With Hawkeye rapidly approaching production this summer, and Jeremy Renner confirming the other day that his training is beginning for the role, the big question remaining is who will play Kate Bishop. There are also people out there hinting at things such as Hailee not being Kate Bishop and someone else getting the role, so I figured I should try to clarify what appears to be going on behind the scenes.

A couple of weeks ago I ran a report talking about how Marvel was exploring other options in case the Hailee Steinfeld situation couldn’t be worked out. Since then, word emerged that one of the two they met with (the one who was in a big-budget sci-fi movie recently) became a favorite and was very close to the role. Some people even thought that she was already cast, when I don’t think it was that final; just super close to happening. However there’s more going on beyond that.

While Hailee was always Marvel’s first choice for the series, it’s possible their interest has moved on to that other actress due to the difficulty over the last few months. Despite that, there soon will be an effort behind the scenes by one side to try to salvage the Hailee situation. It’s unknown right now if that will result in her being Kate Bishop, or maybe even a different role down the road, but things are happening quickly so there’s still a slight chance it ends up being Hailee. I’m also pretty sure if that happens the friendly narrative in interviews will be that she was always the choice (she was), despite some stuff going on behind the scenes.

I know some Hollywood Trades are investigating the whole casting situation around Kate Bishop and keeping an eye on it. So unless you see a place like The Hollywood Reporter or Variety confirming that someone is in “final talks” or cast, I wouldn’t get too stressed out over rumors being spread over one person being cast or not. Whoever it ends up being, the whole thing will most likely be resolved within the next few weeks as Hawkeye ramps up toward its summer shoot.

About Author Jeremy Conrad https://mcucosmic.com/ Jeremy has been active on the web since the 90s. He once ran IGN DVD as well as other sites, and worked in the video game industry on Star Wars Galaxies. When he’s not pursing the future of Marvel movies, he’s really into tech. See author's posts