Yesterday’s Hawkeye finally saw the ass-kicking return of Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova. The character was the breakout star of Black Widow, and is currently on a misguided quest for vengeance against Clint after being told he killed her sister Natasha
Her comeback came during Clint and Kate’s burglary of Echo’s apartment, with the Avenger’s surveillance rudely interrupted by a mysterious figure in Splinter Cell cosplay. After demonstrating her Black Widow combat skills and tech the fighter finally demasked to reveal – to absolutely nobody’s surprise – an extremely pissed-off-looking Yelena.
Now Florence Pugh has made a post on Instagram to mark the occasion, featuring the terrifying-looking death-stare she gives Clint and Kate:
Marvel Studios have big plans for Yelena, with her being lined up to take Natasha’s place as the MCU’s primary Black Widow. It’s likely she’ll be on the next Avengers team, too, meaning she’s now probably facing off against her eventual future teammate Kate Bishop.
I don’t think the lie that Clint killed Nat is going to stick around for long, so expect Yelena to thaw a bit in the remaining episodes and revert to the sardonic but deadly character we all loved in Black Widow. Beyond Hawkeye, we may see her next in Thunderbolts, as the comics showed her as a member of that team (though it eventually turned out to be Nat in disguise).
Whatever the case it’s wonderful to have her back. Let’s hope Yelena sticks around.
Hawkeye airs Wednesdays on Disney Plus.