Hawkeye star Jeremy Renner revealed that the original six Avengers from the Marvel Cinematic Universe remain close friends and still maintain their star-studded group chat.
"Just because you die on camera doesn't mean you die in real life, so we have a group chat and it's all of us, some that are still alive and dead on screen," Renner, who portrays Clint Barton AKA Hawkeye in the MCU, told ComicBook.com's Marvel podcast, Phase Zero. "Yeah, we're all very, very good friends, and we don't really speak too much about our job, and that's what's also great about being, you know, Avenger Friends." He added, "We speak about our kids and, you know, divorces and marriages and house building. We speak about just our life stuff... Our friendship is very, very special."
In addition to Renner’s Hawkeye, the original Avengers included Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson). The titular squad first came together in 2012’s The Avengers and were last seen as a team in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, in which half of the original team either died or aged out.
Renner will be seen reprising his MCU role in the upcoming Disney+ series Hawkeye, which is said to focus on what sets his character apart from the other Avengers. Hawkeye director Rhys Thomas recently explained, "Clint's family life is a unique aspect of his character that as we've seen through his history of the MCU. So I think, naturally, it's a joy to be able to explore that some more and see that relationship, because it anchors, I think, a lot of who he is and what we've seen of him."
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige recently noted "it was always the intention" to deepen Hawkeye's story following 2015's Age of Ultron, which expanded on the character’s family life by revealing he was married, with his wife Laura (Linda Cardellini) and their children living off the grid in a S.H.I.E.L.D.-monitored farmhouse. Hawkeye's family will play a significant role in the Disney+ series.
As for Renner’s future in the MCU, it’s unclear if he’ll be reuniting with the current lineup of Avengers following the events of Hawkeye. "I don't have a crystal ball, or I'm not a soothsayer," he recently said when asked what's in store for his character after the Disney+ series ends its six-episode run. "After that, I have no idea. But these six episodes are pretty exciting."
Hawkeye's first two episodes will begin streaming Nov. 24 on Disney+.
Source: Twitter