Jeremy Renner is known for his many blockbuster appearances, most notably his participation in the Avengers movies within the Infinity Saga. He also was notably in two of the Mission: Impossible movies where he played William Brandt, an IMF agent who quickly became a key team member. He was a steady presence, juxtaposing some of the bigger personalities of the team and helping Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt character save the world again and again. But he was noticeably absent in Mission: Impossible – Fallout and hasn’t appeared in the franchise since. Now, Renner is explaining why he ended up opting out of the blockbuster franchise.
In a recent interview with Josh Horowitz on the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast, the Hawkeye actor opened up about working on the Mission: Impossible movies, and why Renner ultimately stepped away from the franchise. While he enjoyed his experience working on Rogue Nation and Ghost Protocol, the structure of how they film the Mission movies made scheduling difficult. The set pieces make production a massive time commitment, and something that was hard to navigate when Renner became a new dad. Director Christopher McQuarrie initially planned on killing off the character due to his lack of availability, but Renner still wasn’t ready to close that door. He said:
I remember they tried to bring me over[seas] for a week so they could kill my character, and I was like, ‘No, you don’t get to do that. You’re not going to drag me over there and just kill my character,’ like get out of here! If you’re going to do this and you’re going to use my character, you’re going to do it right.
Even though Renner wasn’t able to appear, he didn’t want to just be killed off, making a William Brandt return impossible. During the interview he revealed he would be open to potentially committing to another M:I film now that his daughter is older, and his time commitments have changed. Considering his character was never killed off, the door is still open. Renner maintains that he was right to refuse the M:I Fallout death cameo, saying:
I yelled at [director Christopher McQuarrie]. ‘Dude, you’re not going to do this to me like that; you’re not going to do me wrong.’
McQuarrie ended up ultimately agreeing with Renner’s request, and the character was just written out of the Fallout script without the actor appearing in the movie at all. By avoiding a minor, expendable role, the filmmakers ensured that Renner’s potential return to the franchise remains a viable option. This careful handling demonstrates the respect and foresight of the creative team. There have been a lot of actors that have cycled out of the M:I films, like Rebecca Ferguson and Alec Baldwin, who were both killed off. However an unknown fate feels more interesting, and leaves room for Renner to return in a new capacity in the future.
The future of the Mission: Impossible films in general in flex, considering Tom Cruise’s interest in other projects and practical implications of continuing to participate in the high flying stunts. Maybe if there is room to transition the franchise to another central star, Renner could get on board. However for right now the Arrival actor seems content in his own projects coming down the pike, and is not expected to appear in M:I 8.
You can see Jeremy Renner in the new season of Mayor of Kingstown, which is now streaming with a Paramount+ subscription. Fans can also revisit his performances in both Mission: Impossible- Ghost Protocol and Mission: Impossible- Rogue Nation, which are also streaming on the platform. For more information on other great projects available on the streamer, check out our feature on the best Paramount+ original TV shows.