Despite the Young Avengers seemingly being on the MCU horizon, one of its core members was cut from Captain America: Brave New World.
Except for Hulkling, all of the original Young Avengers from the comics have made the jump to the MCU. However, it feels more and more like one of the teenage team members has gotten the short end of the stick by being left so out of focus.
Eli Bradley was introduced in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier almost four years ago as just a minor supporting character without superpowers or an origin of his own. Sadly, it seems Eli will continue being overshadowed by his grandfather.
Brave New World Leaves Out Falcon & The Winter Soldier's Young Avenger, Patriot
In an interview with Screen Rant, Marvel Studios producer Nate Moore was asked why Carl Lumbly's Isaiah would be without his grandson, Elijah Richardson's Eli Bradley, in Captain America: Brave New World, despite being introduced alongside the Korean War veteran in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
Moore confirmed that the Young Avengers character was cut in later drafts of Brave New World, as they felt "there were too many characters to track" and that they wanted to make sure each of them "[had] something to do:"
"There are early drafts of the script where Eli was in it, but we started to feel like there were too many characters to track and we want to make sure if a character is in the film, they have something to do."
It was a "tough decision" to exclude Eli, but they felt it was more important to focus on Isaiah and how "Sam's world maybe affects him." Not to mention building up his relationship with the newest Captain America "without a third party kind of commenting on it:"
"And so we had to make the tough decision to just explore Isaiah and to see how Isaiah being pulled into Sam's world maybe affects him. We also wanted Sam and Isaiah. We wanted room to build up their relationship without a third party kind of commenting on it."
Without his grandson attached to him at the hip, it would also help push Isaiah as "a mentor" and "training partner" to Sam, especially since, as Moore emphasized, "he is a super soldier:"
"And so this film is very much about establishing that Isaiah has become not only a mentor to Sam, but a training partner. He is a super soldier. I think it allows Sam to expand on his physical skills, but that relationship might not be the best thing for Isaiah in the long run."
At this rate, Eli will get his powers either in a post-credits scene or off-screen in the MCU, neither of which would be treating the character with much respect compared to his peers who had co-starring roles or even whole shows dedicated to them.
But fans are now asking what else, or more specifically, who else, could have been cut in Brave New World to make room for Eli.
Captain America Sequel Should Have Been Ruth-Less
Unsurprisingly, many fans online reacted negatively to this justification for Eli's exclusion from Brave New World, pointing their ire again at the sequel's biggest ongoing controversy, Ruth Bat-Seraph, aka Sabra.
Fans argued that if there were too many characters in Brave New World, Ruth should have been the first on the chopping block, not the Young Avengers star, and it is hard to argue against.
Eli was barely established as a character in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and this sequel could have been a perfect opportunity to properly introduce him to audiences, maybe even finally giving him his powers and showing Sam Wilson's impact as Captain America.
Instead, fans are stuck with Ruth, but no matter how much Marvel Studios tried to change her character, she is still based on an incredibly controversial Israeli superhero. On top of that, Marvel Studios will now undoubtedly memory-hole the character after how much trouble introducing her into the MCU caused them.
Hopefully, despite his absence in Brave New World, Eli Bradley will be given his proper due before the MCU inevitably introduces the Young Avengers.
Captain America: Brave New World will be released in theaters this Friday, February 14.
