The latest episode of Hawkeye brought a familiar face to the Disney Plus series – Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, last seen co-starring with Scarlett Johansson in Black Widow but now out for blood against Jeremy Renner’s Avengers archer.
Still, despite the cameo’s importance episode directors Bert and Bertie (real names Amber Templemore-Finlayson and Katie Ellwood) didn’t find it too much of a hardship keeping Pugh’s appearance under wraps.
“Ah, it’s part of the job. I mean, that’s part of the fun, isn’t it?” Bert told RadioTimes.com. “It’s playground stuff. That’s like, ‘I know, it’s secret.’ And you do it such a long time ago.
“We love keeping little secrets like that, because I think the fans really like the reveals when they do see them. And then they get to experience it new and as a surprise, so it’s always more fun.”
But it seems like Pugh might not be the only familiar face coming back, with the directors hinting that some other well-known actors could be turning up in the final two episodes of the season.
“I think we have the easy job. It’s the poor actors who just can’t say a word about it,” Bert told us.
“I feel for them, because some people that we knew couldn’t tell anyone they were even in a Marvel thing.”
So are even more familiar Marvel faces set to arrive in the coming episodes? When we asked directly, Bert and Bertie played it coy.
“I can’t remember. B, can you remember?” Bert laughed.
!["Hawkeye"]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2021/12/Bert-and-Bertie-ffaa97e.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413" "\"Bert")
“It’s fuzzy, but I think if you just keep watching, guess what, you’re going to find out,” Bertie said.
“Fans wouldn’t be able to come up with all their theories about who was going to be in it if it weren’t for us all keeping tight lips. So that’s part of the entertainment with Marvel.”
The nod to “theories” adds more credence to the longstanding rumour that the mysterious “big man” mentioned as a crime boss in Hawkeye will be revealed as Daredevil villain Kingpin, as played by Vincent D’Onofrio. Last seen in the Netflix Daredevil series, fans have had theories for some time that he could make his debut in the “proper” Marvel Cinematic Universe – so perhaps D’Onofrio is one of the suffering actors forced to keep his Hawkeye role under wraps.
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Though even if Mr Fisk doesn’t turn up, it sounds like fans will still be in for a treat with the final episodes of Hawkeye.
“Not only have you got bigger things to look forward to, but also just like emotional things as well, which I think is very important,” Bert told us.
“Yeah, emotional scale is really important to this show,” agreed Bertie.
“It can just be a conversation between two people and it feels as big as any action sequence you know, which is what we’re finding with the Hawkeyes as well. So emotion and action you’ll have coming up.”
We think they might be right – if nothing else, we certainly know a few online fans who might get pretty emotional if their theories turn out to be right.
Hawkeye releases new episodes on Disney Plus on Wednesdays. For more, check out our dedicated Sci-Fi page or our full TV Guide.