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Credit: Marvel StudiosA veteran Marvel superhero has seemingly confirmed his return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Since Avengers: Endgame (2019), Marvel has introduced an exhausting number of new heroes without giving many of them the space its original Avengers enjoyed. The likes of Moon Knight, She-Hulk, the Eternals, and America Chavez all arrived with obvious future potential, only to sit on the sidelines for years with little sign of meaningful follow-up.
Shang-Chi is perhaps the clearest example. Simu Liu led one of Phase Four’s better-received films in 2021, yet Avengers: Doomsday (2026) will mark his first live-action MCU appearance in five years. Compare that with Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor, whose stories were constantly expanded through sequels, crossovers, and Avengers movies.
Kamala Khan has fared little better. After Ms. Marvel and The Marvels (2023) positioned her as one of the MCU’s most charming (and most comic book-savvy) new leads, she has effectively disappeared from live-action. Instead of building her next chapter onscreen and introducing the Young Avengers, Marvel has relegated Iman Vellani to co-hosting an official podcast promoting Avengers: Doomsday.
Marvel Turns Back To Old Heroes – Including a Surprising Veteran
At the same time, Marvel has increasingly fallen back on heroes and actors audiences already know. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) and Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) turned legacy returns into major selling points, while Avengers: Doomsday brings back Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, and multiple Fox-era X-Men stars after years of uneven critical and commercial results.
It is difficult not to read that as Marvel leaning on nostalgia to restore confidence in a brand that no longer guarantees a hit. Rather than making newer heroes feel essential, the studio keeps returning to familiar faces, banking on affection for the MCU’s strongest era to generate excitement that newer characters – through no fault of their own – have struggled to sustain.
It doesn’t help that the studio is now seemingly bringing back a hero everyone thought long gone from the MCU: Hawkeye.
Actor Jeremy Renner teased his return in an Instagram Story yesterday, sharing a close-up of the suit he wore as Clint Barton/Hawkeye in his Disney+ series.
Jeremy Renner teases Hawkeye's return in new Instagram story. pic.twitter.com/yawMQGZSPN
— MCU Film News (@MCUFilmNews) August 28, 2026
While the image was saved to a highlight named End Game Press, fans have taken this as confirmation that the character is set to return in Avengers: Doomsday, which is currently undergoing reported reshoots in the UK.
Would Jeremy Renner Return to the MCU?
In some ways, Hawkeye returning for Avengers: Doomsday would make sense. Clint Barton is one of the MCU’s six original Avengers, has fought through every major team-up since 2012, and carries personal connections to characters including Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen), Yelena (Florence Pugh), and Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld). With Tony (Robert Downey Jr.) and Natasha (Scarlett Johansson) gone, his presence could also provide some much-needed continuity with the original team.
But at the same time, bringing Clint back risks undoing the point of Hawkeye. That series gave him a natural endpoint: returning to his family after confronting his killer past as Ronin and effectively passing the bow to Kate Bishop. Doomsday is already enormously crowded, and another legacy Avenger could take space from heroes Marvel desperately needs to establish.
At one point, Renner returning as Hawkeye at all seemed difficult to imagine. On New Year’s Day 2023, the actor was crushed by his seven-ton snowplow while trying to help a family member, leaving him in critical condition with blunt chest trauma and more than 30 broken bones. His recovery took months.
His relationship with Disney has not been entirely smooth since. In 2025, Renner said he rejected an offer for a second season of Hawkeye after being offered half his original salary for roughly eight months of work. He called it an “insult offer,” blaming what he described as Disney’s “penny pinchers” and accountants.
Renner has also attracted controversy since Hawkeye ended in 2021. He faced serious allegations from filmmaker Yi Zhou in 2025, including claims of sexual misconduct, unsolicited explicit images, and threatening to call immigration authorities. Renner has strongly denied the allegations as “totally inaccurate and untrue.”
A Second Rumor Supports Hawkeye’s Marvel Return
While there’s a chance Renner is just feeling nostalgic, another rumor adds credence to the idea that he will appear in Doomsday.
Reports claim that Mark Ruffalo – who has played Bruce Banner, AKA the Hulk, since The Avengers (2012) – also shot new scenes for Doomsday last weekend after leaving the set of HBO crime drama Task.
His character was last seen in Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026) when his inhibitor chip was destroyed by Jean Grey (Sadie Sink), causing him to attack Spider-Man (Tom Holland) and later be admitted to a psychiatric ward.
Considering the relatively last-minute nature of the reshoots (Doomsday hits theaters in less than four months, after all), some have suggested that the two may appear in post-credits scenes that lead into the project’s sequel, Avengers: Secret Wars (2027).
With Marvel remaining tight-lipped on the full extent of its already hefty cast list, we’ll likely have to wait until Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters in December to see if either actor makes an appearance.
Do you think Jeremy Renner should return as Hawkeye?
