Are the Young Avengers Really Marvel’s Best Next-Gen Team?

Marvel has introduced readers to some of the coolest superteams in the history of comics. Their A-list teams like the Avengers, X-Men, and Fantastic Four have helped remake what a superteam can be, and there are a number of lesser known teams that fans have learned to love over the years. Whether these be the various X-teams, the Defenders, or the New Warriors, Marvel has treated readers to some of amazing teams over the years. However, one of the most interesting team in Marvel history hasn’t been seen in a long time: the Young Avengers. The Young Avengers were introduced in the ’00s, when Marvel was going all in on the Avengers, and have an interesting legacy in the Marvel Universe.

The Young Avengers were introduced as an Avengers legacy team, taking the iconography of familiar Avengers and making all-new heroes from them, like Patriot, Iron Lad, Hulking, Wiccan, Hawkeye II, Stature, and Speed. The team’s early days are some forgotten gems of ’00s Marvel and the second Marvel NOW! volume of the series, bringing in members like America Chavez and Noh-Varr, is arguably better than the original series. It honestly seemed like the Young Avengers were going to be the future of the Marvel Universe, but that hasn’t exactly panned out. So, it begs the question: are the Young Avengers Marvel’s next best next generation team or are they has beens?

The Young Avengers Have a Lot of Competition for the Title of Best Next Gen Team

The Young Avengers are nowhere close to the first next generation Marvel superhero team. Way back in the Golden Age of comics, the sidekicks of Human Torch and Captain America, Bucky and Toro, were teamed up as the Young Allies. The Young Allies can be looked at as the first teen superteam, although most comic historians don’t consider them as such (that’s usually thought of as DC’s Legion of Superheroes). The next Marvel teen team would be the X-Men, but they would eventually be replaced by adults. Since then, most of Marvel’s next gen superteams have been mutants, like the New Mutants, X-Force, and the New X-Men. ’90s fans would get the New Warriors and ’00s fans would get the Runaways. The Young Avengers were the first time that Marvel tried to create a next gen superteam explicitly based on Marvel’s biggest heroes and it was honestly really successful. The Young Avengers were a super cool team, and central secret of their founder Iron Lad (which I won’t tell you here in case you want to check the team out) was a great twist for the early issues of the book. Young Avengers (Vol. 1) was also pretty explicitly queer, with the relationship between Hulkling and Wiccan playing a big role in the early days of the team (although they didn’t kiss until 2010’s Young Avengers: The Children’s Crusade, five years after their debut). Young Avengers (Vol. 2) was even more queer; basically every members of the new version of the team, characters like America, Wiccan, Hulkling, Prodigy, and Noh-Varr, are all gay. The Young Avengers quickly found a following as a beloved team resonating with readers, and fans have had high hopes for them for a long time now.

However, one of the big problems with the Young Avengers is that Marvel has never actually seemed to want to make them important. Let’s use the New Mutants/X-Force as an example. The New Mutants were introduced in the early ’80s, but by the mid ’90s, several of its characters, Wolfsbane and Cannonball specifically, had graduated to the adult teams. Wolfsbane joined X-Factor in 1991 and Cannonball the X-Men in 1995. The New Warriors had two members, Firestar and Justice, join the Avengers in 1998’s Avengers (Vol. 3). However, none of the Young Avengers have graduated to the big team. The Young Avengers also haven’t had a book in years. So, while the team has existed for 20 years now, their impact on the Marvel Universe has been negligible at best. Sure, Hulkling and Wiccan have become the leaders of the combined Kree and Skrull Empires, but they rarely if ever actually appear any more. Hawkeye II has had some spotlight over the years, but she’s really about it. The rest of the Young Avengers are basically non-entities in the Marvel Universe, and that really hurts the team in its running for the best next generation superteam.

The Young Avengers Aren’t Marvel’s Best Next Gen Team, Unfortunately

The Young Avengers have always been a very cool team with a lot of potential, but that’s all they’ve ever been: potential. The team has never become a feeder group for any of the adult teams in the Marvel Universe. Marvel even had a chance to make them such when teen Avengers Ms. Marvel, Nova, and Miles Morales left the Avengers to form a new teen team. Instead, Marvel named the team “the Champions” after a D-list ’70s Marvel team. Honestly, looking at the heroes who have been in the Champions, they’re a much better option (although, honestly, it’s probably the New Mutants). The Young Avengers seemed like they were going to be a big deal, but Marvel has never actually allowed them to be.

Now, that’s not to say that Marvel could never make the Young Avengers into their best next gen team, but it’s doubtful it’s going to happen. The publisher just never seemed like it was very interested in making the group important. Marvel has sidelined the vast majority of members of the team, and it hasn’t been extant in years. There was a hope that the MCU would pick them up, but with the rumors of a widescale MCU reboot post-Avengers: Secret Wars, this doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen. The Young Avengers could have been contenders, but Marvel has basically made sure that’s never going to happen.

What do you think about the Young Avengers? Do you think they’re the best Marvel teen team? Sound off in the comments below.

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