Jeremy Renner has offered a very direct answer on whether Clint Barton, better known as Hawkeye, will appear in Avengers: Doomsday: he says he is not in it. But the actor delivered the apparent denial with exactly the kind of superhero-movie confidence that invites a second look.
“No, no, no, no. Not in that one,” Renner said when asked at a Q&A about returning for Doomsday.
He then turned Hawkeye’s absence into a prediction for the rest of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. “Doomsday I’m not in, so The Avengers will probably lose,” Renner joked. “They didn’t call me so it’s their fault they’re going to lose.”
The important wording is “that one.” Renner’s answer is a clear statement about Avengers: Doomsday, rather than a sweeping declaration that he has finished playing the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s bow-wielding marksman. It is also a reminder that cast information around a giant ensemble production can be deliberately incomplete, even when an actor’s answer sounds decisive.
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Why the Hawkeye joke has some MCU history behind it
An audience member responded to Renner’s boast with “again,” a reference that gives the joke a little more bite. Hawkeye was absent from Avengers: Infinity War, the film in which Thanos succeeded in gathering the Infinity Stones and defeating the Avengers’ immediate effort to stop him.
Renner’s character subsequently had a major role in Avengers: Endgame, where the Avengers ultimately overcame Thanos. That sequence does not establish a literal rule that the team cannot win without Clint Barton, obviously. It does, however, make Renner’s gag work: in the story’s recent Avengers record, the loss happened in the installment without Hawkeye, while the victory came in the one where he was a significant part of the team.
It also captures a defining feature of the character. Hawkeye has no cosmic power set in the information at hand; his value is as an exceptional marksman and grounded operative among gods, armored inventors, super-soldiers, and other extraordinary figures. Renner’s line treats that contrast as the punchline: the heroes may have a huge roster, but apparently they are still one archer short of a viable anti-Doom plan.
What is confirmed about Doomsday
Avengers: Doomsday has a substantial confirmed ensemble. Robert Downey Jr. is set to play Doctor Doom, the central villain named in Renner’s joke. The announced lineup also includes Chris Hemsworth as Thor and Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, alongside the new Fantastic Four, the Thunderbolts, the Wakandans, most of the original Fox-era X-Men, and additional characters.
That breadth matters when interpreting any individual casting comment. An ensemble is simply a production built around many significant characters rather than one lead and a small supporting group. On a film with that structure, an announced cast is not necessarily a complete cast. Co-director Anthony Russo has said there are performers involved who have not yet been announced, describing the project as having such a large cast that only some names have been publicly revealed.
That is not confirmation that Hawkeye is secretly part of the film. It means only that the public list should not be treated as a final, exhaustive roll call. Renner, for his part, has said he is not in Doomsday. Until the film or an official cast update provides different information, that is the most concrete statement available on Clint Barton’s participation.
The secrecy question is real—but it does not settle Hawkeye’s status
Fans have speculated that Renner could be concealing a surprise appearance. That is understandable in a franchise where character returns and crossover roles are routinely discussed well before a movie arrives. Still, speculation is not evidence, and a refusal to accept an actor’s answer can quickly turn every denial into supposed proof of the opposite.
There is a legitimate reason viewers remain cautious about extracting too much certainty from Marvel casting interviews. Paul Bettany, who plays Vision, has said that answering a similar question could get him “fired.” His response illustrates the basic problem with spoiler-sensitive productions: performers may be unable to freely discuss roles, scenes, or absences before a studio is ready to disclose them.
But the same point cuts in both directions. A guarded answer is not proof of a return, and a straightforward answer is not automatically a secret signal. In Renner’s case, the responsible reading is simple: he says Hawkeye is not in Avengers: Doomsday. Anything beyond that—including theories about a late cameo—remains unconfirmed.
What “not in that one” may imply
Renner’s choice of phrase has attracted attention because Avengers: Secret Wars has also been the subject of reports and rumors concerning his possible return. Saying “not in that one” naturally distinguishes Doomsday from another project, but it does not independently establish the nature, size, or certainty of any role in a later Avengers movie.
For now, the phrase is best understood as a narrow answer to a narrow question. It leaves room for the possibility that Hawkeye’s MCU story could continue elsewhere without turning that possibility into a confirmed casting announcement.
Why Hawkeye’s absence would still change the team dynamic
Even with a lineup crowded by famous names, every returning Avengers character brings a different dramatic function. Hawkeye is particularly useful as a human-scale presence inside a world of multiversal threats and superhuman combatants. That does not mean the Avengers require him to defeat Doctor Doom; Renner’s comment is a joke, not a plot synopsis. But it does point toward why audiences remember Clint Barton’s role in these films.
His prior Avengers appearances connect him to the original team’s history, and his absence removes one of the characters associated with both the catastrophe of Infinity War and the recovery in Endgame. Given the confirmed mix of returning MCU figures, newer teams, Wakandan characters, the Fantastic Four, and Fox-era X-Men, Doomsday is already positioned as a crossover on an unusually wide scale. Choosing which familiar heroes are present can be as consequential for the movie’s emotional texture as choosing the villain.
Renner’s comedic warning also lands because Doctor Doom is not being framed as a minor obstacle. Downey Jr.’s casting as Doom puts a recognizable face at the center of the threat, while the scale of the announced hero roster suggests the Avengers will need more than a conventional one-on-one confrontation. Whether Hawkeye is genuinely absent or merely being kept out of the conversation, Renner has successfully made his nonappearance part of the pre-release conversation.
What audiences can expect next
Avengers: Doomsday is scheduled to reach cinemas on December 18, with a December 16 date in the UK. The confirmed cast alone leaves plenty of story questions unanswered, and Russo’s comments indicate there are further casting surprises yet to be revealed.
As for Hawkeye, Renner’s position is currently the clearest available one: he says he is not in this particular Avengers film. His playful theory is that the team will pay dearly for overlooking the guy with the arrows. The Avengers have beaten impossible odds before, but Renner has at least identified the strategic error they should avoid: never underestimate the person who gets the impossible shot on the first try.
