After a premature announcement that sounded like it might fall apart, it looks like the news has turned out correct in the end: actress Hailee Steinfeld has been cast as Kate Bishop in Marvel’s “Hawkeye” limited-series coming to Disney+. The actress appeared on set today in New York next to Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye in a scene in New York’s subway system. Also along with her is Lucky, the Pizza Dog, primarily a supporting character of Hawkeye’s in some of the comics (see the fan-shot video below that clearly shows Steinfeld on set with Renner, near the end). This brings to an end the long, will-she or won’t-she play Kate Bishop character debate that has raged online for months.
READ MORE: Marvel Sets A ‘Hawkeye’ Series Starring Jeremey Renner For Disney +
In the comics, Kate Bishop is the new Hawkeye, eventually, who takes over the role from Clint Barton who retires and acts as her mentor. This storyline is expected to be the same narrative for the series: Jeremy Renner, who currently serves as Hawkeye—and already “retired” once during the pre-events of “Captain America: Civil War,” and then was forced out of action following the events of that film which saw unsanctioned superheroes labeled as criminal—will hand over the bow, arrow, and quiver to Kate Bishop who will assume the mantle of Hawkeye. He will stay on board as a mentor, but the series, will likely begin with him, introduce her, and then make way for her to carry on as the hero.
READ MORE: Hailee Steinfeld May Play The Kate Bishop Lead In ‘Hawkeye’ Disney Plus Series
This is pretty much the m.o. for almost all the original six Avenger characters who have either been killed or are slowly being phased out. Iron Man and Black Widow have passed on, Captain America is an old man, Thor is getting one more kick at the can (“Thor: Love And Thunder”) before being put on pause, and Mark Ruffalo‘s Hulk may appear in “She-Hulk,” but is also expected to take a supporting, mentor-like role.
READ MORE: Disney+ Taps ‘Mad Men’ Writer Jonathan Igla To Helm Its ‘Hawkeye’ Spinoff
What also seems abundantly clear, Marvel seems to be setting up Young Avengers, and or, at the very least, if they don’t use that name, will establish a team or movie with younger, more teenage characters that could include Kate Bishop, the recently cast Ms. Marvel, potentially Spider-Man and possibly Stinger, aka Cassie Lang, who was already been re-introduced as a teenager in “Avengers: Endgame” as played by 19-year-old Emma Fuhrmann, and is supposed to have a significant role in “Ant-Man 3.” Plus whatever new characters Marvel is cooking up, but not yet introduced.
Steinfeld emerged as an early name for the Kate Bishop role in 2019, but then negotiations appeared to stall and a few months later, the actress herself suggested she may not appear in the role. Clearly whatever issues there were between her agents and Marvel, scheduling, money, etc. have been worked out. “Hawkeye” is expected to be the last Marvel Disney+ series of the company’s Phase 4 strategy. The order of those shows— since changed when originally announced— is now expected to be “Wandavision,” (coming December 2020), “Loki,” “Falcon & The Winter Soldier,” (rumored to tie into “Black Widow” which is now a summer 2021 movie, the animated “What If?” and then “Hawkeye,” likely sometime in 2022. Phase 5 will contain the series “Ms. Marvel,” “She-Hulk” and “Moon Knight.”
Steinfeld is generally known for a budding pop music career, but also breakout roles in “The Edge Of 17,” the “Pitch Perfect” series, a voice role in “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” which should continue on in that franchise, and the “Transformers” spin-off “Bumblebee.”
Update: Here’s a lot more set photo evidence in case you remain skeptical. Check that thread for dozens of more photos.
Update: looks like Jeremy Renner and Marvel are about to make an official announcement soon, but hey, that’s definitely her.