Warning - This article contains spoilers for The Marvels.
One of the many surprises to come out of The Marvels was the official return of Hailee Steinfeld's Kate Bishop to the MCU — her first appearance since 2021's Hawkeye and her cinematic debut in the franchise.
More than just a return, though, Steinfeld's cameo also included major teases for what is to come in the character's future.
In the Captain Marvel sequel's final scene before the credits, Kate and Hawkeye's Lucky were greeted by Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani).
The two young heroes proceed to re-enact the iconic Iron Man post-credit scene between Tony Stark and Nick Fury, with Kate as the recruit and Kamala Khan as the recruiter.
Kamala tells Kate that she is working on assembling a team, using much of Fury's dialogue from the first-ever post-credit scene in the MCU.
She explains that Kate is now part of a "much larger universe," and points out that the archer is not the only young hero, using Ant-Man's daughter (Cassie Lang) as an example.
This scene marks the first official interaction between young heroes from different projects and seems to be the MCU's first concrete step toward a Young Avengers adaptation — something Steinfeld herself has said she hoped to do.
Are the Young Avengers Finally Assembling?
If nothing else, this end scene from The Marvels confirmed that there will be a team of young heroes, including at least Iman Vellani's Ms. Marvel and Hailee Steinfeld's Kate Bishop.
Further, given the Cassie shout-out and the discussion of kid heroes, it is very likely that this new team will be the Young Avengers.
Young Avengers rumors have been circulating since the beginning of Phase 4 when Wanda Maximoff's kids Billy and Tommy (the former of which being part of the first iteration of the comics Young Avengers team, the latter joining the team soon after) appeared in WandaVision, and Eli Bradley (Patriot in the original comics) briefly cameoed in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.
Quickly following, fans saw Kate Bishop and Cassie Lang suit up as well.
Technically, Iron Lad has appeared too, to an extent, as he is a variant of Kang the Conqueror. However, he has not made an MCU appearance as that variant so far. As of now, the only original Young Avenger who has yet to appear in the MCU in any capacity is Hulkling.
A Ms. Marvel-Led Team
Interestingly, Ms. Marvel is not typically associated with the Young Avengers in the comics.
She was an Avenger for some time, but arguably her most famous team is the Champions. The Champions is another team of young heroes, with some overlap with the Young Avengers, but also other heroes like Miles Morales' Spider-Man.
The scene at the end of The Marvels indicates that Kamala will be leading MCU's new young team, but has been teasing members that align more closely with the Young Avengers than the Ms. Marvel-led Champions.
However, it is not unheard of for the MCU to mix and merge comics together or even make drastic changes from the source material to better fit the franchise's narrative.
Regardless, the Young Avengers in one form or another are certainly part of the MCU's future.
The Marvels is now playing in theaters.
Gillian Blum has been a writer at The Direct since 2022, reporting primarily from New York City. Though she covers news from across the entertainment industry, Gillian has a particular focus on Marvel and DC, including comics, movies, and television shows. She also commonly reports on Percy Jackson, Invincible, and other similar franchises.
