In its first 5 episodes, Marvel’sHawkeyehas been spreading all kinds of Christmas cheer, and one of the highlights of the show so far has been the return ofFlorence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, the sister of Natasha Romanoff who made her debut inBlack Widowearlier this year. Her conflict withJeremy Renner’s Clint Barton has been a central emotional beat for the series, and ahead of the finale this week, Marvel Studios has released a new featurette setting up their final showdown.
“When there were early discussions of if Yelena was gonna come back," Pugh says in the featurette, “I did not see it coming, that they were gonna put me and Clint against each other, which I thought was a really cool twist”. Yelena has been hired to kill Clint, and there is extra motivation there as she is led to believe that Clint was responsible for the death of her sister during the events ofAvengers: Endgame.
Meanwhile,Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop is stuck in their crosshairs, forming a unique relationship with the assassin. “Yelena is such an amazing character, and her and Kate have quite a lot of fun together,” Steinfeld said. DirectorRhys Thomasexpanded on that, saying, “Bringing someone like Florence, it really brings in an interesting dynamic with Kate. Like, I think that’s what was really fun, was actually to see how these two characters click.” Another director on the series,Bertie(of duo Bert & Bertie), chimed in with, “To see Natasha Romanov’s sister sitting [and] talking to Clint Barton’s protégé? We just sat back and really enjoyed it.”
RELATED:‘Hawkeye’ Funko Pops Features Two Versions of Florence Pugh as Yelena BelovaThe featurette ends with Pugh reflecting on her time in the MCU so far, jumping from working withScarlett Johanssonto her “scene partner” in Renner with nothing but glowing praises for the whole experience. “It’s been a really good first two years in the MCU,” Pugh said, and throughout the final moments we get a glimpse into what the final fight between her and Renner will look like: a tussle on ice, which, based on otherHawkeyefootage, must be none other than the ice rink at Rockefeller Center. Yelena’s wish of seeing “the tree” is finally coming true and this showdown, teased all the way back at the end ofBlack Widow, is finally going down.
The final episode ofHawkeyepremieres exclusively on Disney+ on December 22. Check out the full “Yelena’s Back” featurette below:
