Jeremy Renner is on his way to becoming a real-life Enhanced Individual after his snow plow accident in January of 2023. The actor is back to work and seemed to have his full range of mobility at the Red Sea Film Festival in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, according to a report by Variety. When asked if there were any “limitations” posed by his injuries, Renner joked: “I don’t think of it as limitations – even though I’m 25% titanium, so f- Iron Man.”
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Renner needed extensive surgery and months of rehabilitation before he could even walk following his accident. It’s unclear if his body really is one quarter titanium, but he has talked before about some of the metal plates, screws and replacements used in his reconstructive surgeries. The actor is best known for playing Hawkeye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so his Iron Man reference is fitting. It also comes at an interesting time as the franchise is seeing other returning stars from his era.
Renner was hurt on January 1, 2023 at his remote mountain home in Nevada while trying to clear snow from his driveway so his family could come and go. He was using a massive machine called a Snowcat – a plow made for moving over snow that weighs over 14,000 pounds. Renner said he had stepped out of the machine thinking it was parked, but it began sliding towards his nephew. He ran towards it trying to take the controls, but instead it rolled right over him.
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Renner was transported to the nearest trauma center by helicopter and remained in the intensive care unit for over two weeks. He has shared some of the grizzly details since the, telling Jimmy Fallon that his legs “were all twisted up,” and one of his eyeballs “was out,” and he had “popped a lung,” among other things. In that same interview, Renner tapped his left shin and said: “This is metal. Half my face is metal. All the right side of my back is metal.”
On the one-year anniversary of the accident, Renner released an album of original songs titled Love and Titanium. On Tuesday, he revealed that his also writing a book about his experience right now. He said: “While I’ve been here this whole trip, I’ve been doing the final edit on it, so it’s kind of fresh in my brain, because I tried to push it away a lot of times. And there’s so many wonderful gifts that come from being tested to your limits of death. Because I did die, and I came back, and I came back for a reason, and nothing to do with me. If it was my choice, I’d rather stay. But I came back, and I’m glad I’m back.”
Renner’s next movie – his first feature-length film since his accident – is Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. It filmed over the summer, and Renner told the crowd on Tuesday that it will be out in the fall of 2025. He added: “It’s a killer cast. We had a ton of fun making it. I think people are going to really enjoy watching this third part of the series.”
