Jeremy Renner Signed on to Play Hawkeye in THE AVENGERS?

Last year it was confirmed that star of The Hurt Locker Jeremy Renner was in talks to play Hawkeye in Marvels The Avengers. The last thing we heard avout all this came from Renner himself in which he said,

I haven't heard anything since I talked to them (marvel) three weeks ago. The last I knew is that they still have to find their director for 'The Avengers,' that's where he's really going to show up. They were just talking, 'Like maybe we should consider maybe hiring Hawkeye now' but there's no director on 'Avengers' so they don't really want to force-feed the director, 'Here's the whole cast.' It's a big role so they didn't want to do that to the director, so I think they might wait. I know they're interested, I'm interested, so we'll see if it works out.

They sold me on the idea, too, because I love the idea that Hawkeye's really not a superhero. He's just a man with a high skill set, so I can relate to (that). The Marvel guys are great for how they made Iron Man to be, 'Oh, that's actually plausible' so I bought it and I love that. They're really, really smart guys and I'd love to work for 'em, and we'll see if it works out.

Now that Joss Whedon has been brought in to direct the film, has Marvel moved forward and official cast Renner in the role? According to an inside source from AICN Renner has signed on to play Hawkeye. AICN says they check up on the source and it seems like a pretty solid lead. I would still take this news with a grain of salt until we get some solid confirmation, preferably from Renner or a Marvel representative.

It is also rumored that the reason Renner had been cast so early is because the character Hawkeye could end up making a cameo appearance in another Marvel film that is currently shooting. Again this is a rumor at this point, but one that I hope turns out to be true.

From Renner's statement above, if he was offered the role by Marvel it sounds like he would have taken it. Renner's a fantastic actor and would make a great Hawkeye! What do you all think?