Jeremy Renner has vowed to be "strong enough" to reprise his role as Hawkeye in the MCU if or when the time comes, as he continues to heal from last year's near-fatal snowplow accident.
The actor has chronicled his recovery journey over the past year and officially returned to work in January, filming the third season of Mayor of Kingstown. Now he is back in front of the camera, Renner told Entertainment Tonight that he is "ready" to answer the call if Marvel Studios want him back as Hawkeye.
"I'm always game," Renner said about reprising his Avengers role as the bow-wielding superhero. "I'm gonna be strong enough, that's for sure. I'll be ready. All those guys come to my bedside, and they've been with me all along through this recovery, so... if they want me, they could have me. It would be something."
The Marvel star broke more than 30 bones in a snowplow accident near his home in Nevada on January 1, 2023. The actor was using a snowcat — a 14,330-pound, fully tracked vehicle designed to move on snow — to pull his nephew's truck out of the snow, but the snowcat suddenly started to slide sideways towards his nephew.
Renner then exited the vehicle to try and stop it but was pulled under by its track and run over, suffering blunt chest trauma and orthopaedic injuries. He has shared multiple updates about his recovery on social media, sharing some impressive progress on the 10-month anniversary of his horrific snowplow accident.
He gave a further update on his health and wellness during the same interview in which he addressed his MCU future, saying that he is feeling "strong" and striving to get better, even though he knows there is no quick fix to recovering from such a devastating accident and will have to take things day by day.
"[I'm doing] probably 90 percent of all the things I needed to be doing... I think another six months will be hopefully running [more]... I got to set goals for myself. I'll do whatever I can... whatever it takes to get better, to get stronger," Renner said. "The rest of my life is about health and wellness. Recovery will be part of the rest of my life, so I look forward to it, man. There's always something to do to get better, be stronger, be happier, be healthier, and that's what I look forward to."
Renner made his first appearance as Hawkeye in the MCU in 2011's Thor, and was one of the stars of the first Avengers film. In 2022, he starred in Disney+'s Hawkeye series alongside Hailee Steinfeld's Kate Bishop. Only time will tell if he will return to the franchise again, but for now, at least, fans have Phase 5 of the MCU to focus on.
Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on X @AdeleAnkers.
