There's a huge amount of excitement for the Hawkeye TV series coming to Disney+, not least because we're going to meet Hailee Steinfeld's Kate Bishop. That's another Young Avenger added to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it's the return of Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova that has had everyone talking in recent weeks.
In Black Widow's post-credits scene, Yelena was tasked with taking out Clint Barton by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, a mission she was only too glad to accept given how she clearly blames him for Natasha Romanoff's death.
Now, The Cosmic Circus is reporting that Hawkeye will be a six-part series (rather than the eight listed on IMDb), with Pugh's former Red Room operative set to appear in "multiple" instalments. The site seems pretty confident that we'll be watching the show by November, and adds that Julia Louis-Dreyfus has yet to shoot any sort of cameo for the series.
It's definitely good to hear that Yelena won't be making a one-off appearance, and this seemingly indicates that Hawkeye will explore the grief she feels over losing Natasha in a meaningful way. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has teased plans to reveal whether she was among those "blipped" by Thanos, and if that was the case, chances are she's been dealing with an awful lot of guilt.
By the time all is said and done, we'd be willing to bet that this series will be used to put Yelena on a heroic path that sees her pick up where Natasha left off...well, that or she becomes a full-blown villain and a member of what's beginning to look like Val's team of Dark Avengers!
Where do you see her story going?