‘Hawkeye’: All of Kate Bishop’s Superhero Name Changes in Marvel Comics
At the end of the Disney+ series Hawkeye, after the heroes cleaned up most loose ends, Hailee Steinfeld’s character pitched a few ideas for Kate Bishop’s superhero name to Clint Barton. One of them was Lady Hawk. While she never went by that name in the Marvel comics, Kate has tried out more than a few aliases.
The ‘Young Avengers’ comics gave 4 possibilities for Kate Bishop’s superhero name
In 2005, Marvel ran a comic series called Young Avengers in which a team of superheroes posed as sidekicks to Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, and more. However, when they found themselves in a tight spot, Kate Bishop rescued them — twice.
She officially joined the team in Young Avengers #4. Her new teammates asked what was Kate Bishop’s superhero name and suggested Hawkingbird.
Later, in Young Avengers #6, the team tried to assign new codenames. Kate’s teammate Billy (whom WandaVision fans might recognize) suggested Weapon-Woman or Task-Mistress while Cassie Lang said she liked Hawkingbird.
While the hero Patriot jokingly called her Hawkeye, Kate Bishop refused to take the name at first. Even in Young Avengers #12, the last issue of the series, Spider-Woman called her Hawkeye, and Kate shut it down again.
However, Captain America himself assigned her the name Hawkeye later that same issue, along with Clint Barton’s bow and arrows.
Kate Bishop’s superhero name has gotten confusing when both she and Clint Barton used Hawkeye
The Scarlet Witch has a habit of unleashing the absurd amount of power she wields. It often unintentionally causes problems for the Avengers and the entire Marvel Universe. In Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #6, the Avengers and Young Avengers tried to save her from herself.
Kate Bishop’s Young Avengers teammate Speed rushed around, covering her and Clint Barton. However, because both heroes used the alias Hawkeye at the time, Speed nicknamed her Hawkette. Kate did not care for the nickname, but Clint liked the sound of it.
The Disney+ show took plenty of inspiration from Matt Fraction’s run on Hawkeye in 2012. In the seventh issue of his run, Kate tried to stop a robbery but ended up blindsided. Luckily, a mob blocked the would-be robbers, and a civilian called her Lady Hawkman.
However, Kate Bishop had fully embraced Hawkeye as her superhero name by that point and corrected the man.
The archer had a few other hero aliases, including Lady Hawkeye
Because time travel happens to superheroes as often as a trip to the grocery store, Kate once found herself coming across Clint Barton from the past on a small jungle island. This Clint Barton came from before they met, so Kate Bishop’s superhero name became Hawk-ess in the comic.
The last superhero name Kate Bishop was called came from the villain MODOK (disguised as the not-so-inconspicuous BRODOK) in the 2018 West Coast Avengers #3. Because Clint Barton was also on the team using the name Hawkeye, the villain called her Lady Hawkeye several times.
However, even with all the nicknames and suggestions, Kate Bishop’s superhero name has consistently been Hawkeye.
And with the end of the Hawkeye series teasing Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) passing the name to her, it seems the Marvel Cinematic Universe might have received its new official Hawkeye.
