Jeremy Renner is delighted his MCU co-star Paul Rudd has been named People's Sexiest Man Alive

Jeremy Renner thinks it is fantastic that Paul Rudd has been named People’s Sexiest Man Alive because he is a “tremendous” person.

Rudd – who plays Ant-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe – was bestowed the annual honour by the magazine this week, and his MCU alumnus Renner insists there is no more deserving guy than his 52-year-old ‘Avengers: Endgame’ co-star because he is funny, sexy and kind.

Appearing at the UK Fan Screening of Disney Plus series ‘Hawkeye’ at the Curzon Hoxton in London on Thursday night (11.11.21), Renner, 50, told BANG Showbiz: “I think that it’s a tremendous thing. I knew this a long time ago.

“Paul is the most tremendous man around, he’s not just the sexiest or the funniest. He’s the most tremendous human. I love him so much!”

The Academy Award nominee has played the role of Hawkeye – aka family man Clint Barton – in the MCU films since 2011’s ‘Thor’ and after being an integral part of the ‘Avengers’ blockbusters he now has his own title series.

Renner insists the new show has a “great message” to send out to younger viewers as it depicts a normal and “mothering” superhero.

He said: “It’s Marvel so it’s full of surprises. I think that the things that people know – or what even I knew about the character – are more deeply expressed. I think there’s going to be a more clear definition of why this guy is a mothering superhero. There’s not even any superpowers – I talk about it with kids all the time. You don’t need be flying round with lasers. The superpower that Clint Barton has – I think is a great, great message to send to kids.

“This show is gonna express that so I don’t have to talk about it much.”

‘Hawkeye’ sees Hailee Steinfeld, 24, make her MCU debut as Kate Bishop, a 22-year-old fan of Hawkeye who becomes Barton’s protégée, and Renner spilled that their relationship is an integral part of the series.

He said: “That [relationship] is big part of the show – that’s why he’s a superhero or a dad or a father. It comes from that steadfastness of sometimes tough love and there’s a lot of cathartic emotions that come from the process he’s had and she helps him with.

“The two of them become a very big part of each other’s lives and make each other better. Even in tragedy or in beauty or in happiness when you share that experience, it’s a beautiful thing.”

Revealing that Marvel fans will get to learn a lot more about his expert archer alter ego, he added: “It’s being told in a long format, six hours instead of two – that was more pressure.

“We have this character that has been around for a long time but not a lot of information is known about him. We could have the luxury of time to spend with new characters to have a greater understanding. Then there’s humour and all these other things that come in. We got to really play with that mixture and it was a lot of fun.”

Jeremy also admitted that while he does not have much involvement with the writing process itself, he is so attached to the character that he is usually happy to take on anything thrown his way.

He said: “I more just say yes to things and say, ‘Of course I’d wanna do that.’ I’m not sitting down putting pen to paper but I’m certainly a guy who is open to ideas and yes is usually the answer.”

The series – which also stars Vera Farmiga, Fra Fee, Tony Dalton, Zahn McClarnon and Brian D’Arcy – debuts exclusively on Disney Plus on November 24, 2021.