Hawkeye is on the way to Disney+ with Jeremy Renner reprising his role as the archer Avenger, and he'll be joined by none other than Bumblebee and Dickinson star Hailee Steinfeld to play Kate Bishop. Her involvement in the series was rumored for over a year before finally being confirmed back in December 2020, and now Steinfeld has spoken up about playing what could be a huge Marvel Cinematic Universe character for Disney+.
Hailee Steinfeld's confirmation as Kate Bishop only came as production began and she was spotted working with Jeremy Renner. She shared her excitement at playing the character for Hawkeye, telling Fandom:
It’s amazing, my God, to finally be able to confirm. It's such an honor, my goodness, to be playing this role. I'm so, so excited about it. It felt so wonderful to be back at work, I feel so grateful. It's been a very crazy year of not knowing if that was gonna happen for a while, so I’m happy to be back at work and playing this character. It's gonna be really fun. I'm excited for people to see it. I'm excited to see it.
The past year was filled with uncertainty about when it would be safe for productions throughout the entertainment industry to begin again, but Hailee Steinfeld confirmed that she's back at work and that it's an "honor" to bring Kate to live-action on Disney+. Joining the MCU could also mean job security for quite a while, if the original lineup of Avengers and even cast of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (which ran for seven seasons) are any indication. As long as Kate survives Hawkeye, Steinfeld could have the opportunity to play the character for quite a while.
Kate Bishop is a key character in the pages of Marvel Comics thanks to her status as the superhero who takes over the mantle of Hawkeye, to the point that there was talk that she could appear in Avengers: Endgame to replace Clint Barton's version of the archer superhero. That ultimately didn't happen in the 2019 film, and Steinfeld wasn't confirmed as Kate until the end of 2020, but now fans are already considering whether the Hawkeye series will kill Clint off and set up Kate as the Hawkeye of the next stage of the MCU.
Jeremy Renner and Hailee Steinfeld will be joined in Hawkeye by Vera Farmiga, Fra Fee (playing Kazimierz Kazimierczak), Tony Dalton, Zahn McClarnon, Brian d’Arcy James, and newcomer Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez. Clint Barton's kids are reportedly returning to the MCU as well based on set photos, and there is already speculation that some Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. stars could reprise their roles for Hawkeye in the wake of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s finale in 2020.
Hawkeye with Hailee Steinfeld is expected to debut on Disney+ in late 2021, following WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, and possibly Ms. Marvel, which could also set the stage for what comes next in the MCU as a whole. Disney+ will continue releasing new live-action Marvel series beyond 2021 as well, with She-Hulk, Moon Knight, Secret Invasion, Ironheart, and Armor Wars eventually on the way.
For now, however, your live-action Marvel TV options are primarily over on Netflix, with all seven seasons of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. along with the likes of the Daredevil/Jessica Jones corner of the Marvel universe. That said, Agents Carter is streaming on Disney+, and WandaVision will premiere in days rather than weeks. Check out Disney+ for more MCU content, and swing by our 2021 winter and spring premiere schedule for more upcoming viewing options.
