At around midnight tonight, Hawkeye‘s final episode (for now, at least) will begin, and we’ll see Kate Bishop square off against a major Marvel villain. But just shy of a week ago, she had a big run-in with a significant antihero: Florence Pugh‘s Yelena Belova. Both characters are now effectively “younger sister” versions of key Avengers, and may well have to work together in later movies. For now, though, Hailee Steinfeld has a different take on the tense Kate-Yelena dynamic that we saw play out over flavored boxed pasta.
“It’s this ‘girls’ night in,’ essentially, over some mac and cheese with hot sauce,” she tells The Hollywood Reporter. “And you realize that there’s a lot of depth to this scene, to these characters individually and now to the connection that they have with each other. And we notice and pick up on the fact that they’re both yearning for this connection, and they find that, even though that’s not the task at hand. They’re both living through these very high stakes and are trying to protect those that they love. So it pits them against each other in a way that they aren’t willing to accept, really.”
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But if they had to fight physically? “If they were to fight, Yelena would probably win in two seconds,” allows Steinfeld. “But I think there’s a fine line between Kate being genuinely afraid of this person and curious about this person. I think she’s more curious. There’s this connection that she feels with Yelena as somebody who is in a similar situation. They’re living in this world of chaos, they’re fighting to stay alive and they’re fighting to protect those that they love. And in the midst of all this, they connect with each other.”
“There’s this sense of, ‘We might as well be friends through all of this,’ while knowing that if they were to fight, Yelena would take her in two seconds. So I think there’s a fine line. She’s curious, but she’s also curious as to why she’s trying to do what she’s trying to do.”
We’ll have to wait and see if that fight happens tonight. Or if the two will meet again in a future season or project. For now, here’s a new poster for the finale:
Do you think Kate would ever have a chance against Yelena? Let us know in comments.
Recommended Reading: Hawkeye, Vol. 1: My Life as a Weapon
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