Jeremy Renner In Final Negotiations To Play Hawkeye In ‘Avengers’

Actor Jeremy Renner is reportedly in “final negotiations” to play the purple bow sharpshooting superhero Hawkeye in Marvel’s upcoming “Avengers” epic.

Renner may not be a household name, but if you’re wondering where you’ve heard his name before, it could have been because of his Oscar-nominated nod in “The Hurt Locker.”

Hawkeye is a role Renner has expressed interest in. In an old interview he has been quoted as saying:

“I know they’re interested, I’m interested, so we’ll see if it works out….They sold me on the idea, too, because I love the idea that Hawkeye’s really not a superhero. He’s just a man with a high skill set, so I can relate to (that). The Marvel guys are great for how they made Iron Man to be, ‘Oh, that’s actually plausible’ so I bought it and I love that. They’re really, really smart guys and I’d love to work for ’em, and we’ll see if it works out.”

Directed by geek-god Joss Whedon (Firefly, Dollhouse), “Avengers” is a who’s who of superstars that includes Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Chris Evans (Captain America), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury) and more. No word on Edward Norton as the Hulk, however.

For those unfamiliar with the character, here’s a short bio straight from Marvel:

Clint Barton was orphaned at an early age when his parents died in a car accident and was sent to a children’s home with his brother Bernard. He and his brother ran away to join the Carson Carnival of Traveling Wonders, and the pair worked as roustabouts. While a member of the circus, Hawkeye was trained by the original Swordsman (Jacques Duquesne) and Trickshot. Clint’s life, however, would forever be changed after he stumbled onto the Swordsman counting the money he had just robbed from the carnival. The Swordsman offered Clint to become his partner in crime, but Clint rejected his mentor, sparking a fight that ended when the Swordsman left him for dead after he fell from the high wire. Barney, too, abandoned him, in disbelief that Clint passed up such an opportunity. Trickshot stepped up his role as Clint’s mentor, later asking him to join him in raiding a criminal named Marko. However, Clint severely injured one of Marko’s guards and discovered him to be his brother, Barney. Repelled by the consequences of his actions (and his mentor’s role in prompting them), he abandoned Trickshot and parted on bad terms.

His natural archery abilities honed to an expert level, Clint wandered the country, working in various carnivals or otherwise making money out of the costume and persona of “Hawkeye”. One day, when witnessing Iron Man save the lives of some people at the carnival, he decided to become a costumed crime-fighter himself. But as luck would have it, on Hawkeye’s first night on patrol, he was mistaken for a criminal by the police and hunted down