The 2019 Spawn Movie Adds Jeremy Renner As Twitch

Jeremy Renner has signed on to play Detective Twitch in the upcoming cinematic reboot of Spawn. He, along with fellow signee, Jamie Foxx are now officially charged with bringing the franchise to the cinematic Holy Land. Although it is a tall task, I believe they will.

Having starred as Hawkeye for the better part of ten years, Renner is no stranger to the superhero world. While his performance as the archer has always felt like he’s packing it in a little bit, he is a good choice. 

And here’s why.

Not only can he handle the press releases, media, shooting schedules, and travel, he has also proven he is an action actor. He has appeared in the Bourne series, the Town, and two Mission Impossibles. That’s no small feat. If we were still in the 1980’s, he would stand tall against the likes of Jean-Claude Van Damme, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and every other member of the Expendables. 

Aside from his action background, Renner has always come across as a quiet and soft actor. Seeing as how the Spawn movie will focus on everything but Spawn, including Twitch (quiet by nature) Jeremy Renner as Twitch, seems a wise choice. 

Who is Twitch?

Maximilian Steven Percival Williams III is a homicide detective for the New York City Police Department. He grew up the son of a high-society aristocratic family whose primary concern was seeing that they way they were perceived by the world, was in alignment with the image they worked so hard to attain. Due to his upbringing, he was nicknamed Twitch by his classmates. 

While in school he excelled in the harder math subjects, calculus and trigonometry. Eventually, his understanding of the two turned him into the best and most accurate marksman on the police force. Although labeled a nerd, his nickname catapulted him to be the most popular kid in school. This surge caused him to run for, and become the Class President. With his confidence at an all-time high, he asked the most popular girl in school to the ball. She said yes and a very short time later, they were married.

At Harvard, he earned a Masters in Applied Science but wound up pursuing Criminal Science. 

Franchise jumping

Switching franchises is nothing new in the world of comics. Most recently we saw Lawrence Fishburne do exactly this when he left the DCEU for the MCU. However, while switching isn’t rare, switching from Marvel to another is. It’s so rare that, while I was able to find a few examples of switching,

• James Marsden: X-Men To Superman Returns
• Tao Okamoto: The Wolverine to Man of Steel
• Halle Berry: X-Men to Catwoman

I could only find one that actually showed someone leaving the MCU. In 2016 Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje left Thor for Suicide Squad. He really doesn’t count and can’t be blamed. After all, his character died in the MCU. 

Josh Brolin

It is peculiar that Jeremy Renner’s Marvel contract has not expired and he is still on the hook for two more appearances. As rare as switching is, acting in two opposing universes is equally as rare. I call this rarity the “Josh Brolin Clause” and the “Josh Brolin Clause” references the actor’s simultaneous appearance in both the MCU and X-Men Universe. 

I’ll be the first to admit that at the beginning of each movie that Brolin starred in, I found it difficult to accept his characters. This was so much to the point that I could shut my eyes and see Thanos where I was supposed to see Cable. This has nothing to do with his acting abilities but more to do with the fact that the movies were in two different universes with the same actor. 

Either way, the movie will see Jeremy Renner as Twitch and I, for one, am excited. The Spawn franchise needs some big name actors to sign on. After the fan backlash of the Jamie Foxx casting, Renner fits the bill. He is a good actor that will put people in the seats and bring some much-needed mainstream credibility to the movie. 

What do you think? Will Jeremy Renner as Twitch work out?

Cheers,

Joel

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