10 Unusual Demands Made By MCU Actors

Though Jeremy Renner already had two Oscar nominations to his name before he joined the MCU, there's no denying that his role as Hawkeye catapulted him to unimaginable stardom.

And yet, Renner found himself angling for an exit from the franchise while shooting just his second MCU movie.

Hawkeye of course had an uncredited cameo in Thor before getting his proper coming-out party in The Avengers, where he spends much of the film as a mind-controlled stooge at the command of Loki (Tom Hiddleston).

Renner wasn't too thrilled about being turned into a zombie-like underling for much of his first major MCU outing, to the extent that he not-so-jokingly suggested that Joss Whedon just kill him off during the film. He said:

"I never really told anybody this... but in the first Avengers… I was just getting to know who Hawkeye was, and then zap, I go round like a zombie, I'm like Loki's minion. And I'm still not even sure who Hawkeye was at that point. So I'm a little frustrated, because I was so excited to figure out who Hawkeye was."

To hammer his frustration home and make it clear he wasn't satisfied with his part, Renner would occasionally act-out dying during the shoot:

"I just had a heart attack in every scene - I'd just be walking with… Scarlett Johansson, and just like be 'Ugh'... And they said, 'What are you doing man?' 'I'm giving you an option, if you just want to kick me out of this movie. Just you know, at any given moment, if you wanna kill me off, daddy's gonna be having a heart attack."

Whedon opted not to take Renner up on his suggestion, and perhaps as recompense for his complaints, Hawkeye had a significantly expanded arc in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Renner added that he was ultimately glad he wasn't killed off, as later films gave him a greater opportunity to explore the character.