Joss Whedon talks 'The Avengers': Jeremy Renner confirmed as 'Hawkeye' (Exclusive)
Friday, July 23, 2010
Joss Whedon, director and screenwriter for The Avengers film, said at Comic-Con 2010 in San Diego he is putting together a "powerhouse cast" and confirmed Jeremy Renner would play the bow-and-arrow-carrying superhero Hawkeye.
"I'm writing and directing it," Whedon recently told OnTheRedCarpet.com at the pop culture convention. "There will be some avenging that takes place during the film and that's about all I can tell you. I think it's well-known that Jeremy Renner is joining us as Hawkeye, which is so exciting for me and the rest of the cast."
Renner was nominated for an Academy Award earlier this year for his performance as an elite soldier in The Hurt Locker. The 39-year-old actor has starred in lesser-known films and various television shows and has revamped and resells homes to pay the bills.
Whedon created cult shows such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly. Renner played a vampire named Penn on an episode of Angel, a Buffy spin-off starring David Boreanaz.
"I do think that I am putting together and extraordinary powerhouse cast and I'm just so excited to be in their presence and I hope they don't kill each other, because that'd be weird," Whedon said about The Avengers.
The film, which is based on the Marvel comic book series about superheroes, is set for release on May 4, 2012, according to preliminary cast lists. Robert Downey Jr. plans to reprise his role as Iron Man and told OnTheRedCarpet.com in May that Marvel Comics also plans to produce Iron Man 3.
According to cast lists, The Avengers also stars Samuel L. Jackson is listed as Nick Fury, Scarlett Johansson as The Black Widow, and Don Cheadle as War Machine, which they played in both Iron Man 2. Chris Hemsworth is set to play Thor and Chris Evans is Captain America.
Hemsworth is also set to play Thor in a spin-off film by the same name which is, set for release on May 6, 2011. Natalie Portman, who made headlines on Friday with striking newly-released photos from her new dark ballet film Black Swan, stars as Jane Foster. A Captain America movie starring Evans is set for release on 22 July 2011.
Earlier this month, Edward Norton confirmed reports he would not reprise his role as the Incredible Hulk in The Avengers.
Whedon said the story behind a film has to be compelling for people to care.
"Make it matter. Give your movie stars a reason to show up the same way you need to give the Avengers a reason to team up. Make it worth it."
When asked about what would happen in The Avengers, Whedon joked: "Killing Iron Man. I'm going to kill him. I kill people. He's wicked popular. You're going to cry, though. I just think it'll be funny. It's a pre-credit sequence. It's kind of wacky. I'm totally kidding. I'm killing Hawkeye.
Check out the video interview with Joss Whedon, carried out by reporter Chris Balish:
Posted by: |