From almost the second Hawkeye was confirmed to be in development as an exclusive Disney Plus series, Hailee Steinfeld was installed as the front-runner and overwhelming favorite to play Kate Bishop in the Marvel Cinematic Universe show.
The rumors about her casting swirled for months before finally being made official by the studio, but we already knew by that point when set photos showing her in costume shooting on the New York City subway system had been widely circulated online weeks beforehand.
Marvel auditions a huge number of stars, many of whom end up landing completely different parts further down the line, but at the global press conference for Hawkeye, Kevin Feige admitted that Steinfeld was hand-picked to bring Clint Barton’s protege to life.
“Hailee did not audition. We were very, very lucky that Hailee was open to this because we very much believed that she was sort of the prototype for the character… As occasionally happens, the dream version of the character agrees to do it. I think there were some early meetings and discussions, but we were very thankful that she wanted to jump into this role because we had a feeling that she would be great, and she is.”
That’s got to be a huge badge of honor for Steinfeld, who has specifically chosen by one of the most powerful figures in the industry to co-lead a blockbuster superhero series that forms a key part of Phase Four. The 24 year-old is going to become an increasingly integral figure in the mythology as Phase Four progresses, and while the Young Avengers speculation hasn’t been confirmed as of yet, we’ll be seeing plenty of Kate all across the film and television slate.