The end-credits scene of Black Widow set up the fact that Yelena Belova, played by Florence Pugh, would be coming after Hawkeye. Pugh was also named as part of the Disney+ series’ cast last year, and in interviews, the executive producer confirmed she would be appearing. So, to some fans, the question wasn’t if Yelena going to appear on Hawkeye, it was when.
“When” was this week when episode four of Hawkeye was released. The actress was so excited about her appearance, in fact, that a few hours it started streaming, she posted about it to her 5.6 million followers on Instagram. It seems, though, some of those fans hadn’t seen the episode yet (or forgot the news from a year ago) and reported her, resulting in Pugh being blocked from posting on her feed. “I never thought me posting love about a show in which I appear on would get taken down… but here we are,” Pugh wrote on her Instagram story. “Someone on here complained so I’ve been blocked from posting my own appearance on a show that I’m very much in. Beyond ridiculous.”
Since Pugh posted that Wednesday night, the footage remains on her feed, as is just an infectiously fun reaction video of her watching the episode. So it seems that’s been resolved. This is the interesting part though: just this afternoon, Disney itself released a new Hawkeye clip that features not just Yelena’s appearance in episode four, but footage from the next episode too. So maybe Pugh just jumped the gun by a few hours. Check it out.
The moral of this story is if you are a fan of these shows, watch them as soon as possible. Because the instant they drop on the streaming service, there’s no way to know who has watched, who hasn’t, or what might be spoiled when. That even goes for the people who are in the show itself.
Hawkeye is now streaming on Disney+.