Black Widow In Hawkeye's Show Repeats The MCU's Clint Problem

Featuring Yelena Belova, who's set to take on the Black Widow mantle, in Hawkeye's Disney+ series repeats Marvel's biggest mistake with Clint Barton in the MCU. The Avengers' resident marksman has been in the franchise since Kenneth Branagh's Thor released in 2011, although his proper debut didn't come until a year later in The Avengers. Despite that, there hasn't been much time devoted to fleshing out his story - something that his own TV show will, hopefully, rectify.

Announced at Marvel Studios' Hall H panel during San Diego Comic-Con 2019, the Hawkeye series will see the return of Renner as the bow-and-arrow-wielding Avenger, this time in a project that focuses on his story. Plot points are still scant at the moment, but it's also been confirmed that Kate Bishop will appear in the show as well; official casting has yet to be announced for the character, however. The Hawkeye show is believed to be taking inspiration from Matt Fraction and David Aja's Hawkeye comic book run, which features both Clint Barton and Kate Bishop. But if a recent rumor comes to fruition, Hawkeye will feature another key MCU player in Yelena.

Set to debut in Scarlett Johansson's long-overdue Black Widow movie, Pugh's Yelena will presumably take over the hero persona from Natasha Romanoff since the Avenger died in Avengers: Endgame. While it's unclear how she will be involved in Hawkeye, Pugh will supposedly sport a Ronin-inspired suit in the series, similar to the one Clint donned in Endgame. As cool as the idea is to have Yelena show up on the Disney+ series, moving forward with the idea contradicts the reason the project is happening in the first place - to finally devote time and effort to developing Clint Barton. Bringing in someone like Yelena who is perceived to play a major role in the MCU's future will take away focus on Hawkeye and his story.

Clint Barton as Ronin in the rain in Avengers: Endgame

It's no secret that out of all the six original Avengers, Hawkeye and Black Widow have always gotten the shortest end of the stick, with regards to character growth. Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), and Captain America (Chris Evans) were given their own film series, while Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) gets a significant amount of screen time in ensemble and team-up movies. Despite her controversial death in Endgame, at least Natasha is getting a solo film that looks like it's actually centered on her - and with its main goal wrapping up her story in a meaningful and satisfying way. It doesn't seem like it will be the case for Clint, however, even with his own spinoff show in the works. The titular hero already has to share the limelight with Kate, as it means to tackle her origins simultaneously with his backstory. Now with Yelena rumored to also appear, Hawkeye's focus will be further splintered since it will also need time to devote to establishing the new Black Widow's connection into either Clint or Kate, depending on how Marvel Studios wants to do it.

At this point in the MCU, it's crazy to think that someone like Hawkeye, who's a member of the original Avengers lineup, still hasn't had a solid, personal narrative. Avengers: Age of Ultron did explore his life outside of being a superhero, by revealing his family, which ultimately set up his Ronin transformation in Endgame, but that's nothing compared to what his fellow founding heroes have gotten from Marvel Studios. Since the Hawkeye show will address this unfair treatment of the character, the least they can do is to make sure that it's able to achieve what it's set out to do in the first place.

More: How Hawkeye Can Get A Proper MCU Origin Story On Disney+