‘Hawkeye’: Vera Farmiga to Boast the Most Intriguing Character Arc in the MCU Show?
The upcoming Disney+ Marvel show Hawkeye will presumably present a denoument for Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner). He will train Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), who will become his worthy successor in future Marvel Cinematic Universe installments. And while these character arcs may be center stage, they may not be the ones that captivate viewers most.
Casting directors over at Disney pick their supporting actors with attention to detail. With more money than one could imagine, almost no actor is out of reach. Thus, Vera Farmiga’s casting as Eleanor Bishop should raise a few eyebrows. Why cast someone of Farmiga’s caliber – a Golden Globe and Oscar nominee known for Up in the Air and Bates Motel — merely to play a maternal figure bearing little narrative consequence and/or little screen time? The studio likely has plans for Farmiga beyond “the mom” of a future hero. Farmiga may be a supporting character, but her arc could take the spotlight and extend beyond the limited series.
What to expect of Eleanor Bishop in ‘Hawkeye’
In the comics, Eleanor Bishop supposedly dies on a trip to Boulder, Colorada, leaving her husband behind to raise their two children, including Kate. Yet, readers later discover that she is alive, and directing the activities of Kate’s nemesis, Madame Masque. But why?
In some interactions of the tale, Derek kills Eleanor and she is resurrected as a half-vampire. She turns to Masque to access the resources she needs to find Derek and exact revenge. Out of shame and embarrassment, she keeps such information from her daughter. Yet, Masque is a villain – and a primary one at that when it comes to Kate and Clint.
Vera Farmiga’s Eleanor Bishop could become the most complex and unpredictable character in the show
If Eleanor is resurrected as a half-vampire, she could end up playing a double agent, internally conflicted and battling against the vampiric needs and urges within her. Such would make Farmiga’s character one of the most captivating and unpredictable of the bunch in the upcoming show.
Does she turn to the dark side as a means to an end? Does she make choices she will regret, or does she outsmart Madame Masque at every turn? Will she be a force for good turned evil, or will humanity, motherly instincts, and empathy win out?
From Farmiga’s unsettling performance in Bates Motel to her turns in The Conjuring and Orphan, she has what it takes – the look and the skill — to play a character one doesn’t know whether to trust, whether to love or hate, whether to pray for or against.
