Renner plays down 'Hawkeye' link

Actor Jeremy Renner has set the record straight over rumours that he is taking on the role of Hawkeye in an upcoming Marvel movie.

Speculation started after The Hurt Locker star met with the studio and writer Zak Penn to talk about a planned film adaptation of The Avengers, in which the superhero archer is expected to appear.

But Renner told Movieline: "That was just one of those things that got blown way out of proportion. It was an idea.

"Those Marvel guys, I’m a big fan of them. They’re so smart about how they want to do these things - they have Captain America, and Thor coming around, Iron Man 2 and then I happen to know Zak Penn, who’s writing The Avengers.

"So they thought Hawkeye is an interesting role and asked me if I knew anything about him. I said no, so they gave me their sort of spiel on what he was, and I thought that it was kind of interesting.

"The only reason it came out this early, because Avengers is two years away, is that they’re thinking, OK, we may throw him in Thor, we may not, as a cameo. You know what I mean? So there’s truth that we talked about it, but there’s no truth to me doing it."