Hawkeye episode 4's big cameo isn't the one you think it is

Major spoilers follow for Hawkeye episode 4. You've been warned.

Hawkeye episode 4 has arrived on Disney Plus – and fans have been treated to a major cameo appearance from another Marvel character.

The big twist, though, is that it isn't the individual that we thought we'd be seeing. Instead, Hawkeye episode 4 reintroduces us to an MCU character that we met for the first time earlier in 2021.

We're about to dive into full spoiler territory for Hawkeye episode 4. If you haven't watched the latest entry in the most recent Marvel Phase 4 project, don't scroll past the image below!

Still with us? Then you'll know that the fourth episode of Hawkeye reunites us with another Black Widow – aka Florence Pugh's Yelena Belova. And she's out for revenge against Clint Barton.

Wait, why? Well, because of what happened at the end of Black Widow's solo movie. In that film's post-credits scene – and yes, there are spoilers for that MCU movie coming right now – we see Yelena meet Julia Louis-Dreyfus' Contessa Allegra de Fontaine at the grave of Yelena's sister, aka Natasha Romanoff.

Long story short, de Fontaine tells Yelena that Clint is responsible for Natasha's death. Which isn't technically a lie: after all, Natasha did die during Avengers: Endgame when she let go of Clint's hand on Vormir, to sacrifice herself so that the Avengers could retrieve the Soul Stone.

But, and it's a big but, de Fontaine isn't telling Yelena the whole truth. As we know, Clint tried to sacrifice himself instead, though after a lengthy struggle he lost out to Natasha, who killed herself so that he could live and earn the Soul Stone.

So, Yelena is pursuing Clint because she thinks he's responsible for Natasha's death. She's actually being used by de Fontaine, however, in order to take out one of the last remaining original Avengers. Although, given that Yelena fails to kill Clint in episode 4 due to Kate Bishop's intervention, we imagine de Fontaine won't look too kindly on Yelena's inability to complete her mission.

Naturally, Marvel fans were quick to revel in Yelena's reappearance. Pugh's turn as Natasha's younger sister was one of the highlights of Black Widow's solo movie, and we already knew that she'd appear in some capacity after she was included in the show's supporting cast.

Regardless, based on various tweets and Reddit posts in the wake of Hawkeye episode 4's release, MCU fanatics are delighted to see her back in action.

While fans were happy to see Yelena back in action, some have been left disappointed over the lack of another major reveal.

As we reported last week following Hawkeye episode 3's release, Wilson Fisk – aka Kingpin – is expected to be revealed as the Disney Plus show's main antagonist. Given that his involvement was teased in episode 3 of Hawkeye, many MCU fans had hoped that he would finally be unveiled in the series' fourth episode, even if it was only in a post-credits scene.

Unfortunately, his reveal wasn't forthcoming. And, with only two episodes left until Hawkeye ends, the show's chief creative team are leaving it a bit late to introduce him to the MCU. 

According to TVLine, though, Hawkeye episode 5 will "blow up Twitter a bit", and we'd be very surprised if Kingpin isn't revealed in next week's episode. With Kingpin expected to be portrayed by Vincent D'Onofrio again – he played Kingpin in Netflix's Daredevil TV series – too, Hawkeye episode 5 should break the internet.

While we wait for that unveiling, however, let's enjoy the fact that Yelena is back in action in the MCU. Here's hoping she'll realize that she's been used by de Fontaine, and ends up teaming up with Clint and Kate in Hawkeye's final two episodes.

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