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Hawkeye
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How to Watch the Marvel Movies in Order
The penultimate episode of Marvel’s Hawkeye brought all the big, last-minute reveals that we’ve come to expect towards the end of these Disney+ shows. You think you have a handle on who the real villain of a show is? Just wait until that next-to-last-episode, baby! Marvel Studios loves throwing a twist in right in the home stretch — and Hawkeye’s twist is really next level.
Hawkeye Episode 5, a chapter titled “Ronin,” gave us a bunch of confrontations that we’ve been waiting to see. We got to see Florence Pugh and Hailee Steinfeld share a scene together, which was every bit as delightful and weirdly wonderful as we’d hoped. Meet your new Black Widow and Hawkeye, everybody! We also got to see Echo throw down with Ronin, which further cemented Maya Lopez as one of the MCU’s premier badasses. And we even got to see Kate confront her mom about her boyfriend’s shady-as-hell business practices. Judging by the last scene of Episode 5, though, Kate and Eleanor have an even bigger confrontation coming up next week.
So, what else did you spot in “Ronin”? Did you miss any other Marvel Comics Easter eggs in this episode of Hawkeye? Here are some of the ones we found during our examination of Hawkeye Episode 5. SPOILERS ahead, duh!
The 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' tie-in
During their mac ‘n’ cheese gab sesh/interrogation, Yelena (Florence Pugh) lists all of the New York City sites that she’d kill to see. The list includes the “new and improved Statue of Liberty,” which is a reference to something we see in the trailers for Spider-Man: No Way Home. As you can see in the above right shot, the MCU’s Statue of Liberty is undergoing a renovation. Specifically, Lady Liberty is having a big ol’ Captain America shield affixed to her arm. This means that Hawkeye has to take place during Christmas 2024 since the previous Spider-Man movie, Far From Home, took place in summer 2024.
And I know nitpickers are gonna point out that the Statue of Liberty is covered in scaffolding in the No Way Home trailer and Yelena says she wants to go see the “new and improved Statue of Liberty.” Trust me: New Yorkers are definitely used to our landmarks being covered in scaffolding for what feels like an eternity. They’re still destination spots for tourists.
Who is Eleanor Bishop?
This week’s episode revealed that Eleanor Bishop is involved in some shady stuff. She knows how to hire a Black Widow assassin, for one thing! And yeah, she hangs out with Kingpin. I think it’s time we talk about who Eleanor Bishop is in the comics. Should we have seen this twist coming all along?
I mean… yes. So, in the comics, it was Kate’s mother—not her father—who died mysteriously when she was young. But it was revealed in 2018’s Hawkeye series that Eleanor’s husband Derek actually killed her when she found out about his illegal activities. And then Hawkeye #16 that Kate Bishop was, in fact, alive — and allied with Kate’s arch-nemesis Madame Masque. Eleanor’s story continued in the 2018 West Coast Avengers series, where it was further revealed that Eleanor Bishop was turned into a vampire sometime while she was M.I.A. So in the comics, Kate’s dad is alive and a criminal, and Kate’s mom is undead and frequently allies herself with criminals.
So yeah, this shouldn’t be a surprise for all the diehard Kate Bishop fans out there.
The 'Black Widow' post-credits tie-in
This episode reveals more about Yelena’s mission to kill Hawkeye. She says that she’s been hired to kill the man who killed her sister, which is a great example of getting paid to do something you’d do for free. And as Yelena finds out at the end of the episode, she was hired by Eleanor Bishop. But wait — didn’t we see Yelena get her assignment in the Black Widow post-credits scene? And wasn’t she contracted by Julia Louis-Dreyfus?
Go back and watch that scene again. In the scene, we learn that Yelena has been working under Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (which I think is her full name but I’m just so tired of Googling it) for a little while. Then Louis-Dreyfus says, “I’ve got your next target. Thought I’d hand-deliver it. Maybe you’d like a shot at the man responsible for your sister’s death.” Knowing what we now know, it seems incredibly likely that the Black Widow post-credits scene overlaps with Hawkeye Episode 4; Eleanor probably ordered the hit after her confrontation with Clint in her mansion, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus was the go-between for Eleanor and Yelena.
The Kingpin
You can read a whole article breaking down this massive reveal, or you can read this very quick summation. We find out in the final seconds of the episode that Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio) is the big boss of the Tracksuit Mafia and he’s the guy who ordered the hit on Maya Lopez’s dad. On top of all that, he’s friendly with Eleanor Bishop. Kingpin joins the likes of Agatha Harkness, the Power Broker, and Kang in the League of Last Minute Villain Reveals.
This is a big deal because Kingpin was previously a character, played by D’Onofrio, exclusively used in Netflix’s Marvel TV shows. Those shows were produced by a completely separate company (the now-defunct Marvel Television) and were all canceled over two years ago. Kingpin’s arrival in the MCU means that it’s possible that even more actors from the Netflix shows could find their way to Marvel Studios productions. This is really a game changer.
The Kingpin looms
And just to hammer home how massive of a deal Kingpin’s arrival is, the end title sequence concludes with the reveal that Clint and Kate are standing in the imposing silhouette of the Kingpin. Come on — that’s rad!
