Hawkeye (Katherine Elizabeth "Kate" Bishop) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Allan Heinberg and artist Jim Cheung, Bishop first appeared in Young Avengers #1 (April 2005). She is the third character and first female to take the Hawkeye name, after Clint Barton of the Avengers and Wyatt McDonald of the Squadron Supreme. Her costume appearance is patterned on the first Hawkeye and Mockingbird.
Hailee Steinfeld portrays Kate Bishop in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) series Hawkeye on Disney+.
Publication history
Hawkeye first appeared in Young Avengers #1 (April 2005), created by writer Allan Heinberg and artist Jim Cheung. She is first introduced as Kate Bishop and in issue #12 she takes up the Hawkeye mantle as the original Hawkeye was dead at the time after being killed in Avengers #502.
Alongside Clint Barton, Kate Bishop co-starred in Matt Fraction and David Aja's series Hawkeye (2012).
Hawkeye appeared in the 2013 Young Avengers series by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie.
Kate Bishop co-starred with Clint Barton in the All-New Hawkeye series by Jeff Lemire and Ramon Perez (2015), redesigned by Leonardo Romero.
Kate starred in her own Hawkeye book, written by Kelly Thompson, starting in the fall 2016 Marvel NOW! catalog. The book was cancelled with its 16th issue in early 2018. Thompson would then create the 2018 incarnation of the West Coast Avengers, which featured Kate as the team leader.
A five-issue limited series, titled Hawkeye: Kate Bishop, by Marieke Nijkamp and Enid Balám, was released in November 2021 to tie in with Kate's MCU introduction in the Disney+ series.
Fictional character biography
Kate Bishop is the daughter of wealthy Manhattan socialites Derek Bishop and Eleanor Bishop and the sister of Susan Bishop. Eleanor was later apparently killed in Boulder, Colorado, leaving Derek to raise Kate and Susan.
Young Avengers Special
Young Avengers Special reveals that some time prior to joining the team, Kate Bishop was sexually assaulted in (what appears to be) Central Park. At first, the incident left Kate traumatized, but then it spurred her to engage in intense combat training. So far the rest of the Young Avengers are unaware of this incident, as Kate has only told her therapist and Jessica Jones. The exact nature of the attack is not made clear — only the initial ambush is shown on-panel.
Young Avengers
A "normal" civilian forcibly introduced to the Young Avengers in an early rescue attempt made by the team, Kate has demonstrated skill and level-headedness in high-pressure situations. Independent, tough-minded, and blunt, she is also an excellent archer. Her encounter with the young team led her to investigate them on her own, following them to Avengers headquarters and donning the gear of Mockingbird and Hawkeye, as well as what may be Swordsman's sword and Black Widow's belt. When Kate first appears wearing Mockingbird's mask, Patriot jokingly refers to her as "Hawkingbird." She invites herself to join the team after freeing them and helps them in their battle against Kang the Conqueror. She was subsequently confirmed as a member of the team.
After the team's first adventure stopping Kang the Conqueror, Captain America and Iron Man ordered the team to break up and refused to train the team without their parents' consent. However, Kate Bishop still wanted to be a Young Avenger. Believing the worst Captain America and Iron Man could do was inform their parents, Kate took the team to an abandoned warehouse previously owned by one of her father's companies, Bishop Publishing, which became the team's lair. She also had new uniforms made for them, since Cap told them to "never wear those uniforms again."
Kate is close with her friend and teammate Stature, and has a certain degree of chemistry with teammate Patriot, although their relationship is punctuated by near-constant bickering and one-upmanship; when Stature observed that "no matter what happens" Wiccan and Hulkling "have each other" and Kate has Patriot, Kate immediately objected, saying "all we do is fight". The team's newest member, Speed, immediately referred to Patriot as "your boyfriend," prompting another denial by Kate. Upon meeting Speed for the first time, she was not her usual composed self (for lack of a codename, her self-introduction stalled after "I’m..."). Still, she is the driving member of the team, pushing everyone to stay together and operates as the team's unofficial deputy-leader when Patriot's not around, even giving him occasional orders.