Did We Just Get a Major Hint About the Upcoming Hawkeye TV Show? Here's the Scoop

Official details on the Hawkeye miniseries are still scarce, but we do know a little bit about it. According to a report from Variety, the show will be “an adventure series in which Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye, will pass the torch to Kate Bishop.”

Comics fans, of course, know that Kate Bishop is the superhero who takes up the mantle of Hawkeye after Clint. She also is part of the Young Avengers, a group that has been hinted at several times in recent Marvel projects, with the introductions of Cassie Lang (from Ant Man) and Eli Bradley (with Captain America origins), among others. It sounds like the Hawkeye series is meant to be another bridge between the old guard Avengers and a new generation of superheroes.

Jeremy Renner will, of course, return as Clint Barton/Hawkeye, and Hailee Steinfeld will be playing Kate Bishop. The cast is also set to introduce Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez, aka Echo, a deaf Native American superhero (and another Young Avenger!), who will be getting her own spinoff series soon.

Disney’s official page for Hawkeye also lists Vera Farmiga, Fra Fee, Tony Dalton, Zahn McClarnon, and Brian d’Arcy James as part of the cast. According to Variety, Farmiga will be playing Kate’s mother, Eleanor Bishop, while Fee’s character, Kazi, is most likely a version of the comics villain known as Clown. Dalton is reportedly playing Jack Duquesne, aka Jaques Duquesne in the comic books, a version of Clint’s morally-complicated mentor known as Swordsman in the comics.

Also of note: Florence Pugh is slated to appear in some capacity in the show, reprising her role as Yelena Belova, as first seen in Black Widow. More on that in a moment . . .

Disney+ hasn’t announced a firm release date for Hawkeye yet. The official page for the show currently lists it as a “late 2021” release.

The obvious choice, at least for now, would be Kazi, aka Clown, since he’s the only confirmed character who is an out-and-out villain in the comics. But it could get more complicated than that. (Spoilers ahead!)

The postcredits scene of Black Widow seems to hint at who at least one of the antagonists in Hawkeye will be. Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine shows up where Yelena is paying her respects at Natasha’s grave, offering her the chance to go after the man who, Valentina claims, “really” killed Nat: Clint Barton.

The implication, of course, is that Yelena will set out on a mission to kill the man she believes betrayed her “sister.” But, as we know, Valentina isn’t exactly telling the truth – Nat sacrificed herself, despite Clint trying to sacrifice himself and save her. We also know that this is the second time Valentina has shown up to try to cause a little chaos, since we last saw her recruiting John Walker in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Could there be one of Marvel’s famous villain bait-and-switches ahead?