Jeremy Renner Is Gearing Up the Avengers: West Coast in the MCU, and the Time Has Come

Jeremy Renner has revealed Hawkeye's return to the MCU in the Avengers: West Coast project. That's why we think it's a great idea.

When Jeremy Renner tweets, the internet pays attention. Renner has now raised eyebrows with a post that appears to suggest he's studying for a new MCU project. We don't know if this is a series or a movie, but it seems to be an adaptation of the classic West Coast Avengers comic.

Who are the West Coast Avengers and why might they be in the MCU now? Let's quickly break down what you need to know.

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In this case, the name is quite self-explanatory. The Avengers are traditionally based in New York, where they generally operate out of Avengers Mansion or Stark Tower (or both). The idea for West Coast Avengers was two-fold: to highlight some of the heroes who didn't get their due in the original Avengers comics, and to give America's version of the Marvel Universe a super team that wasn't based in the same big metropolis.

The team officially debuted in 1984 in The West Coast Avengers #1, created by Roger Stern and Bob Hall. The original lineup included Hawkeye, Mockingbird, Iron Man (Rudy, not Tony), Tigra, and Wonder Man. While the first series only spanned four issues, it was quickly followed by an ongoing series that spanned an entire decade and introduced new cast members such as Moon Knight, Tigra, U.S. Agent, Vision, and Scarlet Witch.

In the years since, Marvel has revived the West Coast Avengers several times with different lineups. They even went through a post-Civil War phase in 2006 where Iron Man established the 50-state initiative, giving each US state its own team. Yes, even Iowa.

The original series added a lot to the larger Avengers mythos, including the promotion of Hawkeye to the position of team leader. It's also crucial to the deeper exploration of the romance between Vision and Scarlet Witch and the creation and destruction of their magically produced children. You don't get WandaVision and its spin-offs, or Paul Bettany's White Vision, without having the first West Coast Avengers.

Why does the MCU need West Coast Avengers?

So why is Renner reading this classic Marvel team-up? It makes sense that Marvel is looking to prioritize the West Coast Avengers project for the next phase of the MCU. And just like in the comics, it looks like Hawkeye will be a major force in leading the team.

Honestly, now is probably a good time to move forward with the West Coast Avengers. We currently have two different Avengers teams in the MCU - the New Avengers operate out of Stark's old tower in New York, and Anthony Mackie's Captain America currently leads a small team, but there's still the problem that the western half of the country is heavily guarded. Why should the East Coast get all the superheroes?

More importantly, West Coast Avengers is valuable in its ability to bring together a number of Disney+ MCU characters currently stuck in limbo. Marvel is still hot on the heels of Hawkeye's second season being greenlit. Maybe a West Coast Avengers series could replace it, bringing back not only Renner's Clint Barton, but also Hailee Steinfeld's Kate Bishop? After all, both were the title characters of the 2018 West Coast Avengers comic.

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There are plenty of other characters that make sense as team members. How about Tatiana Maslany's She-Hulk (easily the MCU's most iconic Californian hero) or Oscar Isaac's Moon Knight? Or what about the wonderful man Yahya Abdulmatin II? It still seems like Marvel decided to cancel Wonder Man Season 2 after Season 1 was critically well received, but maybe they did it to make room for Simon Williams to join the Avengers instead? We can certainly hope.

Then there's Vision and Scarlet Witch. We still don't know where VisionQuest will leave Bethany's character, nor do we know if the rumors about Elizabeth Olsen's Wanda Maximoff revival will pan out. But assuming these two characters start playing after the events of Avengers: Secret Wars, it makes sense to include them and their grown children in the West Coast Avengers as well.

Essentially, West Coast Avengers could allow Marvel to finally dust off these underused characters and give them a new home with a more marketable brand. Ideally, this project would be a series rather than a movie, just based on the number of characters it needs to juggle and, hey, MCU fans need more than Zodiac to look forward to in the live-action MCU.

For more information, check out all Marvel movies and series in development.

Jesse is one of IGN's ethical staff writers. Let him lend you a machete by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.