Marvel Studios has reportedly offered Hailee Steinfeld a lead role in the Hawkeye TV show - which surely means she could potentially be playing the MCU’s Kate Bishop. The last year has seen Steinfeld’s career go from strength to strength, with a series of popular and critically acclaimed films.

Steinfeld shone through as Charlie, a teenage girl who found herself caught up in the war between the Autobots and the Decepticons in Bumblebee. Her portrayal captivated audiences, adding a powerful human dynamic to a franchise that all too easily devolves into high-octane CGI robot conflict. Then she entered the superhero genre as the voice of Spider-Gwen in the award-winning Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse. More recently, she’s moved to the small screen to star in the upcoming Apple series Dickinson. Now it seems Steinfeld may be about to make her MCU debut.

According to Variety, Marvel Studios has offered her a starring role in the upcoming Disney+ Hawkeye TV series, which is no doubt the role of Kate Bishop. THR has clarified that talks are still in their early stages, but this could potentially be a major commitment for Steinfeld. The Hawkeye limited series is believed to be inspired by Matt Fraction, David Aja and Annie Wu’s comic book run, and will see Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton pass on the mantle to Kate Bishop, who becomes a member of the Young Avengers.

Introduced in Young Avengers #1 back in 2005, Kate Bishop is the daughter of a wealthy billionaire - who was secretly a crime lord. She was assaulted in Central Park, and afterwards resolved never to be vulnerable again. As a result, she trained to become a skilled martial artist, and those abilities proved particularly useful when Kate crossed paths with the Young Avengers. Kate took up the “Hawkeye” identity in Clint Barton’s honor, impressed by the fact an ordinary human could stand side-by-side with the likes of Thor and Captain America. At the time the original Hawkeye was believed to be dead; after his return, Clint happily let her keep the codename. The dynamic between the two characters is tremendous, and they co-starred in Fraction, Aja and Wu’s popular and award-winning Hawkeye comic.

No doubt the MCU will have to mix things up a little, not least because the cinematic version of Clint Barton is very different to the comics. He’s a family man, and he’s already trained and inspired younger superheroes such as Scarlet Witch. In contrast, the comic book version frequently considers himself to be something of a loser, and seems to live a life of perpetual screw-ups. That means the relationship between the two Hawkeyes will be rather different. Meanwhile, there’s been considerable speculation that the Disney+ TV shows are setting the stage for a Young Avengers movie. If that is indeed the case, should Steinfeld sign up for the role, then she could become a central figure in the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

More: Everything We Know About Marvel’s Hawkeye TV Show

Sources: THR, Variety

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