The opening moments of Hawkeye episode 5 reveal a perhaps not-too-unsurprising victim of The Blip, aka Thanos’ universe-halving snap in Avengers: Infinity War.
Spoilers for Hawkeye episode 5 follow.
Yelena and fellow Black Widow Sonya infiltrate former Widow Ana’s home in an attempt to reverse her brainwashing. Trouble is, she was already free from the grip of the Red Room. Worse still for Yelena after her faux pas, this all takes place on the day that Thanos snapped away half the universe.
As Yelena cleans up in the bathroom, she suddenly turns to dust. As farewells go, it’s not quite Peter Parker’s "I don’t feel so good." She re-emerges five years later to find a surprised Ana, her husband, and her adopted child.
Yelena’s attention soon turns to Natasha. Of course, she doesn’t know what we know – the Avenger perished during the events of Avengers: Endgame. It's not yet known if we'll ever see the moment where Yelena finds out about Nat's death.
This isn’t the first Marvel TV show to peel back the curtain a little further when it comes to The Blip. WandaVision also revealed that Monica Rambeau, daughter of Maria, was snapped away and missed her mother’s passing. As of yet, however, Marvel hasn’t really explored the MCU’s missing five years at length.
That’s not all for Marvel fans to digest on Hawkeye this week. One Yelena line neatly ties Hawkeye into Spider-Man: No Way Home, while the internet is losing their minds at the reveal of the show’s Big Bad.
For more on the MCU, check out our complete guide to Marvel Phase 4 – and beyond.
