Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with another on-set interview from my time visiting the fine folks over at Marvel while they were shooting Captain America: Civil War.
This one is with Elizabeth Olsen and Jeremy Renner who visited us press types for a bit and talked about what Scarlet Witch and Hawkeye are up to in this movie.
It might just be me, but I think Renner gets a little... saucy towards Olsen in this chat. Still, it's nice of them to check in and give a little update.
Like all the other Civil War set visit interviews I'm posting today this one was a roundtable, so all “Q”s are questions asked by the pool of movie blogger types, not just me. Assume all the good questions are mine and the bad ones are those other guys. Heh.
Enjoy the chat!
Q: Where do we pick up with your characters? [to Jeremy Renner] At the end of Ultron, you’re chillin’ with your family, hanging at the farmhouse, and [to Elizabeth Olsen] you’re kind of reeling from the death of your brother. So where do we pick up with guys in Civil War?
Elizabeth Olsen: We leave Scarlett Witch without a home, without a family, and she ends up creating a surrogate family within the Avengers and making a decision to be a part of the team. I think a lot of that has to do with what Jeremy’s character, his attitude towards her and the speech he gives her at the end of the film. So we pick up with her having started a new life, but still trying to figure out what her abilities are and if using them causes greater good or greater damage.
Jeremy Renner: Marvel’s really smart about continuing the storylines of all the different movies from Ultron into this one and blah blah blah blah – it’s pretty seamless. So where we left off in Ultron is definitely picked up in Cap 3 here, pretty smoothly I think.
Q: So are you still wrestling with the fact of do I stay with my family or do I help with the situation – is that still kind of your motivation?
Jeremy Renner: I think that’ll always be there for Barton, right? You have real life, and then you have fight life. And that’s the character that I love now – discovering that in him makes him a very sort of accessible Avenger. That’ll always be there, I’m sure. And it certainly plays in this one.
Q: At the end of Ultron, Pietro ultimately dies saving your life. What is the bond like between you two?
Jeremy Renner: Yeah, I think there’s a great connection between these two characters for sure. I mean, I don’t know if she’s coming over for dinner on the Barton Ranch...
Elizabeth Olsen: (laughs)Yeah, I don’t know. I could be!
Jeremy Renner: She may or may not, I dunno. Maybe we go fishing or something…
Elizabeth Olsen: Yeah, totally. I do think in this film we try to tie together that their relationship has gotten stronger – that their friendship has gotten stronger since the last film, sure.
Q: How hard is it with the existing conflict between Tony Stark and Steve Rogers for you guys to choose sides? [To Elizabeth Olsen] You’re new to this whole team, and Hawkeye’s been around for awhile, so how difficult is that choice for your characters?
Jeremy Renner: I don’t know – I mean I can’t totally talk about why we divide, but it’s interesting because we’re doing this scene today that’s sort of the pinnacle of that. Two gangs fighting against each other, ultimately knowing that it’s like friends fighting friends. To me it’s fun, personally, but no one wants to kill each other. Ultimately it's about...
Elizabeth Olsen: Just trying to get from point A to point B without getting in someone’s way.
Jeremy Renner: Yeah, yeah, it’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye type of thing. There’s that kind of irreverence to it the humor and in the reality of what’s really going on that plays into this movie.
Q: Markus and McFeely told us that for Natasha, it’s hard to pick a side because she’s used to never putting her ideological foot down. For Barton, is it easier for him to make a decision or is he also torn?
Jeremy Renner: He’s not a spy like Natasha – she’s a little more slippery in her decision-making, maybe. But Barton is a pretty brass tacks kind of guy. Kinda get the job done so I can go home. So I don’t think it’s very difficult for him to decide.
Q: Scarlet Witch is part of the new Avengers now. Do we get to see how that dynamic interacts in this film?
Elizabeth Olsen: Yeah… I mean we’re all on one compound together, so we are a team at this point. So there’s a lot of group scenes of us… just like conversationally and in action.
Q: Will we actually see Scarlet Witch become friends with people aside from Hawkeye?
Elizabeth Olsen: Yeah well I think her relationships with people become really clear, and I think they all make tons of sense in line with Ultron as well.
Q: I think a big relationship people are wondering about is the one between Scarlet Witch and Vision. Can you talk a little about her reaction to Vision?
