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Marvel Studios wanted a second season of Disney+ hit Hawkeye, but didn't want to pay for it, says star Jeremy Renner

The MCU star says that Marvel offered him "half" his season 1 salary to return for a second outing of the Disney+ Hawkeye show

2021’s Hawkeye miniseries on Disney+ left fans eager for more adventures of Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton and Hailee Steinfeld's Kate Bishop — but what fans didn’t know is that Marvel tried to make a second season of the series, but ran into a pretty major roadblock: Jeremy Renner wouldn’t agree to sign on for less money.

"They asked me to do Season 2, and they offered me half the money,” Renner told High Performance. “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.’ I’m like, ‘Sorry.’”

His reference to “twice the amount of work” isn’t necessarily a suggestion that the season would have been longer, or featured Renner in a heavier role. He was already the main character of the series, after all. Instead, it’s a reference to the fact that Renner was in recovery from the snowmobile accident that almost killed him (and, in Renner’s eyes, actually did).

The actor continued, “Why did you think I’m only half the Jeremy [I was], because I got run over? Maybe that’s why you want to pay me half of what I made on the first season.”

Renner did add that he didn’t blame Marvel Studios for the offer, per se. “'This is like, just Disney,'” he said, '[and] not even really Disney. It’s just the penny pinchers, the accountants. I told them to go fly a kite.'”

That doesn’t mean Renner would never return to the MCU if circumstances allowed, or even make a second Hawkeye season. “Sadly, I still love the character,” he said. “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 the first season.”

Marvel, the ball’s apparently in your court. Hawkeye is available to stream on Disney+.


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Graeme McMillan

Graeme McMillan: Popverse Editor Graeme McMillan (he/him) has been writing about comics, culture, and comics culture on the internet for close to two decades at this point, which is terrifying to admit. He completely understands if you have problems understanding his accent.

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