'Hawkeye' Series Casts Hailee Steinfeld As MCU Kate Bishop

Looks like Marvel Studios just hit another casting bullseye: the company's Disney+ series Hawkeye has targeted Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit, Bumblebee) to play the MCU Kate Bishop. If the deal goes through, she'll join Jeremy Renner and presumably take over as the MCU's primary archer – because every good superhero team needs that person with a bow and arrow running around as the team's X factor.

A new report from Variety says Steinfeld has been offered a lead role in the upcoming series – that of Kate Bishop, Hawkeye's trainee. No word yet on whether or not she'll accept the job, but this is yet another case of Marvel luring in top-tier talent who are perfectly fit to portray these characters.

In the comics, Kate Bishop is a young, headstrong woman, out to make a name for herself and refusing to take s*** from anyone. (At Comic-Con, Renner said Kate is the "better version" of Hawkeye compared to his Clint Barton.) Anyone who remembers Steinfeld's breakout turn in 2010's True Grit knows she can handle that aspect of the character with aplomb. But Bishop is also a bit goofy in her best moments, and Steinfeld is multifaceted enough as a performer to be able to bring that element to this character simultaneously. (See: The Edge of Seventeen and Bumblebee for good examples of when she's done this in the past.) It's sort of like how Harrison Ford played Indiana Jones: capable of getting the job done while being self-effacing enough to be relatable.

Kate Bishop is also a key member of the Young Avengers, a team of super-powered kids who put a team together when the Avengers disbanded on the page. We don't know what Marvel Studios' next Avengers film will be, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of the younger characters from the upcoming movies and Disney+ shows in Phase 4 were incorporated into it. As veterans like Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans exit the MCU, the studio is going to be looking to fill it with fresh talent, and Steinfeld is a wonderful choice to take on this fan-favorite role.

Here's the synopsis for the comic series by Matt Fraction and David Aja, which the show will likely be using for inspiration:

It's Marvel's most critically acclaimed comic in recent memory! 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.

Jonathan Igla, who spent five years writing for AMC's Mad Men, will write and executive produce Hawkeye, which arrives on the Disney+ streaming service in Fall 2021.