Where We Might See Kate Bishop Next After Hawkeye Season 1
This post contains SPOILERS for the first season of "Hawkeye."
Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) came into our lives in the most badass fashion possible and unsurprisingly kept her chaotic streak going in the first season finale of "Hawkeye." A newcomer to the work of superheroics, Kate began her journey by destroying a university clock tower with her very accurate and precise archery skills. In the span of a single week, she managed to channel her talents into a worthy and equally awesome outlet: fighting crime. Her lifelong dream of becoming Hawkeye's (Jeremy Renner) protégé and battling criminals in matching tracksuits has been fulfilled, but Kate's story is only just beginning. So to address the big question on everyone's mind, we're popping on our speculation hats to wonder: where will we see Kate Bishop next?
In Therapy
If we learned anything from "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," it's that all superheroes need therapy. Before Kate dons her new purple power suit for another perilous adventure, she should probably make an appointment with the nearest therapist to unpack the traumatic season of TV she just endured. To her credit, Kate's peppy nature rarely wavered throughout the season, always returning to her excitable self at any mention of trick arrows or the mere possibility of doing something unhinged (like destroying the enormous Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center). But when she wasn't scaling walls or learning new tricks from her mentor, Kate was busy uncovering a dark truth about her mother.
As it turns out, Vera Farmiga wasn't donning a villainess haircut for no reason, because Eleanor Bishop is just as shady as she dresses. Note to self: A dark red dress and wine glass in hand is the tell-tale sign of evil, so finding out that Eleanor was wrapped up in the Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio) crime syndicate is no surprise. Crime pays, folks, and Eleanor had a mountain of debt to pay off after her husband's death. She explains this to Kate with police sirens blaring in the distance, trying to convince her daughter that they can leave this all behind them and resume normal life. All the while, Eleanor argues that her actions were justified by the need to protect Kate and deal with the mess her father left behind. "Someone has to clean things up, " Eleanor says, "Someone has to take responsibility." It's the same lesson she's been trying to teach Kate since the first episode, with the collapse of the bell tower, and Kate finally hears her — but not quite the way she wanted.
Kate makes the difficult decision to have her mother arrested for her crimes, including the murder of Armand Duquesne II (Simon Callow). I can't speak from personal experience, but I get the feeling that having your mother sent to prison is pretty heavy stuff. Pile that atop the rest of the season — a couple brushes with death, learning about her idol's dark past, being constantly rejected by said hero, taking on Kingpin — and it's safe to say that Kate Bishop has had a very long week. She'll no doubt hop right back in the saddle and kick off her next adventure soon, but maybe she should take a breather to unpack everything that just went down, preferably with a trained professional. (Maybe she can spend some time with Sam Wilson, who was much more effective than the actual therapist in "The Falcon and The Winter Soldier.")
Hawkeye Season 2
The obvious answer for Steinfeld's next appearance is simply reprising her role in a second season of "Hawkeye," which would presumably focus on Kate rather than Clint. Kate was already centerstage for most of this series — the very first episode begins with her origin story, showing us the beginnings of her obsession with Hawkeye. This started her down a path that eventually led to teaming up with the Avengers' resident archer. But as she begun her hero journey, Clint seemed to be approaching the end of his own.
Clint spends the season trying his best to return home for the holidays, but can't leave the heroism behind until he closes a few major chapters of his life. Burying the Ronin persona is just the beginning and ultimately, he discovers that it isn't so clear cut. He has to don the suit again and make sure it's no longer linked to Kate Bishop by unmasking before Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) and claiming the identity as his own. Then he wastes no time burning it in the finale.
At the same time, Clint's forced to grapple with his grief over the loss of Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johnansson). I'm not exaggerating, Florence Pugh swings in as an enraged assassin and forces Clint to come to terms with his grief, as she must her own. As painful as these emotional confrontations can be, they end up being cathartic for Clint and provide him some closure on his life as a hero. And none of it would've been possible without Kate, who stayed by his side every step of the way.
We haven't seen the retirement party for ourselves, and Clint did just get a new costume, but it certainly feels like a chapter was closed when he finally returned to his family for Christmas. Plus, the episode ends on Kate suggesting new names for her superhero alter ego. And while "Hawk Shot" certainly has some potential, Clint interrupts with his own suggestion — cue the well-timed cut to the title card, reading "Hawkeye." All signs point towards Kate taking on the Hawkeye mantle for herself and a second season of the series would be the perfect place to do so. Season 2 could be the perfect place for Kate to continue her journey, with Clint as a support system for the budding hero.
Echo
Kate wasn't the only one kickstarting her MCU journey in "Hawkeye," because the series also served as an introduction to Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez, AKA Echo. Plot details have been kept under wraps, but we know to expect her return in the spin-off series "Echo," which presumably follows the events of "Hawkeye" after the major life changes Maya makes in the final episode.
Turning against the Tracksuit Mafia was one thing, but pointing a gun at Wilson Fisk (and seemingly firing it) is another. Whether or not she actually signed his death warrant (that's a discussion for another article), Maya will no doubt have to deal with the consequences of that decision. Maybe she'll even need some help to fight her way out of this mess. Ya know who has lots of experience fighting off bros in tracksuits? Ding-ding-ding! It's Kate Bishop.
Okay, so maybe Maya and Kate didn't see eye to eye for most of this series — their onscreen time mostly consisted of fighting for their lives — but with all the Ronin nonsense removed from the equation, maybe Maya is beyond trying to choke Kate out. Perhaps they can even be friends? They have so much in common, after all, both betrayed by family members, losing their fathers, and now searching for a new path in life.
As of now, it's a little unclear where Echo stands by the end of the series — hero, villain or somewhere in between — but there's some potential for her to break good. Going against Kingpin is more of a personal stance than a moral one, but it's a step in the right direction. Maybe Kate can be the extra push she needs.
One Of The Many Upcoming Marvel Series
Another possibility for Kate's return is one of the upcoming Marvel shows on the way, like "She-Hulk" or "Ms. Marvel." These are characters Kate has yet to actually encounter, but they all exist on the same streaming service, in the same universe, and most importantly, they live in the same city! Mostly. "She-Hulk" brings us back to New York and "Ms. Marvel" is in Jersey City, but close enough, right? Eventually, the three will all wander the NYC streets, so they're bound to bust the same criminals every now and again.
A Kate Bishop appearance seems most likely when it comes to Kamala Khan (aka the titular Ms. Marvel). We've all been speculating for a while now that the MCU is laying the groundwork for the Young Avengers, so bringing these two together could be the first step.
There's also some potential for Kate Bishop to pop up in "Secret Invasion," though the connection here is a lot thinner. We now know that Laura Barton is a former SHIELD agent, so maybe Nick Fury will call in the remaining troops (and former troops) for the fight against the Skrulls. We don't know much more about Laura's time as an agent, but her Agent 19 moniker wasn't highlighted for nothing, and it's bound to come up again. Now that Kate is in with the whole Barton bunch, maybe she'll get a "Secret Invasion" e-vite and start using Skrulls for target practice.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
"Hawkeye" brought up Pym tech more than once, which made our Spidey senses tingle. Clint even name drops Scott in the finale, saying he'll need to check in with him about the goons who were just shrunken down. They end up being flown away by an owl, so maybe they're doomed after all, but the important thing is that Clint name-drops Scott, so maybe he can make an introduction on Kate's behalf. We're not totally sure what connection they would have and what they might get up to, but the rumor mill certainly thinks Kate will have a place in "Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania."
No matter where Kate Bishop pops up again, who are we to complain? More Kate Bishop, please! By any means possible!