After watching Hawkeye episode 5 and seeing some of the response I can’t help but think Yelena Bolova is not only Marvel’s new Black Widow but also in many ways Marvel’s next phase OG Loki.
Spoilers for the show!
Much like when Hiddleston started playing Loki all those years ago (and before whatever the show decided to do to his character- a tale for another post) Yelena is the new chaotic neutral character.
You simply believably never know what she’s going to do. She can not only kick your ass but go from that to serving you Mac and cheese while talking about all the touristy things she wants to see in New York before she kills Clint Barton sincerely thank you for the girls night and then sincerely warn you not to get in her way.
Plus like Loki she’s played by a wildly talented and charismatic actor, a sibling of one of the OG Avengers with a dark past and interesting…
Often right in what she’s saying which is one of the things that made her conversation with Kate Bishop so much fun in the last episode (Ronin) both were right in what they were saying. Both made good points and much like Loki (okay probably even more so than early Loki) you can get through to her. She obviously took Kate Bishop’s advice to heart and figured out who hired her to kill Clint.
Which was Eleanor…
(Did she do it on her own or at the behest of the (revealed in this episode) Kingpin?
The real question is where does Val fit in? Is she some go-between? How much power will Kingpin have in this world? How much power does Val? What is she after?
It’s not unfair to point out that since Yelena did dig into who hired her and is willing to listen to and ask questions that Val definitely doesn’t control her entirely.)
It is nice, if painful, to see her and Clint grieve for Natasha and I look forward to and dread their meeting next week now that he knows who she is. And one of the wonderful things about great actors and the history in Marvel is in the taxi when Kate told him she was Natasha’s sister and he said, “Yelena…” I thought for a fleeting moment he was happy.
Maybe he is.
Nat obviously told him about her sister even though we don’t know if it was after they reconnected in Black Widow or before but he knows and he’s probably happy on some level to know for sure that his best friend’s beloved sister did make it back and is out there even if it means she’s trying to kill him. I have a feeling their round two is going to be far more emotionally charged than his show-down with Maya.
And I for one am hoping to see Hawkeye season 2 announced after the finale as they did with Loki. I know we’re getting an Echo show so I’ll get more TrackSuit Mafia there but don’t make me wait for more Kate, Pizza Dog, cool with evidence tampering LARPERS and Kate’s new best friend Yelena.
I have a feeling after next week Kate will need someone in her life who knows what it’s like to be betrayed by family. I’m hoping they stick the landing but still amazed that so far it’s looking like Hawkeye gave me the best character work of Marvel TV year one.
And I’m guessing they set this show at Christmas just so they could introduce Fisk to You’re a Mean One Mister Grinch 🙂