Kate Bishop’s Dark Avengers Romance Changed the Best Hawkeye Forever

Not all of Marvel’s Dark Avengers are vicious supervillains, but as Kate Bishop‘s Hawkeye found out, even the best of them was a genuinely terrible boyfriend. At the start of 2013’s Young Avengers, Kate is revealed to have hooked up with Noh-Varr, the former Marvel Boy, Captain Marvel and Protector. When they accidentally join the Young Avengers, they begin officially dating, marking a period which redefined both characters.

Noh-Varr’s membership in Norman Osborn’s Dark Avengers isn’t as damning as it might seem. While he joined the villains as the new Captain Marvel following Secret Invasion, he sincerely believed them to be heroes, going on the run when he realized the truth. Hunted by the Sentry, Noh-Varr accessed Kree technology to adopt a new identity, but his fresh start as Earth’s Protector ultimately ended in disgrace, and the Avengers banned him from Earth. In Young Avengers #1 by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie, it’s revealed he didn’t go far, as Kate Bishop wakes up in his spaceship after hooking up with Noh-Varr the night before. Later, Noh-Varr joins Kate in helping her former teammates Wiccan and Hulkling against the interdimensional predator Mother, and the Young Avengers are forced to go on the run. Kate and Noh-Varr quickly bond, with their connection represented in her new Kree Soul Bow – a major upgrade from the usual Earth model.

After a seemingly endless trip through different dimensions to find their kidnapped teammate Speed, they encounter entities in one dimension that resemble Oubliette Midas, the masked “exterminatrix” who was once sent to kill Noh-Varr, and who he subsequently dated. In Young Avengers #10, she later appears in a pseudo-support group full of people with grudges against the Young Avengers, expressing she’s still interested in him. Noh-Varr begins messaging Oubliette behind Kate’s back and, during the climatic battle with the Young Avengers’ assembled army and Mother’s forces, the villain offers to switch sides if Noh-Varr is willing to rekindle their relationship. At the worst possible time, he talks to Hawkeye and tells her that he’s leaving her for Oubliette, stating that despite everything they’ve shared, his ex-girlfriend is the girl of his dreams. The Young Avengers win the battle, at which point Oubliette vanishes – a phantom created by teammate Loki’s magical guilt.

Kate Bishop had previously been depicted as just one member of the Young Avengers ensemble. While her character was promising, she had at this point been under-explored, joining the team mostly out of a general sense of adventure. This new volume of Young Avengers fixed her as one of the comic’s central characters, painting her as a swashbuckling hero refusing to be outmatched despite a lack of superpowers. Kate’s opening scene with Noh-Varr is characterized as a one night stand – an implication that scandalized some readers – and, followed immediately by a breakneck battle against a cadre of Skrulls, formed a new thesis of who Kate Bishop’s Hawkeye was, stressing the sense of agency and hunger for adventure male adventure heroes have long enjoyed. The angsty relationship that followed also shifted the way in which Kate was presented, positioning her as a convincing young adult rather than an adolescent hero.

Gillen and McKelvie’s Young Avengers does an amazing job at capturing young love, from the pair’s immediate chemistry to Noh-Varr’s immaturity. Their relationship remains important not because of who Kate was dating, but in how the whirlwind romance, resulting team dynamic, and brutal break-up explored new aspects of her character. Whether for the Young Avengers or Dark Avengers, part of the Avengers formula has always been romance and interpersonal drama, and this chapter in Kate Bishop‘s history strongly influenced the evolution and popularity of both young heroes.

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