Jeremy Renner has had an interesting 2018. You would think the star, who is a member of not one, but two, major franchises to have films out this year, would be rejoicing. However, Renner holds the unique distinction to be the one actor from the “Avengers” and “Mission: Impossible” franchises to not show up in either film this year. While “Avengers: Infinity War” earned over $2 billion and “Mission: Impossible — Fallout” begins its box office assault, Renner has to just watch from the sideline.
And unfortunately, it was completely out of his control. His exclusion is the result of some really crappy luck.
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As discussed in the epic 3+ hour Empire Online Podcast, ‘Fallout’ writer-director Christopher McQuarrie discussed why Renner’s Brandt character was left out of the most recent ‘Impossible’ film, and his unique way of offering a chance for Renner to return at the last minute.
“Jeremy had his commitment to ‘Avengers,’ which ironically they ended up not exercising, and we didn’t know what the [sixth ‘Mission’] movie was, so we couldn’t provide a schedule. We needed absolute freedom,” he explained. “The unfortunate thing for Jeremy is that he got caught in this perfect storm of, one can’t use you and one doesn’t know how to, given the massive complications they had with ‘Avengers,’” explained the filmmaker.
You see, Marvel Studios basically owns all their actors, for better or worse. And Renner is no different. So, even though he never actually appeared in ‘Infinity War,’ Marvel wanted the option to use him, which actually meant his schedule was full when the production for ‘Fallout’ began.
But that didn’t deter McQuarrie, who after everything, came up with a solution for Renner. However, the actor wasn’t really into the idea. “I did invite Jeremy Renner to come to the movie and die cause that was the one thing I could do with Jeremy with the schedule that we had,” McQuarrie said.
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Now, if you think that might be a little…harsh, then that’s because you don’t know the full story. The filmmaker didn’t want to just wantonly kill a member of the ‘Mission: Impossible’ family just for a cheap appearance. No, what he had in mind was more meaningful.
He explains his entire plan below (warning, there are some spoilers for ‘Fallout’):
“I had this whole idea that the movie would start with the death of a team member. And of course the first team member that’s always the first guy we talk about killing is Luther. Luther died in the first movie, and he quite famously said to Tom Cruise, ‘Hey man, how come the brother’s always gotta die?’ And Tom said, ‘You’re right.’ He was like, ‘Why do I gotta be the bad guy?’ And they made Luther nefarious and then suddenly a good guy, and six movies later it was the smartest question anybody’s ever asked Tom Cruise […] So I said to Jeremy, look we can’t kill Ving, it’s never going to work. No matter how many movies into it, it’s always going to be the same thing. You killed the black guy. And we didn’t think the movie could recover if you killed Benji.
“So I said to Renner, ‘Hey listen, I have this idea for an opening sequence where you sacrifice yourself to save the team, and that the mission-gone-wrong not only involves losing the plutonium, but involves the death of a team member.’ And Jeremy was like, ‘Thanks, but no thanks’ […] He was smart not to take the short paycheck for three days of work and getting blown up.”
If you think that’s the only interesting aspect of the epic podcast, then never fear! There’s a ton more where that comes from. If you’ve ever listened to McQuarrie talk before, you know he’s an endlessly interesting filmmaker that will capture your attention, even if you aren’t a huge fan of his work.
So, if you’re a fan of films and the process, give the podcast a shot. You won’t be disappointed.