'Hawkeye': Here's Our First Official Look At Hailee Steinfeld As Kate Bishop
In September of 2019, Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit, Bumblebee) was rumored to be playing the young archer and fan favorite Marvel character Kate Bishop in Hawkeye, one of Marvel Studios' upcoming live-action shows for Disney+. That casting was not confirmed until very recently, and there were even some rumblings that she may not be able to take the role because of a stipulation in her contract for the AppleTV+ series Dickinson, in which she stars.
But everything worked out. During last night's Disney Investors conference, Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige confirmed that Steinfeld was playing Kate Bishop. And then Steinfeld and original Hawkeye Jeremy Renner took to social media to share a first look at Kate Bishop in the series. Check it out below.
Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop
Incredibly excited to officially share this with the world... 🏹 pic.twitter.com/Azetw2P3dQ
— Hailee Steinfeld (@HaileeSteinfeld) December 11, 2020
Last night's presentation also revealed a brief video clip of Steinfeld in action as Kate, but it has not been made available in an official capacity yet. And numerous other photographs of Steinfeld on set have been circulating online, but we're not putting them here because we're not in the mood to get sued. Google it!
In Marvel Comics, Kate Bishop is a young, headstrong woman, out to make a name for herself and refusing to take shit from anyone. (At Comic-Con 2019, Renner said Kate is the "better version" of Hawkeye compared to his character, Clint Barton.) The actress is perfectly suited for this role, able to balance that take-no-guff attitude with the occasional goofiness that surfaces in Kate's character and has made her a fan favorite.
It's also important to note that Kate Bishop is a key member of a group called the Young Avengers, a team of super-powered kids who stepped up to the plate when the Avengers disbanded in the comics. Marvel Studios has not yet tipped its hand about the direction it's heading now that veterans like Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans have made their grand exits, but introducing a younger core group of heroes would be a smart way to inject a bit of new energy and vitality into the MCU in a way that we haven't quite seen before.
Bert and Bertie, the female writing/directing duo best known for directing the Amazon movie Troop Zero, will direct multiple episodes of the show, and Rhys Thomas, a Saturday Night Live veteran who directed the Amazon comedy series Comrade Detective, will also direct a block of episodes.
Here's the synopsis for Matt Fraction and David Aja's acclaimed comics run, which appears to be serving as the inspiration for this new series:
Clint Barton, breakout star of a little Marvel movie you might have seen a while back, continues his fight for justice...and good rooftop BBQs! With Young Avenger Kate Bishop by his side, he's out to get some downtime from being one of Earth's Mightiest Heroes...but when the apartment building he's moved into, and the neighbors he's befriended, are threatened by a tracksuit-wearing, dog-abusing gang of Eastern European mobsters who say "bro" an awful lot, Clint must stand up and defend his new adopted family...any way he can.