Elizabeth Olsen: Yeah, I mean I think there’s something unique in the fact that her powers come from the same thing that powers him, and that is how we’ve made them have that specifically in common, as opposed to it being something else that the comics kind of created, which has been pure romance. But they do have something uniquely special because of that.
Q: Is that touched on in this film – the science behind Scarlet Witch's powers at this point?
Elizabeth Olsen: Yeah, you’ll see her do some things that she didn’t get to do in the first one.
Q: Does part of that come from working in a team dynamic as opposed to working solo?
Elizabeth Olsen: I think part of that comes from time’s passed, and she’s been in an environment where training is part of the thing. It’s not like we do a montage of her discovering her powers like in every X-Men film [laughs] but yeah, there’s no montage. But she does have these new abilities that we pick her up with.
Q: Having worked with Joss in this world and now working with the Russos. Obviously with Winter Soldier, it seems they’re taking a grittier approach to this world, so what’s it like for you guys to work with them?
Jeremy Renner: Yeah, it feels a bit more tangible, I suppose, even though you’re in a green box for part of the time.
Elizabeth Olsen: The language is easier to wrap your mouth around…
Jeremy Renner: Yeah yeah, it’s not so ethereal, it’s a bit more rooted I feel like. Not that Joss' wasn’t, it was just a broader scope that Joss was doing with all the Avengers. The Russo brothers are taking this Avengers 2.5, if you will, in keeping it still a Captain America movie. It’s very sort of boots on the ground kinda thing, except for the flyers and things like that. It’s much more… I guess gritty is the word that you said. But it has a different tone. We’re not flying around in different universes – it’s a bit more earthy.
Q: In Ultron, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver had a bitterness towards Stark. Has that gone away or is she still angry and how does that come into play with the main conflict of the story?
Elizabeth Olsen: I think she, by this point, has learned that Stark’s not specifically responsible for her parents’ death. I think there’s even a reference to him stopping his selling of weapons because they cause damage.
Q: Have either of you guys pushed for your own spin-offs?
Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen [IN UNISON]: Nope.
Q: [to Jeremy Renner] On the Age of Ultron set we talked about costume with your character and equipment upgrades to. Do we see him suit up in something different maybe?
Jeremy Renner: Yeah there’s always something different. He’s still limited to what he can do – ya know, no super powers, just a high skill set. But they have a cool thing – In the first Avengers he had that short bow that cracks open, and then I can crack it closed and it becomes a staff. So now I’m a master with a staff, apparently. I've got to learn that today. (laughs)
So there’s that, and then there’s always things you can do with the tips. Except for this, with the arrow tips, they’ll all be non-lethal cause again we’re not trying kill anybody, just sort of take control of the situation. They’ll probably throw in a lot of gimmicks with the tips and trick arrows, and things like that. I love this costume the most of them all so far , the one I’ve got. It’s got a cool vibe to it. Very very very cool. I like it – it’s very comfortable. I’m still hot, but it’s fantastic, I love it. And it’s got cooler colors. I like it.
Elizabeth Olsen: We look unified in our costumes.
Jeremy Renner: Yeah.
Q: On Hawkeye’s personality, will it line up more with what we see in the comic? Will we see more of his humor…
Jeremy Renner: Yeah, that self-deprecating, irreverence... all that sort of Han Solo-ish, old school Indiana Jones kind of thing. That’s fun to play. I’m only here for a short amount of time, but getting a lot done. We’re having a lot of fun. That’s also what’s so great about the Russo Brothers. Literally they’ll have a line that’s pretty good and have a couple of alts that was good, and then we can just throw in whatever the heck we want. Joss was good with that with me too in the last one, just kind of throwing in some funny lines. I think we’re gonna have a few zingers in this one too, I hope.
Q: What do you think characters like Black Panther and Ant-Man add to the dynamic of an ensemble movie like this?
Elizabeth Olsen: It broadens the globe of Marvel. I mean they’re doing an Ant-Man film, so getting him for part of this makes sense.
Jeremy Renner: It’s like a video game, really. Everyone’s got different attributes. You look at Ant-Man and you learn more about him. And you look at Black Panther, who’s sort of like a Hawkeye in that he doesn’t have super powers, just a really great skillset. It’s just a great balance and mixed bag to add to the Marvel universe.
Elizabeth Olsen: He has the worst costume, Black Panther…
Jeremy Renner: I know that poor guy. It’s the worst of any Marvel character.
