In Black Widow's post-credits scene, Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) is given a mission to assassinate Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) but it may be part of a wider scheme to recruit the other Hawkeye, Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld). Yelena's marching orders came from her new boss, Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis Dreyfuss), who is in the process of assembling heroes for a new team. Whether Val's slowly growing supergroup will be known as the Thunderbolts or the Dark Avengers, chances are they'll need their own marksman and Kate Bishop could be their Hawkeye, but Clint Barton may need to die for it to happen.
Black Widow's main story is set in the aftermath of 2016's Captain America: Civil War but its real impact on the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was glimpsed in the film's post-credits scene. When Yelena visited Natasha Romanoff's (Scarlett Johansson) grave in Ohio, Valentina de Fontaine rudely interrupted Belova mourning her fallen 'sister' and pointed Yelena at her new target: Clint Barton. Val blamed Barton as the reason that Natasha was dead and implied it was Hawkeye who killed Black Widow. It's not clear how much Yelena and the general public know about what happened between Clint and Natasha on Vormir that led to Romanoff sacrificing herself for the Soul Stone in Avengers: Endgame, but Contessa de Fontaine painted Barton as Natasha's killer to motivate Yelena to assassinate Hawkeye.
Val debuted in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, which may be set after the events of Black Widow's post-credits scene in 2024. Regardless, by the conclusion of those two MCU Phase 4 projects, de Fontaine has two superheroes on her payroll: Yelena and U.S. Agent John Walker (Wyatt Russell). This essentially means that Valentina, who represents an unnamed secret organization, now has new versions of Black Widow and Captain America answering to her. Val isn't recruiting former Avengers and she never approached the new Captain America, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), or even Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan). Instead, de Fontaine is hiring the next generation of heroes who have similar capabilities and identities as the more well-known Avengers.
As the big picture of MCU Phase 4 starts to become clearer, Yelena's next appearance is set to be in Disney+'s Hawkeye series, which will continue the more ground-level saga of Phase 4 while shows like Loki and films like the upcoming Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness expand the MCU's Multiverse. But so far, Valentina has not been bringing superpowered beings to her side and she's concentrating on more 'street level' heroes like Yelena Belova and John Walker. To what ends de Fontaine is recruiting isn't clear but there's ample reason to suspect that Yelena's mission in Hawkeye has more levels than just taking Clint Barton out. It's what happens to his protégé, Kate Bishop, and what Valentina might have planned for the female Hawkeye that really bears watching.
Judging by her picks so far, Valentina is obviously recruiting newer heroes who are a reflection of the Avengers but outright sending Yelena to kill Clint Barton is a curious move that bears examination. After all, de Fontaine didn't try to have Sam Wilson assassinated even after he took the shield and mantle of Captain America from John Walker. Yet the Contessa, who is following the directives of the shadowy organization she works for, gave the order that Clint Barton must die.
So, what does Val have to gain by eliminating the original Hawkeye? For one thing, Barton's death takes an original Avenger off the game board. It's telling that there's no attempt to recruit Clint instead, but Val must realize that Barton can't be bought or corrupted. The original Hawkeye is also damaged goods because of two factors: his bloody rampage as Ronin where he slaughtered criminals in his grief over his family dying from Thanos' (Josh Brolin) snap and the fact that Hawkeye may reveal that Clint is suffering from hearing loss and wears a hearing aid. However, Clint's activities as Ronin may be what sparked the kill order on Barton because he may have executed people related to Valentina's employers, hence this revenge plot.
There's also poetic irony in Val sending Yelena to take out Clint Barton under the falsehood that Hawkeye is responsible for Natasha's death. But by the time Belova gets to Barton in Hawkeye, he and Kate Bishop will already be in cahoots. It would make more sense that Yelena's assassination mission is part of a two-pronged strategy to eliminate Kate's mentor so that she can be brought into Valentina's Dark Avengers-type team.
MCU fans haven't met Kate Bishop yet but the young archer has an established history in Marvel Comics as a member of the Young Avengers, Clint Barton's partner as Hawkeye, as a private investigator in Los Angeles, and Kate even led a version of the West Coast Avengers. But part of what motivates Kate as a superhero is rebelling against her insidious parents, who have criminal connections. Hawkeye will introduce Eleanor Bishop (Vera Farmiga), Kate's mother, who appears to have shadowy business dealings.
While Kate's father doesn't appear to have been cast in Hawkeye, Derek Bishop is a wealthy and abusive man in Marvel Comics who is in league with crooks and supervillains, including Kate's arch-nemesis Madame Masque. It may even be possible that Derek Bishop is part of the secret organization that employs Valentina. This could mean that eliminating Clint Barton is an order that could have come from Kate's father meant to facilitate bringing his daughter into the fold.
The new Hawkeye, Kate Bishop, is a prodigy and she's the other best marksman in the world besides Clint Barton. But Kate is also young, stubborn, idealistic, very sure of herself, and, presumably, can be manipulated, especially if she's separated from her mentor. In Marvel Comics, Clint and Kate have a bit of a love-hate relationship where she's often exasperated with the older Hawkeye, which could be adapted into the Disney+ series. Regardless, Kate Bishop is the future and she's a big part of the next generation of MCU heroes so it would make sense that Valentina would want her in the Dark Avengers. Kate is also a Hawkeye and she can be defined by that name in a way Clint Barton wasn't since 'Hawkeye' was his S.H.I.E.L.D. codename and Barton didn't play into that identity even in his public role as an Avenger.
What's more, Kate Bishop is played by Hailee Steinfeld, who is a highly-regarded, immensely talented Academy Award-nominee. It's unlikely Steinfeld was hired by Marvel Studios to only star in six episodes of Hawkeye on Disney+. It makes more sense that there's a bigger plan for Steinfeld in the MCU and being pulled into the Dark Avengers (whether or not Hawkeye signs onto the team like Yelena and John Walker did) would set up a greater role for Kate Bishop in Phase 4. Yelena Belova's Hawkeye mission could be about more than just killing Clint Barton and the real target could be his young protégé all along. Kate Bishop could very well prove to be the real prize Countess Valentina de Fontaine is after.
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