Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is all about legacy, with a raft of new heroes being introduced to take up their respective mantles, or in many case assume old ones. That’s been very true of Hawkeye so far, with a pair of instant fan favorites set to pick up where a pair of Phase One stalwarts left off.
The Disney Plus series has been heavily indebted to the longstanding friendship between Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff, and the phenomenal exchange in this week’s episode between Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop and Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova sets the stage nicely for what could become a beautiful friendship and/or partnership.
Fans are already clamoring to see more of the new Hawkeye and Black Widow, with Steinfeld admitting in an interview with TV Line that she’s in exactly the same boat as the rest of us.
“It really so seamless getting through it with Florence. The banter is incredible. We’ve got a girls’ night over mac and cheese and hot sauce so how could that not be so much fun? But [also] realizing that this scene does, in fact, carry a lot of weight. These two characters who find this quick connection and almost friendship in each other but know that that cannot and will not get in the way of what they’re both trying to achieve. Kate is at a loss with what Yelena is after and is trying to understand what she’s there to do and why she’s so sure about what kind of person Clint is.”
Whether it’s as part of the Young Avengers, the West Coast version or the O.G. Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, both of the young stars have a huge future as part of Kevin Feige’s all-conquering franchise. It isn’t quite clear as of yet how we’re getting to that point, but we’ll have a much better idea by this time next week when Hawkeye has drawn to what’s expected to be a spectacular conclusion.
