#ComicBytes: The story of Kate Bishop, the first female Hawkeye
Recently, photos from the set of the upcoming Disney+ Hawkeye series were widely shared, which showed Hailee Steinfeld taking on the role of Kate Bishop. While the ardent fans of Marvel comics know Bishop quite well, people who only watch the MCU films might not know her. So, here is a quick overview of the history of Marvel's first female Hawkeye, Kate Bishop.
The daughter of publishing magnate Derek Bishop, Kate was born into a wealthy family. But, when she followed her father to a meeting with villain El Matador, she was captured at a pretty young age. Luckily, however, she escaped as the Avengers infiltrated the place. This encounter also established Hawkeye as her new role model since he was the only non-powered Avenger present.
As she grew up, a traumatic incident changed her life. She was sexually assaulted while walking in Central Park. The ordeal eventually motivated her to learn self-defense, which led to her proficiency in swordplay, archery, and martial arts. Her training was put to use when she saved the Young Avengers during her sister's wedding by using one of Patriot's throwing stars.
Kate eventually joined the team along with Cassie Lang. When Captain America and Iron Man ordered to shut down the Young Avengers, Kate used her family's wealth to get new uniforms and a training base. She even stood up to Captain America about their need for training. Impressed by her, Cap gave her Clint Barton's codename Hawkeye and also his bow and arrows.
During the Civil War, Hawkeye was on Captain America's side, which is why she unknowingly insulted a resurrected Clint for donning Cap's mantle. But this somehow convinced Clint to leave Tony Stark's side and take up the mantle of Ronin. After this, Clint tested Kate a couple of times (in his weird ways) before officially passing on his bow to the new Hawkeye.
As Hawkeye, Kate has been a part of many adventures. But since the show also features Jeremy Renner as the original Hawkeye, Clint Barton, this is what you should expect. As predicted (and later confirmed by the set photos), this show is based on Matt Fraction and David Aja's popular Hawkeye series, which chronicles Kate and Clint's team-up featuring Lucky the Pizza Dog.
