Hawkeye: Mystery Guest

Kate Bishop has gone up against some shady characters lately, but she has also seen some exciting successes, as she builds her detective agency and enters a new phase of her life. Things will soon get a little darker for Kate, though, when a face from her past shows up in HAWKEYE #8, coming July 5.

Just who is this mystery character?

Kate has seen her fair share of action as a super hero, so she has no shortage of rivals who could potentially crop up and cause trouble. On the other hand, maybe an old friend will make an appearance, and the two will find themselves fighting baddies together.

Writer Kelly Thompson weighs in on our top five guesses—without spoilers, of course!

Clint Barton

He went through a lot recently with CIVIL WAR II and the trial that followed after he killed Bruce Banner. And now we see him fighting HYDRA in SECRET EMPIRE. We’d call this a pretty interesting time for him to reunite with Kate.

Kelly Thompson: Clint and Kate are both definitely in interesting places in their lives, going through a lot and growing a lot. Does that mean they grow toward one another or away from one another? That may indeed be something we’re about to find out. They are definitely going to be connecting in the HAWKEYE GENERATIONS issue—so maybe that’s going to set them up for connecting in HAWKEYE too? All the winks…all the nudges!

Steve Rogers

Getting his blessing as Hawkeye held a lot of significance for Kate. But things have changed a lot for Steve, to put it mildly, and he and Kate would relate to each other very differently now.

Kelly Thompson: It’s pretty hard for anyone to ignore the power of Steve Rogers. And it’s probably doubly true for Kate. The Captain America stamp of approval is a big deal, especially to a young hero. But Kate is nothing if not her own person, and that’s part of what earned Cap’s respect in the first place. She’d have no problem standing up to him today, the same as in the past. Sure, she’d throw up her tacos a bit later from the stress of it all, but Kate makes the tough calls in situations, it’s simply who she is.

Cassie Lang

Cassie and Kate kept the Young Avengers together when Steve and Tony Stark told them to disband. And the two have quite a history of fighting together. We’d really enjoy watching them in action side by side.

Kelly Thompson: It’s been a long time since Kate and Cassie spent any real time together, so it’d be great to get them back together, but I think the surprise guests showing up in Kate’s life soon are a bit on the more contentious side than I’d hope Cassie would be. Still, it’d be a heck of a curveball and we are telling a detective story…so it could happen.

Madame Masque

In Matt Fraction and David Aja’s beloved HAWKEYE run, Kate went up against Madame Masque, and we’d love to see a rematch.

Kelly Thompson: I think Madame Masque was so well developed by Fraction, Aja, and Annie Wu that she’s definitely what I would call Kate’s nemesis, or certainly the top contender. Does that mean she’s destined to come back into play soon…or does that mean we should focus on other potential villains for Kate’s “rogue’s gallery”? Nobody knows! Okay, well, I do, but I’m not telling.

America Chavez

We’ve seen Kate show up in America’s book—maybe America will make an appearance in Kate’s? We really can’t get enough of Amerikate!

Kelly Thompson: I was really glad that I got to consult on Kate’s guest starring role over in America’s book as I had been planning for America to guest star in HAWKEYE well before America got her own book! So we re-jiggered things a bit to ensure we didn’t step on any toes while AMERICA was launching. Suffice to say I’m still itching to get America over into HAWKEYE and it’s basically well overdue at this point…so maybe it’s happening now? Obviously I can’t confirm or deny any of these guesses at the risk of spoiling things, but I will tell you this: at least one of these guesses is right on the money!

Find out who’s paying Kate a visit on July 5 in HAWKEYE #8 by Kelly Thompson and Leonardo Romero!