Another Original Marvel Star Returns After Years as Studio Leaves New Heroes in Limbo
Marvel Studios spent years building its next generation. Now, many of its biggest projects are looking backward.
After Avengers: Endgame (2019), the MCU introduced a long list of potential new leads, including Shang-Chi, Moon Knight, She-Hulk, America Chavez, Kamala Khan, and the Eternals.
Several have barely been seen since.
Shang-Chi has not appeared in live-action since his 2021 solo movie, although Simu Liu will finally return in Avengers: Doomsday (2026).
Kamala Khan has faced a similar gap. Iman Vellani starred in Ms. Marvel and The Marvels (2023), where her character began recruiting what appeared to be a new generation of Avengers.
That storyline has yet to continue onscreen.
Instead, Marvel’s biggest recent successes have increasingly relied on characters audiences already know. Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) brought back former Spider-Man stars, while Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) revived several characters from Marvel movies made outside the MCU.
Avengers: Doomsday is continuing that pattern.
Marvel’s Original Generation Keeps Growing
Robert Downey Jr. is returning to Marvel as Doctor Doom, while Chris Evans and several actors from Fox’s X-Men movies are also part of the expanding Doomsday lineup.
Now, another original Avenger appears to be teasing his comeback.
Jeremy Renner shared a close-up of his Hawkeye suit on Instagram on Thursday, immediately sparking speculation that Clint Barton could appear in Avengers: Doomsday.
Jeremy Renner teases Hawkeye's return in new Instagram story. pic.twitter.com/yawMQGZSPN
— MCU Film News (@MCUFilmNews) August 28, 2026
Renner also saved the image to a highlight titled End Game Press.
Marvel has not officially confirmed his involvement, and the post could simply be a reference to Renner’s years playing Hawkeye.
Its timing, however, has attracted attention as Doomsday reportedly undergoes additional filming in the United Kingdom ahead of its December release.
Renner has played Barton since Thor (2011), becoming one of the six original Avengers alongside Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, and Black Widow.
His last MCU appearance came in the Disney+ series Hawkeye in 2021.
The show appeared to give Barton a natural exit. After confronting his violent past as Ronin, he returned home to his family while Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop emerged as his likely successor.
A return in Doomsday would put Hawkeye back in the MCU just as several newer heroes remain without clear follow-up projects.
Jeremy Renner’s Marvel Future Once Looked Uncertain
Renner returning to a major Avengers movie would have seemed far less certain only a few years ago.
On New Year’s Day 2023, the actor was crushed by his seven-ton snowplow while trying to help a family member.
He suffered blunt chest trauma and more than 30 broken bones, beginning a lengthy recovery before eventually returning to acting.
His relationship with Disney later hit another complication.
In 2025, Renner revealed that he had rejected an offer for a second season of Hawkeye after being offered approximately half his original salary for around eight months of work.
He called it an “insult offer” and blamed Disney’s “penny pinchers” and accountants.
Renner also faced allegations from filmmaker Yi Zhou in 2025, including claims of sexual misconduct, sending unsolicited explicit images, and threatening to contact immigration authorities.
Renner strongly denied the allegations as “totally inaccurate and untrue.”
Despite the uncertainty surrounding his own MCU future, he may not be the only original Avenger returning late in the process.
Reports claim Mark Ruffalo recently filmed additional Doomsday material after leaving the set of HBO crime drama Task.
Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner most recently appeared in Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026), where his inhibitor chip was destroyed by Jean Grey, played by Sadie Sink.
The relatively late filming has fueled speculation that Hulk and potentially Hawkeye could appear in smaller sequences or post-credits scenes, setting up Avengers: Secret Wars (2027).
Neither Renner nor Ruffalo has been formally announced for Avengers: Doomsday.
Would you like to see Jeremy Renner return as Hawkeye?
