A new superhero team has entered the MCU — and no, I’m not talking about the X-Men.
Instead, I’m talking about the Young Avengers, which is exactly what it sounds like. In the Marvel comics, this group of younger heroes related to the Avengers was assembled as part of the Avengers Fail-Safe Program. If the Avengers aren’t around, the Young Avengers step in to help.
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The MCU has been laying the groundwork for the Young Avengers for a while now, introducing characters from the comics’ Young Avengers into the movies and shows, like Hawkeye‘s Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) and Ant-Man‘s Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton). Now, in The Marvels, all that work begins to come together.
The Marvels‘ final scene sees Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) living her best Nick Fury fantasy. She shows up at Kate’s apartment and tells her that she’s putting together a team of young superheroes. This scene marks a major departure from the Marvel comics, as Kamala has never actually been a part of the Young Avengers. However, given her enthusiasm and love for all things Avenger, she may just be the perfect person to bring the MCU’s Young Avengers together.
So far, it only seems like Kamala has talked to Kate about her dream team, although she does mention Cassie as well. So, who else from the MCU could join the Young Avengers? Let’s take a look.
Who else will be in the MCU’s Young Avengers?
Iman Vellani in “The Marvels.”
Credit: Laura Radford
The MCU has already introduced several comic Young Avengers into the MCU. Apart from Kate and Cassie, we’ve also met America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. She has the power to jump through the multiverse, creating star-shaped portals along the way. Kid Loki (Jack Veal) also popped up in Loki, although for the time being he’s still stuck in the Void with the other Loki variants.
Then there’s Elijah Bradley (Elijah Richardson), who we’ve only seen in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier so far. He’s the grandson of Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly), the Black Captain America who was unethically experimented on by the US government. In the comics, Elijah takes on the mantle of Patriot, having inherited powers from Isaiah.
Another Marvel show to feature various Young Avengers characters is WandaVision, which introduced Wanda Maximoff’s (Elizabeth Olsen) children Billy and Tommy (Julian Hilliard and Jett Klyne). These two are otherwise known as the heroes Wiccan and Speed. The former is able to manipulate reality and perform magic, while the latter is super fast. The WandaVision versions of Billy and Tommy were both erased from existence after Wanda gave up control of Westview, but Multiverse of Madness showed us that the boys were alive in other universes, meaning their return is completely possible. Their father, Vision (Paul Bettany), is also a Young Avenger — at least, the newer version of him from WandaVision could be.
Given that Kamala is leading the MCU’s Young Avengers, there’s also the possibility that characters who weren’t on the team in the comics could be joining up. That opens the door to other younger characters in the MCU, like Riri Williams/Ironheart (Dominique Thorne), first seen in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Bruce Banner’s (Mark Ruffalo) son Skaar (Wil Deusner), first seen in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.
The Marvels is now in theaters.