Hawkeye: Who the Heck Is Playing Kate Bishop?

Last week, Jeremy Renner shared a timelapse video of himself getting his face turned into a mold, leading most to believe the casting will lead to an iconic mask the actor will be donning when Hawkeye debuts on Disney+. Monday afternoon, the actor shared a selfie to Instagram, seemingly teasing a nod to the fan-favorite Hawkeye comic series written by Matt Fraction and David Aja. Even with everything pointing toward the start of principal photography, one massive question remains — who’s starring opposite of Renner in the role of Kate Bishop?

To date, we have yet to get confirmation of the actor that’ll be slotted in the role of the beloved comics character, and it’s been a major point of discussion of fans from all corners of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Last September, trades reported the House of Ideas narrowed in on Bumblebee star Hailee Steinfeld to play the archer, who takes over the Hawkeye mantle from Clint Barton in the comics mythos.

Fast forward a month and a half, and things quickly get shakey. Variety, the outlet which first reported the news, followed up suggesting a deal might not take place after all. The outlet said because of an existing contract with Apple for their Dickinson streaming series, Steinfeld may not be able to play the role due to a non-compete clause.

Drats, right? At the time, the report was that Marvel Studios formally extended the offer, though the tender had yet to be signed. A week or so after the reversal, Steinfeld herself cast doubt on the series, calling it no more than a rumor.

Now a full year after the fact, we’re nowhere closer to knowing who will play Bishop. Luckily for fans that have been waiting, the production of Hawkeye is on the immediate horizon is an excellent sign of news to come, with expectations official Bishop news will surface any day now — maybe even ahead of the extended Thanksgiving weekend.

“We’re treating our shows as if we’re making our features,” Hawkeye producer Trinh Tran previously told ComicBook.com of the production value behind Disney+ shows. “I mean, the feel and the quality of those TV shows are going to be like the Marvel movies that you’ve seen. So that’s always been [Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige]’s mindset of let’s make sure that when people are going to be watching these episodes, it’s going to feel like it’s just one long movie except rather than two-and-a-half hours, it’s going to be much longer. And the idea behind certain characters getting their shows is because we’ll have a lot more time to be able to develop these characters rather than the shorter.”

Hawkeye has yet to set a release date.

Who do you think should be playing Bishop? Let us know your thoughts either in the comments section or by hitting our writer up on Twitter @AdamBarnhardt to chat all things MCU!