The Young Avengers are an offshoot team of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes that debuted in the comics in 2005. As the title would suggest, the team is composed of younger superheroes that have connections to the established, more seasoned Avengers.
With Marvel Studios’ much-publicized Phase 4 slate of films gearing up to kick off (albeit still delayed by the current pandemic) there are several key members of the Young Avengers either rumored to be in the works, or all-but-confirmed.
Wiccan and Speed
Marvel is preparing to give us the post-Endgame adventures of Wanda Maximoff and the Vision in WandaVision, a series on Disney+. In a brief shot from WandaVision's recent Emmys trailer, we can clearly see Wanda and Vis cradling one baby each.
Well, as any comics fan could probably tell you, Tommy Shepherd (Speed) and Billy Kaplan (Wiccan) are the children of Wanda and Vision’s comics counterparts. The twins were spawned through the Scarlet Witch's reality warping powers, and while it’s still not entirely known if the MCU's Wanda has the ability to manipulate the fabric of reality, it seems highly likely.
It doesn’t take too much a leap to figure out that WandaVision will set up Speed and Wiccan in the MCU, but they’re not the only members of the Young Avengers that we could see soon.
Patriot
In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Sam and Bucky will meet John Walker, who, in the comics, is the United States Government’s answer to Captain America post-Steve Rogers. But Walker’s not the only super soldier we could see in the show.
It's been reported that actor Carl Lumbly is portraying Isaiah Bradley in TFATWS. The Isaiah from the comics is an attempt at another super soldier after the original Captain America is lost in the arctic.
If this report ends up being true, it opens up the door to introduce Isaiah’s grandson, Elijah Bradley, who dons the mantle of Patriot, a founding member of the Young Avengers. Whether we see him in the show is anyone’s guess, but if not, Marvel Studios was rumored to be considering a second season for TFATWS, so perhaps that’s where he’d land.
Hawkeye
No, not Clint Barton.
This is Kate Bishop, who is confirmed to appear in Marvel Studios’ upcoming Jeremy Renner -ed Disney+ series, Hawkeye. Kate will be acting as a sort of protege for Clint, whether he likes it or not (Seriously, just let the guy retire and spend time with his family already)
Much like Clint, Kate’s pretty skilled with a bow and arrow, and if he does end up retiring, it’s plausible that he would pass the Hawkeye mantle to Kate and entrust her with the role.
It's been previously reported that Hailee Steinfeld has been circling the role of the MCU's Kate Bishop for quite some time. If the 23-year old actress does end up signing for the role, we can expect to see Steinfeld pop up in numerous Marvel Studios projects after Hawkeye.
Kate Bishop is, of course, yet another hero on the Young Avengers roster, often appearing as a leader or co-leader of the youthful squad.
Miss America
America Chavez is a newer Marvel hero who hails from the Utopian Parallel, an alternate reality to the main Marvel Universe. She possesses superhuman strength, can fly and also jump between parallel dimensions. She is also Marvel’s first LGBT Latin-American character to star in her own comic series.
Early this year, a casting call for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness surfaced, requesting teenage actresses to audition for "a teenage Hispanic female who will be a supporting lead in the film." This seemed to line up perfectly with the character of America Chavez. More recently, it's been speculated that Chavez is influencing on the working title of the Doctor Strange sequel, leading many to believe that Chavez will play an integral role in the movie.
Gven that Doctor Strange will be hopping around the multiverse in the film (the title kind of gives it away), it makes sense that he’d come face to face with America Chavez, who will likely tag along for the rest of his maddening adventures.
Hulkling
Teddy Altman, also known as Hulkling, is a stalwart Young Avenger and one of Marvel Comics’ most notable LGBT characters and is typically depicted as being in a relationship with teammate Billy Kaplan, aka Wiccan.
The comics version of Hulkling is the son of Mar-Vell, the Kree-born original Captain Marvel and the Skrull, Princess Anelle. He has the ability to shapeshift, fly and heal himself quickly.
At the beginning of the year, it was rumored that Teddy would be featured in an upcoming Marvel Studios project. This report was later corroborated by casting information that puts the character in WandaVision.
It does make sense, as the character has ties to S.W.O.R.D., and the space-faring organization has been confirmed to feature in the streaming series.
Stature
And finally, we have Cassie Lang, the only character on this list to have already appeared in the MCU. Cassie, as fans will surely know, is the daughter of Scott Lang, aka Ant-Man, and has been featured in both of his films and Avengers: Endgame.
As revealed in Endgame, Cassie was not snapped away by Thanos and is now a teenager, played by Emma Fuhrmann, in the current MCU timeline. The perfect age to follow in her father’s footsteps and don a size-altering suit of her own.
As strange as it may appear, the MCU seemingly has no standing Avengers team in the wake of Endgame, so it's possible that with all these characters being brought on board, these young heroes will step up to fill the shoes of Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff or Steve Rogers.
Will these characters be featured in their own feature film centered on the Young Avengers? Or will they receive their own series on Disney+? A previous rumor has claimed that some form of the teenage team may show up in Ant-Man 3, so it's becoming more and more likely that the MCU's Young Avengers will appear on multiple mediums on both the big and the small screens.
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