Jeremy Renner says he rejected Hawkeye season 2 after his salary was halved

Like most of the live-action Marvel shows on Disney Plus (except Loki), Hawkeye did not return for a second season despite reasonably good viewership and critical reception.

Speaking on the High Performance podcast, hosted by Jake Humphrey and Damian Hughes, Renner explained that Disney broached the topic of a second season of Hawkeye following his recovery from a horrific snow plow incident.

"They asked me to do season 2, and they offered me half the money," he said. "I'm like, 'Well, it's going to take me twice the amount of work for half the amount of money, and eight months of my time, essentially, to do it for half the amount'.

"I'm like, 'I'm sorry, why? Did you think I'm only half the Jeremy because I got ran over? Maybe that's why you want to pay me half of what I made on the first season?'"

The Mayor of Kingstown star didn't blame Marvel Studios itself for the salary dispute, instead adding: "This is like, just Disney, not even really Disney. It’s just the penny pinchers, the accountants."

Claiming he told them "to go fly a kite" after the surprising turn of events, he concluded: "We didn't see eye to eye on that, sadly. I still love the character, I'd still love to do it but I had to defend myself. It was a little disheartening that it didn’t happen, but that's fine.

"I'm happy to let that go because my body's probably thanking me, time and time again, that I'm not doing it right now. But, we'll see."

Renner suffered more than 30 broken bones among other life-threatening injuries after being run down by a snow plough in a nightmarish accident on New Year's Day 2023, which he has detailed in a new memoir titled My Next Breath.

Marvel Studios and Disney have yet to comment on Renner's claims.

Hawkeye is available to stream on Disney Plus.

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