No movie has attracted quite as much speculation in recent years as the **Bourne **sequel/reboot/thingamajig. Rumour and counter-rumour have swirled around the project like mist around Prometheus. When Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass demurred and Jeremy Renner and Tony Gilroy stepped up, the question was: who is Renner playing and how would The Bourne Legacy fit into the existing universe?
Well, **Empire **put those questions to the man himself. "My character is called Aaron Cross," Renner told us, "but he ends up having a bunch of different names. For fans of the franchise, [The Bourne Legacy] has that same ticking clock, but it's a new programme and new characters."
So is Treadstone still involved? "Yeah, it's that same deal, it's just a new set of agents with a different leash. It's the same tempo and pace but more expansive and bigger. The differences are pretty vast but you'll know it's a Bourne movie."
Speaking of bigger and more expansive, Renner's star is firmly in the ascendant. Next up for the Californian is Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, followed by three major tentpoles in 2012: Bourne, **The Avengers **and Hansel And Gretel: Witchhunters.
Bourne Legacy is out on August 17, 2012. Check back next month for Empire's full interview with Renner.