Jeremy Renner has watched Avengers: Endgame only once and doesn’t intend to watch it again. Talking to BBC Radio 1, Hawkeye’s star remembered watching the movie with his Avengers colleagues for the first time, an emotional experience he’s not ready to repeat any time soon.
Avengers: Endgame was the final chapter of the three first Phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a story now known as The Infinity Saga. Endgame led the Avengers in their final battle against Thanos for the control of the Infinity Stones, and, on their way to victory, they ended up sacrificing many friends. Including Renner’s Hawkeye, the original Avengers team consisted of Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man, Chris Evans’ Captain America, Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow, Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk, and Chris Hemsworth’s Thor. Endgame killed Black Widow and Iron Man while also retiring Captain America, cutting the original team in half. So, it’s easy to understand how the film would move the cast.
As Renner describes his one and only screening of Endgame:
“I saw it at the premiere, but that was just something to celebrate for all of us. We were all laughing and weeping, and it was a lot, it was a lot to do. I'll never watch that again. It was a difficult experience. We were all just a sobbing mess and we're laughing. It's amazing, we were like audience members, and that was awesome to experience. That was a lovely, beautiful experience to share.”
The emotional overload of watching Avengers: Endgame might also be related to the friendship the cast forged on set. Recently, Renner confirmed the original chat group the six original Avengers created while filming 2012’s Avengers is still used by the whole team to give each other news about their personal lives. And since the three remaining original Avengers are involved with the origin story of their possible replacements in the MCU, the chat group might be all that remains in the next couple of years.
Hulk is set to come back to the She-Hulk series in 2022, which might retire the Emerald Giant in favor of his cousin. As for Thor, the God of Thunder will pass on the hammer to Natalie Portman’s Jane Foster in Thor: Love and Thunder. Finally, Hawkeye will be training his replacement in his titular series, which debuted this week on Disney+.
Hawkeye stars Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop, Alaqua Cox as Echo, Vera Farmiga as Kate’s mom Eleanor Bishop, Tony Dalton as Jack Duquesne, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, and Linda Cardellini as Laura Barton. The six-episode Christmas adventure is inspired by the work of David Aja and Matt Fraction on their 2012 Hawkeye comic book series.
Hawkeye debuted its first two episodes yesterday exclusively on Disney+. New episodes will come out weekly every Wednesday. Check Renner’s full interview for BBC Radio 1 below.