When Jeremy Renner's Clint Barton returns for the character's standalone series, he will be joined by another archer familiar to comic book readers. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has confirmed Hailee Steinfeld will portray Kate Bishop in the Disney+ series Hawkeye.
After losing his family in Thanos' decimation, Renner's Hawkeye returned in Avengers: Endgame having spent five years operating as a merciless vigilante known as Ronin. Though the death of his family effectively destroyed him, Barton agreed to return to the Avengers team after long-time friend Natasha Romanoff revealed they found an opportunity to reverse the Mad Titan's heinous act, a goal Earth's Mightiest Heroes successfully achieved, though not without the losing close friends in the process.
Set after Endgame, Marvel Studios' Hawkeye is said to further explore Barton's time as Ronin while following the archer as he trains Kate Bishop to succeed him. Although there had been some back and forth regarding whether or not Steinfeld would portray Bishop, recently surfaced set photos of the Academy Award-nominated actress in a purple costume left little doubt about her role in the Disney+ series.
During Marvel Studios' presentation at Disney's Investor Day, Feige finally announced Steinfeld will play Bishop and included a brief clip of the character taking aim with a bow. Feige also confirmed the cast will be rounded out by Vera Farmiga as Eleanor Bishop, Fra Fee as Kazi, and Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez. Directed by Rhys Thomas and Bert & Bertie, Hawkeye is currently scheduled to debut on Disney+ in late 2021.
Created by Allan Heinberg and artist Jim Cheung, Kate Bishop debuted in the pages of Marvel Comics' Young Avengers #1. She became the third character and first woman to take on the Hawkeye mantle by issue #12 before co-starring with Barton in Matt Fraction and David Aja's Hawkeye comic book series, upon which the Disney+ series is said to be influenced. In the comics, Bishop grew up a high-society kid who later developed an assortment of combat skills after being mugged in Central Park.
Marvel Studios' line-up of Disney+ projects will initially focus on previously established supporting characters such as Hawkeye and Tom Hiddleston's Loki. However, newcomers will also be introduced through the Disney+ shows before being included in the MCU films.
Among those new heroes will be Iman Vellania as Ms. Marvel and Tatiana Maslany as She-Hulk. During the same Disney Investors Day presentation, Feige revealed that Vellania's Ms. Marvel will join Brie Larson in Captain Marvel 2 following the debut of her own series.
Hawkeye is in development for Disney+.