Jeremy Renner says Robert Downey Jr. didn't tell him about Doctor Doom Marvel casting: 'That son of a bitch'
Renner "blew up" his "Avengers" group chat when he heard the news.
Robert Downey Jr. did not assemble the original Avengers to let them know he’d be playing Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday — including Jeremy Renner.
The Hawkeye actor said he had "no idea" that Downey had been tapped to play the iconic supervillain until the news broke at San Diego Comic-Con last weekend.
"This son of a bitch didn't say anything to me," Renner told Us Weekly in a new interview, "and we're good friends!"
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Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images; Amy Sussman/Getty Images
Jeremy Renner; Robert Downey Jr.Related: How can Robert Downey Jr. play Doom in the MCU? Here's what we know from the comics
In fact, Renner said he heard "not a peep" from Downey about the casting in his original Avengers group chat, which consists of the pair and their costars from the original 2012 film Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, and Mark Ruffalo.
Once he heard about the big reveal he, naturally, took matters into his own hands. "I got online and started blowing up [Downey's] phone," Renner said. "Like, 'What’s going on? You're hiding this from us?' I don’t know. That's exciting news, man. I'm really, really excited about it."
The casting announcement marks Downey's return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe after exiting the franchise following the death of his character Tony Stark/Iron Man at the end of 2019's Avengers: Endgame. Returning with him for the project are Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo.
And Renner’s sharpshooter Clint Barton/Hawkeye may make an appearance, too.
"I think there's asks out. There's a lot of people to, sort of, aggregate," Renner said of his future involvement in the MCU. "I think it's a huge undertaking. I think you got Downey back in the mix, you got the Russo brothers back in the mix, they've always got [Kevin] Feige and Marvel. I think this is a direction where Marvel’s gonna do well."
But Renner also noted that trying to schedule all of the franchise's superhero cast — which is growing larger by the day — might be a bit of a headache.
"The Avenger movies have always been really fan favorites, and there's so many wonderful characters in them," he said. "I think it's going to be challenging to get everybody together. I think they're going to probably have to piece it together like week by week, just for people's schedules. There's a lot of people."
Still, he's always ready for the call. "Yeah, I think we'll probably be doing it," Renner said. "We'll have to figure it out. It's all brand-new."
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