Why did Jeremy Renner leave Mission Impossible​?

Jeremy Renner decided to leave Mission Impossible because he wanted to focus on his daughter Ava.

Jeremy Renner is an American actor best known for playing Hawkeye in MCU films. Born on January 7, 1971, the 53-year-old actor began his acting career by featuring in independent films. Renner’s debut film was the 1995 released comedy film National Lampoon's Senior Trip. The film that helped him gain a name in the industry was the 2002 film, Dahmer. In this horror drama film, Jeremy Renner portrayed serial killer Jeffery Dahmer, for which he was highly praised.

As of 2024, the Avenger fame is known for working in movies and shows such as A Little Trip to Heaven, 12 and Holding, 28 Weeks Later, The Town, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, House, Hawkeye, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and many more.

Which Mission Impossible was Jeremy Renner a part of?

Jeremy Renner was cast as William Brandt in Tom Cruise’s thriller franchise, Mission Impossible. The actor’s character was first introduced in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. Jeremy Renner played William Alexander Brandt, Chief Analyst, later turned senior agent, a part of the Impossible Mission Force (IMF).

Renner’s character was first introduced as someone who was assigned to protect Ethan Hunt and his wife Julia in Croatia. However, after he failed to do so and Julia allegedly died, Brandt left on field duty and was then Chief Analyst to the Secretary of the IMF. In no time, Renner’s character won the film’s fans over. Despite playing a crucial role in Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, the actor never returned for another MI film.

Also read: Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol caste

What were the reasons for Jeremy Renner leaving Mission Impossible?

There are two major reasons for Jeremy Renner to quit Mission Impossible. One of the main reasons was the actor wanting to focus on his daughter Ava. The Marvel fame’s only child Ava was born in March 2013. During his appearances on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the actor finally addressed the real reason for him not joining the franchise back. Renner told host Josh Horowitz that returning to the franchise means staying away from his daughter Ava for a long time. Jeremy said, “I had to go be a dad. It just wasn’t gonna work out then. Maybe now that my daughter is older that could happen. I’d always jump into a Mission: Impossible anytime and back into Brandt. It’s great.”

During the podcast, the actor also revealed that he ‘yelled’ at Mission Impossible director Christopher McQuarrie for planning to kill his character. William Brandt. Renner said, "They tried to bring me [overseas] 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," he further said.

Renner added that he also made it clear to Christopher McQuarrie by saying, "Dude, you're not going to do this to me like that; you're not going to do me wrong."