Don’t blame Jeremy Renner

beautifulpurpleflame:

So I’ve seen a lot of hate directed towards Jeremy Renner’s portrayal of Hawkeye, saying his acting is stilted and too suave/cool for a character who, in the comics, is a train wreck. And I’m here to come to his defense, though he’s not blameless for the Hawkeye we see on screen.

First of all, the character in the MCU is the product of the screenwriters who wrote the character to be cool with the occasional one liner. They wrote him as a guy who’s got his shit together (probably better than the rest of the Avengers) and a family man. Anyone who’s read the comics, especially the Hawkeye series by Matt Fraction and David Aja, knows that the character is really anything but those two things. He’s a mess of a human being. He’s depressed, constantly injured, drinks coffee straight from the pot, feels little self worth, can’t figure out electronics to save his life, doesn’t take care of himself, and is deaf which causes him to isolate himself from everyone around him. So, yeah, his portrayal in the MCU is completely out of character. But you can blame the screenwriters and the studio for that, not the actor.

Second, Jeremy Renner is COMPLETELY capable of playing the comic version of Hawkeye. He’s twice been nominated for Academy Awards. If you don’t believe that he can pull off a burning garbage pile of a human being I refer you to an episode of House M.D. he guest stared on. He played a drug addict lead singer of a rock band who has a mysterious illness. The character is a man who doesn’t care if he lives or dies, doesn’t care what people around him think of him, is your typical depressed drug addict, and yet he volunteers with homeless kids and sneaks off into the hospital to entertain the sick children on the pediatric floor.

Also, the man is basically Clint Barton. Whether it be falling off a stack of chairs during a stunt and breaking both his arms, to getting locked in a bathroom with his pants around his ankles because of said broken arms, to accidentally taking a Viagra instead of an Ambien on a 12 hour flight, to ripping his pants before an interview because he was doing anxiety lunges beforehand, to tripping Clint Eastwood backstage at the Oscars because he was doing said anxiety lunges. In my opinion, it was practically perfect casting.

But he’s not without blame for the MCU Hawkeye. When he got the role he didn’t know who Hawkeye was. Understandable, if you’re not into comics. But what he didn’t do was RESEARCH him which (as an actor myself) is incredibly important for an established character. He just went with what the script said and what the director wanted. So for that he shares a little of the guilt.

The Hawkeye was see on the big screen is the result of what the screenwriters and the studio wanted. I’m sure the only thing they knew about the character was that he was a regular human who is really good with a bow and arrow. And that’s it. They just built a new character from there. They had enough damaged individuals so they made Clint a more grounded, mature member of the team. Was it right? No. Did they miss a huge opportunity? Yes. Is it too late to redeem this character? Hell no! There is always hope for Avengers 4. Most believe Hawkeye has lost his entire family due to Thanos and that causes him to go rogue and become Ronin. The loss of his family, the guilt of not being on the field to protect his loved ones, the anger at his remaining teammates for letting Thanos win, these are all ingredients for a Clint Barton who could finally resemble his comic origins. And if they could reveal that he’s been deaf or have him become deaf in the process of him becoming Ronin, that would be a huge step forward regarding representing disabled superheroes.

In conclusion, PLEASE stop hating on Jeremy. He didn’t write the MCU Hawkeye. He’s not a bad actor. He’s just doing the job he was tasked with to the best of his abilities with the material given to him. Should he pick up a Hawkeye comic? YES! But so should the screenwriters and the studio execs.