Cast This: Kate Bishop (Hawkeye)

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

San Diego Comic-Con was full of many surprises, and the Marvel Studios panel contained some of the biggest of the weekend. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige laid out Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which will include a number of TV shows being developed for the Disney+ streaming service. We've got The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, WandaVision, Loki, What If…?, and Hawkeye, the later of which will find Jeremy Renner reprising his role of the MCU's most skilled yet underutilized archer.

The upcoming series won't only star Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/Hawkeye, but will also introduce audiences to Kate Bishop, a young woman who will be trained by Barton to take on the mantle of Hawkeye. "What I get to do in the show ultimately is shepherd an amazing character, ultimately a better version of me and the sentiment of that is the fiber of what Hawkeye is, at least what I think Hawkeye is — a superhero without superpowers and I get to teach someone else to be a superhero without super powers," Renner told the Hall H crowd on Saturday. Kevin Feige added that the Hawkeye series will also partially explore Hawkeye's life after The Snap when his entire family disappeared and he became the vigilante known as Ronin. Hawkeye is slated to debut on Disney+ in Fall 2021.

Now, just who is Kate Bishop? The young hero was first introduced in Young Avengers #1 over a decade ago during a time when Clint Barton was considered deceased at the hands of Scarlet Witch. In addition to archery, Bishop is also quite skilled in swordsmanship, jujitsu, and other forms of combat, and proves herself to be a worthy successor of the Hawkeye mantle. When Clint Barton returned to life, as seems to happen with comic-book heroes, the elder Hawkeye assisted Kate Bishop in her training. However, the pair didn't always have the best relationship and Bishop wound up moving to Los Angeles to run a detective agency along with Clint's dog, Lucky.

As for who should fill the role of Kate Bishop in the Hawkeye series, that's up to you, but I'll toss out a few suggestions to get you started. Katherine Langford (13 Reasons Why) joined the cast of AVENGERS: ENDGAME last year, and while many theorized that she would be playing Kate Bishop, she wound up playing an entirely different character who was cut from the film. Landing on the cutting room floor may prove to be a blessing in disguise as it could allow her to take on the larger role of Kate Bishop. As a huge fan of HBO's The Leftovers, I always have my eye out for whichever project its talented cast takes on next, and I think that Margaret Qualley, who will be seen in Quentin Tarantino's ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD, would be a perfect fit for the character. After finding myself impressed with Maika Monroe in THE GUEST and IT FOLLOWS, I feel that she's due for something bigger, and a role in an event series which could very well lead to bigger Marvel projects might just be the ticket.

Remember, you're free to suggest anyone in the comments, so let your inner casting director run wild!

Previously on Cast This, you were asked to fill the role of Dream from Netflix's upcoming adaption of Neil Gaiman's "The Sandman" graphic-novel. As usual, you came through with plenty of great suggestions to take on the character, including Cillian Murphy (Peaky Blinders), Matt Smith (The Crown), and Eddie Redmayne (FANTASTICS BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD).