pay me what I made the first season. So it’s all disheartening that that didn’t happen, but that’s fine. I’m happy to let that go, because my body’s probably thanking me, time and time again, that I’m not doing it right now. But we’ll see.”
Carrie Coon also recently said that she turned down a MCU return over a salary dispute. Coon was asked to reprise her voiceover and motion capture role of Proxima Midnight for “Avengers: Endgame,” however, Marvel was not going to increase Coon’s salary even after the success of 2018’s “Avengers: Infinity War.”
Check out the clip below via TikTok.
