Scarlett Johansson visited Jeremy Renner after accident: 'I didn't know if I was ever going to see him again'

Once an Avenger, always an Avenger. We already knew Jeremy Renner's superhero costars were supportive of their friend after his serious snowplow accident at the beginning of the year, but now Scarlett Johansson has revealed that she and Chris Evans visited Renner in the hospital during his recovery after he broke more than 30 bones.

"I was very upset," Johansson said of learning of the incident in a new Variety cover story. "On the Avengers text chain, we're like, 'Okay, you beat us all. That's it. You won. That's like real superhero stuff. It's unbelievable."

Everett Collection Jeremy Renner, Chris Evans, and Scarlett Johansson in 'The Avengers'

The text chain in question includes the original six Avengers actors: Johansson, Evans, Renner, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, and Mark Ruffalo. But Johansson and Renner worked closely together during their shared time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in order to portray the deep friendship between their characters Black Widow and Hawkeye.

Their most recent superhero collaboration, Avengers: Endgame, climaxed with one of the MCU's most emotional scenes as Black Widow and Hawkeye try to sacrifice themselves to retrieve the Soul Stone. Ultimately, it was Johansson's Black Widow who ended up broken on the cosmic altar.

But in real life, Johansson feared she might actually lose Renner following the accident. "I was honestly so f---ing happy to see him," she said. "I didn't know if I was ever going to see him again. He's a very spiritual person in general and a very soulful person, and you can see that in his work. It comes through. He has such a depth to him. I just was so happy to see that he is full of life and light, and he's also hilarious. We laughed a lot."

Johansson recently confirmed on fellow MCU costar Gwyneth Paltrow's podcast that she isn't returning to the franchise: "I'm done," she said. "That chapter is over. I did all that I had to do."

It makes sense, considering both Black Widow's onscreen death and Johansson's behind-the-scenes lawsuit against Disney over her financial compensation for the Black Widow movie that was released directly to streaming during the COVID-19 pandemic. But fans of the character should be pleased to know that the bonds between the Avengers off screen remain as tight as ever.

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