A new poster from Hawkeye has revealed Yelena Belova's updated look ahead of the series' upcoming finale. Being the latest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's over-arching story, the series has opened up new storylines and tied up previously abandoned loose ends. Returning cast members of the films of the MCU include Jeremy Renner, Linda Cardellini, and Florence Pugh, alongside newcomers Hailee Steinfeld, Alaqua Cox, Vera Farmiga, and Tony Dalton.
The series picks up Clint Barton's story one year after the events of Avengers: Endgame as he attempts to get home to his family for the holidays with the help of the young archer, Kate Bishop, all-the-while dodging enemies from his past as the murderous vigilante, Ronin. Pugh reprises her role as Yelena from the 2021 film Black Widow, where she fought alongside her sister, Natasha Romanoff, whose death she blames on Barton. Hawkeye premiered on November 24 and will conclude on December 22.
In a Twitter post from the official Avengers account, an image unveiling Yelena's new look for the upcoming episode was revealed. The outfit features a much darker color scheme from her previous "White Widow" outfit featured in her earlier appearances. The darker scheme also complimented the purple throughout the poster and added a purple tint to Yelena's new suit. View the post below:
After a large part of Yelena's previous costume was the tactical vest given to her by her sister, many have wondered whether or not Yelena would eventually inherit the Black Widow mantle with an outfit of her own. She was even seen handing it over to Natasha as a symbol of their love and respect for each other, which the latter wore with pride on the battlefield against Thanos. However, she was later seen with a separate vest in a previous episode of Hawkeye, an aspect some may have argued took away from the significance of the original vest in Black Widow.
Even with the new vest seen in a Hawkeye flashback, the unveiling of a new suit for Yelena has only highlighted her potential future of discovering her own identity within the mantle and her own identity as a character without Natasha Romanoff. Furthermore, Yelena adopting a darker color scheme hints at her becoming a more comic accurate Black Widow in the future of Phase Four and potentially taking up the title officially. Either way, audiences can stream Hawkeye on Disney+ right now in preparation for the finale.
Source: Avengers via Twitter