It sounds like we might get a second season of Hawkeye after all.
During a recent interview with High Performance, star Jeremy Renner revealed that he declined the Disney's offer to reprise the lead role of Clint Barton when he was only offered half of his season 1 salary.
“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.”
Renner believed that his near-fatal 2023 snowplough accident contributed to the lower offer.
“I’m like, ‘I’m sorry? Why? Did you think I’m only half the Jeremy because I got ran over? Maybe that’s why you want to pay me half of what I made on the first season.'”
“This is not Marvel, mind you," he clarified. "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,” Renner continued, adding that he’s not ruling out a return to “Hawkeye” in the future. “Sadly, I still love the character. I’d still love to do it, but I I had to defend myself. I didn’t ask for any more money, mind you. Just pay me what I made 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.”
It seems Renner and the studio have come to an understanding since, as the actor now sounds a lot more confident that a second season of Hawkeye will happen at some point.
“We got to where we’re trying to do the second season,” Renner tells The Playlist. “And I think I’ll get strong enough to be able to do it. And we’ll work it out. It’s gonna be great.”
“I really enjoyed doing the series version,” he added. “Because it was a bit more intimate and had the family dynamic, which is always a huge part of him. I think Clint’s superpower is the human side — he’s a superpowerless superhero. He’s one of the few, but I think his superpower is that sort of grit of the human condition and his loyalty and family. It’s like, otherwise, what are you fighting for? We’re fighting for that love and that loyalty of family. And so exploring that was always great. And then there’s the Christmas theme — being in New York, that was great too.”
Though he hasn't been confirmed to return, it seems highly likely that Renner will appear as Barton in either Avengers: Doomsday or Secret Wars. Hailee Steinfeld is also expected to reprise her role as Kate Bishop, so if a second season of Hawkeye does happen, it'll be interesting to see if there's a significant shift in the mentor/mentee dynamic that worked so well in season 1.