This week’s episode of Hawkeye gave fans yet another surprise with the appearance of a familiar face. Florence Pugh made her television debut as the Black Widow assassin Yelena Belova, Natasha Romanoff’s adoptive sister from Black Widow.
Directing duo Bert and Bertie spoke to Entertainment Tonight about the surprise cameo and the rooftop fight scene involving Clint (Jeremy Renner), Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox), and Yelena Belova.
“To bring her story into this was such a dream come true,” Bert told ET. “So, being a fan of Florence and what she had done with Yelena’s character, [it] was very exciting.”
Yelena’s return was teased in the post-credits scene of Black Widow. In that scene, Belova was assigned by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (played by Julia Louis-Dryfuss) to kill Barton, who she said was “responsible” for Black Widow’s death in Avengers: Endgame. Fontaine first appeared in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier where she was seen recruiting John Walker (Wyatt Russell).
In this week’s episode of Hawkeye, Yelena appeared as a masked assassin, attacking Clint on a rooftop as Kate was breaking into Maya’s apartment. A fight ensued between the four with Belova’s identity being revealed at the end of the episode.
Bert and Bertie praised Pugh for her work on the show. They told ET that they came in with a “strong command and understanding of her character, and what [Pugh] wanted to do with the storyline.”
“Watching her decision-making and being really brave with the character not only was inspiring, but also just a lot of fun,” Bert told ET. “What’s great about her is she’s batsh*t crazy. She’s like us!”
When talking about the fight scene, Bert told ET that they wanted to make sure that the actors showed that their characters were all fighting for different reasons. “We always believe a fight scene is so much stronger when there’s a story running through it,” she said.
The duo also praised all four of the actors for their stunt choreography in the episode. “Having actors that are so able and so capable and so willing to be part of the physicality of it means that we can keep my cameras on them for longer and keep the audience in the action for longer. So, it was a gift to us,” Bert said, via ET.
Yelena Belova is not the only character anticipated for the series. In last week’s episode, “Echoes”, a young Maya Lopez was seen with a large suited man caressing her cheeks and sounding a distinct laugh. Fans anticipate that Kingpin (played by Vicent D’Onoforio) will be returning to the MCU from the Netflix-Marvel shows.
Today’s episode of Hawkeye is available to stream on Disney+. New episodes premiere every Wednesday.