MCU: 15 most perfectly cast actors in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner)

Photo: Film Frame

©Marvel Studios 2015

13. Jeremy Renner

Character: Clint Barton/Hawkeye

In a world full of aliens, super-soldiers, gods and, well, a Hulk, how do you make a human archer look equally badass? A thought-provoking question perhaps, but one to which the answer is surprisingly simple: Cast Jeremy Renner in the role.

Not to downplay Clint Barton’s effectiveness as a hero in the comics but, while he was always a force to be reckoned with in those pages, he never quite transcended his genre in the way that his fellow human heroes (e.g. Tony Stark, Black Widow) had. Furthermore, as far as archers go, he wasn’t even as well-known as DC Comics’ Green Arrow. So, in theory, he wasn’t the most likely choice of candidate when it came to engaging in a battle with a plethora of supernatural creatures. This, however, is where Renner comes in.

From the moment Jeremy Renner drew back his bow (during his brief appearance in Thor), it was clear that this was a character who just shouldn’t be messed with. He would later go on to prove just how effective he was in The Avengers when he disarmed and dismembered countless Chitauri soldiers from atop a skyscraper – unperturbed by just how absurd the world around him was becoming (something that he himself addressed rather hilariously in Avengers: Age Of Ultron).

It doesn’t matter that Clint Barton is outnumbered, outmanned and outgunned by alien fleets and tyrannical monsters because all you have to do is look at him to believe that he’s capable of overcoming those odds. And it’s Jeremy Renner’s convincing (and, let’s face it, badass) performance that makes us believe in him.

Human or not, nobody messes with Hawkeye.