Elizabeth Olsen: Yeah I thought Ant-Man was bad and then I saw him.
Jeremy Renner: Yeah, Cap would complain about his cowl and it’s like dude, he’s got three on! Terrible, sweating. If it takes you 30 minutes to go to the bathroom, that’s a problem.
Elizabeth Olsen: It takes me 30 minutes.
Jeremy Renner: 30 minutes!?! You got a mini-skirt on!
[Room erupts with laughter]
Elizabeth Olsen: Nah, I got pants on!
Jeremy Renner: Oh, maybe that’s just a dream I had…
[More Laughter]
Jeremy Renner: Maybe it’s the action figure. Maybe it's that Hot Toys I’m thinking about.
Elizabeth Olsen: It’s the Hot Toys… No, there’s a Hot Toys – he was showing it to me the other day.
Jeremy Renner: Have you seen it? It’s awesome. So awesome.
Elizabeth Olsen: Yeah and so weird to look at. But yeah I have a onesie and a corset over my onesie, and the corset is a lace-up, so those always take like 10 minutes. I had to do it yesterday during the storm by myself. I learned how to take off a corset by myself yesterday.
Jeremy Renner: That's very good! I’m very proud of you.
Q: Is there a reason why she wears that?
Elizabeth Olsen: Yeah, because it gives me a waist.
[laughter]
Jeremy Renner: And a couple other things, too!
Q: So you're in a corset and heels?
Elizabeth Olsen: I am in heels, but they are very comfortable. I’ve been in my stunt heels the entire time, which are incredibly comfortable. They’re short , they’re rubber – it’s easy.
Jeremy Renner: We have very few women Avengers and superheroes, but the ones we do have are amazing, and happen to be hot as well. There needs to be more of them, right?
Elizabeth Olsen: Well there will be, I think. I don’t know.
Q: What’s it like to be one of the first women to join the group and to be the first who’s truly super powered?
Elizabeth Olsen: It makes my training nil. I mean I work with a choreographer who makes it look more dynamic than the pre-vis, that’s for sure. Essentially it’s fun. I make a joke about it all the time on set, like I can actually do A, B and C and you’d all be dead.
Jeremy Renner: It’s kind of one of the most uninteresting things to watch live, but on camera it's the best thing to see.
Elizabeth Olsen: It’s not interesting to watch live?
Jeremy Renner: Well it’s kinda funny. We were laughing!
Elizabeth Olsen: Oh yeah, because I can hurt myself rotating my arm fighting nothing.
Jeremy Renner: Everybody else is like dive-rolling and hitting things. She's like “I think I hurt myself.” Wuss!
Elizabeth Olsen: I did, though! It does make for a great laugh.
Jeremy Renner: No, but she’s a very formidable friend.
Elizabeth Olsen: She’s incredibly helpful and such a great ally to have on your side, that’s for sure.
Q: You’ve talked about some of the comics stuff that you’d love to see on screen, and a lot of it has to do with Scarlet Witch sort of—
Elizabeth Olsen: Going nuts?
Q: Losing powers, yeah. I imagine there’s some rage after losing your brother. Is there elements of that?
Elizabeth Olsen: I don’t know what’s happening next. I don’t think they know, either. I think they’re writing now. I would enjoy if we can play with the illusion of what’s real and what’s manipulated through reality and things like that. I think that would be really cool. It’s not in this – this is Captain America – but I think that would be cool.
Q: And to speak to that, in Ultron there was so much about you getting inside people’s heads and manipulating them.
Elizabeth Olsen: Yeah, we move away from that just because that was so much of the Avengers. There’s no reason to do more mind control, that was like the whole film. Not the whole film, but a huge part of it.
Q: So that’s not a weapon for her anymore?
Elizabeth Olsen: No, it’s not needed at all.
Q: Do they hold it against her, that she got into their heads in the last film?
Elizabeth Olsen: (sing-songy) No.
Jeremy Renner: I think they're terrified of her.
Elizabeth Olsen: Yeah, I think so. I think people do fear her abilities and no one’s quite really sure what they fully are because she’s not either.
There you go. Now you know a little bit more than you did before. Still got Cap and Bucky to go before I call it a day, so stay tuned!
-Eric Vespe
”Quint”
quint@aintitcool.com
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