A fan who became the hero she idolized
Most MCU heroes get their start through an accident, an experiment or a royal title. Kate gets hers through fandom. As a kid in New York she saw Hawkeye in action during the alien attack on the city, a man with no powers holding his own next to gods and super soldiers, and she decided she would learn to shoot a bow. By the time the Hawkeye series begins, she is an adult with world-class archery skills, a black belt's worth of martial arts training and far more confidence than experience.
She is also rich, funny and chaotic. Her father died when she was young, and her mother Eleanor, who runs a security company, raised her in Manhattan comfort. That background gives her money, gadgets and access, but no idea how the street-level criminal world works.
Her appearances in order
- What If...? (series, optional): an alternate-universe animated appearance
- Hawkeye (series, recommended)
- The Marvels (film, recommended): a short end-credits scene
- Marvel Zombies (series, optional): animated, set in a separate universe
Hawkeye is her only full role, so nearly everything about her MCU story so far lives in this single season, which makes it easy to catch up on.
What happens to her, spoiler-light
The plot kicks off when Kate stumbles into an underground auction and walks out wearing the Ronin suit, the costume Clint used during his darkest years. To a crime syndicate, that means Ronin is back, and they come after her. Clint tracks her down to clean up the mess before it reaches his family, and the two end up working together across a snowy New York holiday season.
The heart of the show is their relationship. Clint is tired and wants to go home; Kate wants a mentor and keeps calling him her hero to his face. Over the season she learns that heroism is more about responsibility than cool trick arrows, and he starts to see that someone could carry the name after him. Her own family turns out to be more tangled in the danger than she expected, too.
The characters around her
Her closest bond is with Clint Barton, of course. Eleanor Bishop, played by Vera Farmiga, is her mother, and Jack Duquesne is Eleanor's charming new fiance, whom Kate does not trust at all. Lucky the Pizza Dog, a one-eyed golden retriever, steals every scene he is in. Maya Lopez, a deaf fighter tied to the syndicate, appears as a rival, and a familiar face from Black Widow arrives later in the season with her own reasons for being there. Our full MCU character list covers each of them.
Hailee Steinfeld as Kate
Hailee Steinfeld plays Kate with fast, bright comic timing that keeps the show light even when the plot gets violent. Her energy plays perfectly against Jeremy Renner's weary Clint. Outside the MCU she is known for True Grit, for the Pitch Perfect sequels, for Bumblebee and for voicing Gwen Stacy in the Spider-Verse animated films, plus Vi in the animated series Arcane.
How to watch her story
Watch Avengers: Endgame first, since Clint's grief and the Ronin years drive the plot. Black Widow is a smart second step because its post-credits scene sets up one of the show's later arrivals. Then watch Hawkeye in the series guide for the full picture, and keep an eye on our character pages for any future appearances. Many fans expect Kate to return in a younger team of heroes, and the end-credits scene of The Marvels points in that direction.