Hawkeye‘s future in the MCU looks uncertain following comments made by Jeremy Renner, but he could still be perfect for one movie role in particular. Jeremy Renner has portrayed Hawkeye since 2011’s Thor, founding the Avengers in their self-titled first cinematic outing alongside such heroes as Thor and Hulk. Despite the obvious gulf in their power, Hawkeye’s MCU timeline has seen him maintain a central role in most Avengers movies, proving that he brings far more to the table than expert marksmanship and trick arrows.

Since helping bring down Thanos in Avengers: Endgame after shirking his Ronin mantle, Hawkeye attempted to take a step back from his heroics. Nevertheless, Hawkeye sees him reluctantly pick up his bow as Kate Bishop unwittingly embroils him in street-level shenanigans with Kingpin and the Tracksuit Mafia. The series ended with Hawkeye passing the torch to MCU’s Kate Bishop, but also proved that he would pick up his bow if the situation demanded it. While some aspects of this setup have become more complicated in recent history, the premise still works to lay out a specific future for the hero.

Jeremy Renner’s Acting Comments Change What Hawkeye’s Future Looks Like

In January 2023, Jeremy Renner was involved in an accident with a snow plow and suffered blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries. After a year of recovery, he returned to acting in January 2024 for the show Mayor of Kingstown, but recently shared on the Smartless podcast that he was “terrified” about returning to the role (via Variety). The full quote can be read below:

“Because I’m to do, like, f****** fiction? I’m still trying to live in reality, I’m trying to live. So it was a hard line for me to cross. It was a big stretch. It was very, very challenging for me mentally to get over that hump…I still struggle with it sometimes to, like, I don’t take it super seriously. I’m in a character that I can do very well and I know the show very well, so it was easy for me to kind of slide back into it. But if it was a very challenging role, I couldn’t have taken it. Not challenging in the sense that — because the show’s challenging, but it’s if I had to go play Dahmer or something, something so far from me.”

Renner did not share his thoughts on returning to the role of Hawkeye. On the one hand, after having played the role 7 times in the MCU, Hawkeye fits the same description of “a character that [he] can do very well,” and one that he will be exceptionally familiar with. On the other hand, the role is physically demanding and far from easy to embody most of the time, let alone in the wake of a serious injury. This may suggest that Renner isn’t ready to reprise his Hawkeye role – but there’s one way he could still return.

Renner’s Acting Comments Make Hawkeye More Perfect For Young Avengers

As he demonstrated in Hawkeye, Clint Barton is now in the perfect position to take on the role of mentor. Hawkeye shows the eponymous hero dealing with the long-term effects of his adventures (specifically, damaged hearing), which encourages him to take a backseat before Bishop emerges. Now that Kate Bishop has proved herself to be an incredibly worthy successor and a suitable replacement for his role in a superhero lineup, it makes sense for Clint to take up more of a mentor or advisor role, especially as she’s been characterized as a more impulsive character likely in need of guidance.

This lines up perfectly with the oncoming Young Avengers initiative. The Marvels’ post-credits scene showed that Kate Bishop was the first to be recruited by who appeared to be the Young Avengers founder, Kamala Khan, suggesting that she will play a central role in their formation. Her close relationship with Clint Barton already links the seasoned Avenger to the team, making his progression into their mentor far easier. While Hawkeye isn’t of an age to fit the “wise old mentor” trope, his decades of experience extending to the very start of the Avengers brings many benefits.

Making Hawkeye A Young Avengers Mentor Would Justify The MCU Team Name

One of the most convincing justifications for having Hawkeye mentor the Young Avengers is the name itself. By bringing him into the fold at its foundation, the team can justify its name without it feeling derivative as an original Avenger is quite literally on their team, in a manner of speaking. It also helps to strengthen the link between the two teams by having a founding Avenger establish a team of younger superheroes that, for the most part, imitate the originals.

When the MCU intends to debut the Young Avengers remains unclear. It has now been 5 years since any version of the Avengers assembled on the big screen, and 2026’s Avengers: The Kang Dynasty is ostensibly their next outing. While it appears Sam Wilson’s Captain America may be the hero to assemble the adult team, it seems unlikely that a retired Hawkeye will be in the lineup. Instead, it might fall to Hawkeye to help assemble this younger team, and provide Jeremy Renner with an opportunity to play the character a little differently.