Although Jeremy Renner is undoubtedly the greatest fit for the role of Clint Barton aka Hawkeye, it appears that the actor could have been recast if Marvel had not agreed to a major condition imposed by the actor. In a recent interview with Men’s Health, the 50-year-old actor remembered giving Marvel Studios an ultimatum to replace him as Hawkeye if they couldn’t agree to his plan of allowing him to spend a fixed amount of time with his family.

When he and actress Sonni Pacheco had their daughter Ava in 2013, Renner claimed his priorities changed.

He travelled from London to Los Angeles every week for a year and a half to visit her, typically for only a few hours. This wasn’t going to be enough for Renner. “It taught me how to have the nuts to say, ‘Everyone, fuck off. It’s my time with my daughter,'” he said. He was cautioned, though, that his attitude may lose him his job at Marvel.

“I said, ‘Fine, recast me. I’m going to be here with my daughter.’ It was pretty gnarly,” Renner continued.

It’s always a risky strategy for an actor to tell a major studio to recast them if their planned shooting schedule doesn’t allow them enough family time, but it appears that’s exactly how Jeremy Renner approached his Marvel negotiations when his demanding role as Hawkeye required him to constantly fly back and forth to see his daughter. While Renner’s new Hawkeye series arrives on Disney+ this Wednesday, there was always the possibility that things might have gone tragically wrong.

In fact, the actor adheres to the guideline in all of his films, not just those in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. “Acting and everything else goes out the window until my daughter says, ‘I want to hang out with my friends, and I don’t want to be around you so much, Daddy,'” Renner said, “until my daughter says, ‘I want to hang out with my friends, and I don’t want to be around you so much, Daddy.”

Hailee Steinfeld and Jeremy Renner on “Hawkeye.” Disney Plus/Marvel

Since his first appearance in a Marvel film a decade ago, the “Hurt Locker” hero has become a vital part of the franchise.

He appeared in “The Avengers,” “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Captain America: Civil War,” and “Avengers: Endgame” as one of the six original Avengers.

Renner will resume his role in Hawkeye, a new Marvel Studios/Disney+ series that was initially revealed at Comic-Con International in San Diego in 2019. Clint Barton will train Kate Bishop, played by Hailee Steinfeld, to take on the mantle of Hawkeye in an “absurd Christmas story,” according to series co-director Bert (one half of the directorial pair Bert & Bertie).

He has appeared regularly during the last decade, from the beginning of the Infinity Saga until the end of Avengers: Endgame. After losing his family to Thanos’ snap, Hawkeye became the rogue vigilante Ronin for much of the five years between Infinity War and Endgame, before being dragged back into the Avengers fold by Natasha Romanoff, and at least some of this is expected to play a major role in the future series.

As with many Marvel productions, little plot details are known about the series, but it is understood that Barton will be teaching Kate Bishop to take over the Hawkeye mantle and perhaps become a vital part of future Avengers team-ups. After making her debut in this year’s Black Widow, Florence Pugh will be returning her Yelena Belova character in the series, and the post-credit sequence of the film hinted that she will be causing trouble for the archer and his protégée.

Renner remarked in a recent interview that he’s not sure what his role in the MCU will be after Hawkeye. Renner explained, “I don’t have a crystal ball, or I’m not a soothsayer. But having Hailee [Steinfeld] come in, and these characters, I think it opens it up for six great episodes for this event type of television. After that, I have no idea. But these six episodes are pretty exciting.”