A Brief History of Jeremy Renner’s Wacky Side-Projects

Likely after realizing that it's way cheaper to film the Avengers when they're not in character and instead simply hanging around a public street in a pair of jeans, Disney is producing two new reality shows featuring Brie Larson and Jeremy Renner, respectively. Larson's series is reportedly a "hybrid docu-series that explores the challenges, triumphs, and complexities of adolescence," while Renner is set to host Rennervations – which will presumably come out every Rennsday at Threnner o'clock. Apparently, the project "embraces Renner's lifelong passion for giving back to communities" and involves "reimagining unique purpose-built vehicles to meet a community's needs."

We don't know quite what that means or how exactly having the star of Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters overhauling vehicles will benefit these mysterious communities, but this latest move is perfectly in keeping with Renner's career trajectory, which, in addition to acting, is chock-full of weird side-projects.

Most notoriously, there was the Jeremy Renner app, a self-described place to "do fun things." The app was a place for Rennerheads (we assume that's what they call themselves) to connect with each other and Renner himself. And it was totally free … with the exception of in-app purchases, such as "Superstars" that allowed users to "boost their comments" so they will #BeSeen by Renner, with costs ranging from $1.99 to $394.99.

That kind of sounds like a cult (if the cult leader was the star of Arctic Dogs), but of course, the whole thing fell apart after trolls began impersonating Renner and, according to the actor, turned the app "into a place that is everything I detest." It was shut down, meaning that fans wanting to flush their money down a toilet that flows directly into Jeremy Renner's man-cave would have to buy, like, 40 copies of Tag on Blu-Ray every month. 

Then there's Renner's music career. He'd released the occasional song on assorted film soundtracks, but things really took a turn with a series of Jeep commercials, forming a loose, confusing narrative in which Renner seemingly steals a couple's Jeep Wrangler and drives it to a bar in the middle of the desert (all while blasting his own music on the stereo) to perform a raucous concert for a bunch of excited youths who are, for some reason, at this cringey dad-rock concert instead of doing any of the many things young people actually enjoy doing.

Then Jeremy Renner attempted to "unite" the world by releasing his first EP in 2020 called "The Medicine," which was basically a Twilight Zone-esque twist for everyone who had been praying for "medicine" while stuck in the middle of a pandemic.

And we haven't even mentioned the Renner-themed Amazon store, which featured beef jerky, archery equipment, and photos of him "ever-so-slightly misusing" said equipment and "ignoring safety protocols for building a campfire."

If all that wasn't enough, Renner also has a side business flipping houses, which began long before he reached megastardom. His "signature color palette" reportedly consists of "white and earth tones," and his decor typically includes "masculine brick accents and dark wood flooring" because, of course, it does. One renovation found him buying a home that once belonged to classic Hollywood director Preston Sturges for $1.35 million and later putting it on the market for $4.795 million. Renner once claimed that house-flipping keeps him "grounded," which is a weird way to describe a literal multimillion-dollar business. 

This all makes it extra-weird that Rennervations somehow isn't about home renovation – and, to be honest unless this show involves him mentoring Hailee Steinfeld in the ways of vehicle repair, Disney may have vastly overestimated the general public's Rennthusiasm.

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Top Image: Amazon/YouTube