Jeremy Renner is always happy to assemble with his Avengers castmates — even if that means a trip to prison.
Renner, 53, first appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Hawkeye in 2011. Since then, he and his A-list costars have formed a very real bond offscreen.
“Oh, f–k yeah, it’s a real thing — it’s not just for Instagram,” the actor told Men’s Health. “We f–kin’ hate that shit.”
Renner explained how he and his MCU pals have “a family chat” that they’ve used to communicate over the years. As he explained, the text chain has become a place to commemorate life’s highs and commiserate about its lows.
“When you work with people — look, we all went through a culturally significant experience together,” Renner said. “And there’s divorces and marriages and babies; a lot of stuff happened in these 12 years. In the films, we look like we’re at a costume party, and there’s ridiculous props and we’re doing these ridiculous things, but it’s also beautiful because we’re all connected.”
He continued, “There’s a brotherhood or sisterhood or whatever the heck you want to call it. I just call it love. I love every one of them.”
Renner has starred in multiple MCU films with Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo, but he singled out two buddies he’d really go to extremes with.
“I’d rather go to jail with Downey than go do something amazing by myself,” he said. “I’d rather get in a car crash with Evans.”
The actor is, of course, referencing Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans, who appeared alongside Renner as Iron Man and Captain America, respectively.
After the January 2023 snowplow accident that nearly took Renner’s life — in which he broke nearly 40 bones, and suffered a collapsed lung — Renner said MCU costar Anthony Mackie visited him in the hospital within days and he later received visits from the likes of Paul Rudd and Sam Rockwell.
Johansson, 39, and Evans, 43, visited his Nevada hospital, too.
“I was honestly so f—king happy to see him,” Johansson told Variety in May 2023. “I didn’t know if I was ever going to see him again.”
Evans, who accompanied Johansson on the visit, told Variety, “No tears at all. A lot of laughs and smiles and hugs. Leave it to Jeremy to take something this potentially tragic and turn it into something so inspiring.”
