It wasn't enough that Anthony Mackie was constantly overshadowed by his Hurt Locker co-star Jeremy Renner during the Oscar race, when both actors gave tremendous performances worthy of nominations. Now Renner has gone and swooped a role right out from under Mackie's nose. Just yesterday, Mackie was rumored alongside two others to be auditioning to play Ethan Hunt's younger sidekick in Mission: Impossible 4, but now Deadline reports that Renner has gotten the role instead.

The plan is to bring in a younger actor with more appeal than the aging Tom Cruise and give young audiences an actual reason to see Mission: Impossible 4, which will be directed by Pixar stalwart Brad Bird and starts shooting in the fall. Ever since his Hurt Locker Oscar nomination Renner has been offered all kinds of big-budget action roles-- he came very close to starring in Battleship for Peter Berg, and is set to play Hawkeye in The Avengers when it starts filming next year.

Not only will Renner be charged with counterbalancing all the Tom Cruise crazy in M:I 4, but he'll be carrying the franchise himself if the movie is a success and Paramount wants another one. That's a heavy commitment for an actor whose career is exploding right now, but then again, probably a dream come true for a guy whose biggest role previously had been in S.W..A.T. So far as I'm concerned the more Renner the better, but it's too bad it has to come at the expense of Mackie, who would have been a fascinating choice for the M:I 4 role. Can't they just continue their Hurt Locker partnership and both get the part?