I’ve followed the Marvel Cinematic Universe since the beginning. My younger daughter started watching with us around the time of Avengers: Endgame. Before that, my older daughter had gotten into the films with us around the time of Thor: Ragnarok. She’s now 17 and she’ll be seeing Deadpool & Wolverine in the theater with a friend. Certainly not with dad.
I’ve never been an avid reader of the comics, but largely due to the films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, our family has been a Marvel family for years. And now I find myself thinking about characters that have been introduced in past films, and whether there may be a future for them. I’m certainly thinking about how characters like Jennifer Walters and Shang-Chi might make appearances outside of shows with their names in the title, but I’m also thinking of lesser characters like Okoye, who ended Black Panther: Wakanda Forever with a spiffy new blue suit of Midnight Angel armor.
However, in reviewing the characters I’m most interested in seeing back on screen, I’m realizing that nearly all of them fall into a group that would characterize them as Young Avengers. And so, ignoring for the moment the fact that many of these actors may be pushing 30 by the time any Young Avengers film makes it to the screen, I’d like to take a look at my personal top ten choices for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Young Avengers.
1 – Kamala Khan, AKA Ms Marvel
In the after-credits sequence from The Marvels, we see Kamala Khan pop in on Kate Bishop, Nick Fury-style, and ask her to join a team.
I’m including Kamala Khan first because, obviously, the scene with her approaching Kate Bishop with talk of forming a team is the biggest nod to the Young Avengers that the MCU has ever made. But in all honesty, I love Iman Vellani. Her portrayal of a spastic fangirl nerding out over Captain Marvel is outstanding, and it reflects her real-life excitement about becoming a comic character she’s always loved. The behind-the-scenes featurettes on her leave no doubt about that.
2 – Kate Bishop, AKA Hawkeye
Inheritor of the Hawkeye moniker, Kate Bishop is Clint Barton’s protege. As I’ve written before on Geekdad, Hawkeye is my favorite of the Disney Plus MCU shows. Aside from doing all of comic nerddom the immense favor of reintroducing Vincent D’Onofrio as Kingpin, it gave us the Track Suit Mafia, Lucky the Pizza Dog, and overall acted as an excellent adaptation of Matt Fraction and David Aja’s comic My Life As a Weapon. I only wish that they’d included the schlubby neighbor who called Clint “Hawk Guy.”
Hailee Steinfeld does a great job as Kate Bishop, and as much as I’d love to see a second season of the Hawkeye TV show, I think it would be even cooler to see her on-screen with the others on this list.
3- Cassie Lang, AKA Stature
Last seen accompanying her father in and out of the quantum realm in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Cassie feels like a shoo-in for a Young Avengers team. The Quantumania film may have flopped, and Kang may have been backseated, but I’m certain we’ve not seen the last of Cassie Lang.
4 – America Chavez, AKA Miss America
Perhaps I’m not as large a fan of Sam Raimi as other people. I never loved Tobey McGuire as Spider-Man, and, likewise, I wasn’t a huge fan of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. But I do love Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez, the girl who can punch star-shaped holes in the fabric of the multiverse itself. She’s written as more of a McGuffin than a character in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, so I’d love her to have a chance to shine in a forthcoming film.
5 – Riri Williams, AKA Ironheart
One of my favorite parts of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was seeing Riri Williams, who, in her lab at MIT, created a suit of flying-powered armor. She improves the armor while in Wakanda, her armor-forging scenes an obvious callback to Tony Stark. While Riri ends the story back at MIT, it’s hard to imagine that we’ve seen the last of her. Perhaps she’ll meet Ned and MJ in a class there.
6 – Juaquin Torres, AKA Falcon
Canonically, when Sam Wilson becomes Captain America, he hands the mantle of Falcon to Juaquin Torres, who we saw in Falcon and the Winter Soldier. His role in that series was forgettable, as he didn’t get much screen time, but the new Falcon would make a great addition to the team. I’d say there’s a fairly good chance we’ll see him in next year’s Captain America: Brave New World.
7 – Skaar
Nowadays, it feels like all the original Avengers are coming home with a surprise kid in tow. Bruce Banner showed up at the conclusion of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law with a previously-unknown son, who’d been born and raised on Sakaar, presumably conceived during Thor: Ragnarok. While it’s possible that Skaar will make some kind of appearance in Captain America: Brave New World, given Banner’s relationship with Thaddeus Ross, I’m not betting on it.
8- Billy Maximoff, AKA Wiccan, and Tommy Maximoff, AKA Speed
It feels like the biggest stretch yet, but the two boys that Wanda Maximoff gave birth to during WandaVision are certainly the right age to join a team like the Young Avengers. Billy has magic powers similar to his mother, and Tommy has the same superhuman speed as his uncle. It’s very possible that we’ll learn more about these two characters in next month’s Disney Plus series Agatha All Along.
9 – Kang, AKA Iron Lad
In doing some cursory research for this article, I learned that in the comics, the Young Avengers are founded by a hero called Iron Lad, who is a young variant of none other than Kang. Given Marvel’s recent troubles with Jonathan Majors, introducing Iron Lad might give them a chance to keep the character in play while recasting him with a much younger actor. This has the additional benefit of keeping with established comics canon.
10 – Miles Morales, AKA Spider-Man
The least likely one to be a member of the Young Avengers is likely the one I’d love most. Miles Morales is a fan-favorite who’s made a huge splash in animated form, but whom we’ve never seen appear in a live-action film. The live-action Donald Glover version of Prowler who showed up in Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse gives some scant hope to the notions of a live-action crossover, but I doubt it will happen. But how cool would it be to have Miles Morales slinging his webs alongside Kamala Khan and Riri Williams?
In closing, I’ve got to be clear that there’s been no actual announcement about the Young Avengers. But given Kamala Khan’s recruitment of Kate Bishop, it does feel like a natural next step.
