While there is no shortage of rumors about the Marvel Cinematic Universe and what direction Phase 4 and beyond could go, one of the persistent rumors is that a Young Avengers movie could very well be in the works. It’s a rumor that has some merit when one steps back and looks at the younger characters that have either been established in the MCU as well as characters that are either confirmed to be on the horizon or very strongly speculated at. Already confirmed to be arriving are Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan and Kate Bishop/Hawkeye, but there are several others that could be popping up as well or coming into play in a more direct and heroic way, something that is slowly but steadily assembling the next generation of Avengers.
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The Young Avengers team has long been a fan favorite in comics and Marvel Studios president has previously said that it’s possible that those characters could show up as the MCU continues, saying last year “anything from the books that we haven’t yet done in film is always on the table.” To take it a step further, Feige previously told ComicBook.com that the movie studio would love to produce another 20 years of movies.
“All of the things you’ve seen throughout Phases 1 and 2 and now through much of 3, the new characters always are important going forward in driving, shaping the future of the MCU,” Feige said last May. “I think it would be amazing, another 10 years, another 20 films or so. We only focus on one step at a time but that’s all about continuing to surprise with the stories, go unexpected places, continue to play with new, fresh, unexpected genres and then introduce characters that people might have heard of or a beloved big fan base like Captain Marvel or characters like Guardians where before we made that, which people had never even heard of.”
But of the Young Avengers, who might we expect to see in the MCU? We’ve run down a list of those characters who have already appeared in the MCU or have been set up to appear in upcoming properties. There are some that are sure-bets, such as Ms. Marvel who is getting her own series while there are some that while the characters have appeared or expected to appear, may not show up in quite the way one might expect. For those characters, we’ve noted a “maybe” as they’re fun to speculate about.
Want to see all of the Young Avengers that the MCU could be teeing up, potentially for a movie all their own? Read on for our list of the Young Avengers cast so far.
Kamala Khan
One young hero we absolutely know we’re getting in the MCU is Ms. Marvel. Newcomer Iman Vellani was recently cast in the role. Ms. Marvel will follow the adventures of Kamala Khan, a teenage, Muslim, Pakistani-American girl from Jersey City who gains superpowers when her latent Inhuman DNA is triggered. Since her debut in the comics in 2013, Kamala has become a fan-favorite character as she balances school and friendships with being a member of the Avengers, Secret Warriors, Protectors, and Champions.
Kate Bishop
Another Young Justice member confirmed to be coming to the MCU is Kate Bishop. Kate will appear in the upcoming Disney+ Hawkeye series with Hailee Steinfeld rumored to be in the role. In comics, Clint Barton/Hawkeye trained Kate as the next Hawkeye with Kate going on to be part of Young Avengers. Also of note, in comics, Kate is a close friend of Stature — Cassie Lang.
America Chavez
Last month, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness added Xochitl Gomez to its cast and almost immediately, fans began to speculate that she will be playing America Chavez, aka Miss America. The character is one that has long been speculated to appear in the MCU, specifically in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
A character from the Utopian Parallel, a separate timeline and universe from the main Marvel Comics continuity, America would be an excellent fit for the film given that Doctor Strange is set to do a bit of multiverse hopping in the film. If Gomez is playing America, it introduces another Young Avenger into the MCU, getting things ever closer to a proper team.
Thomas Shepherd and William Kaplan
As Marvel fans know, two major young Avengers are Wiccan and Speed and thanks to what we’ve seen thus far of the upcoming WandaVision, they’re coming to the MCU. In teasers and trailers for the series, we see Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) with a set of twins. There are also reports that while the twins — Thomas Shepherd/Speed and William Kaplan (Wiccan) — will first appear in WandaVision we’ll see them as teens in the main MCU timeline. With Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness bringing America Chavez into things, adding Wiccan and Speed would give you three Young Avengers right there. With Ms. Marvel having her own TV series, there’s another. The team is shaping up nicely.
Kid Loki
You can’t have the Young Avengers without Kid Loki and some reports suggest we may just be getting him. Earlier this year, a report suggested that Thor: Love and Thunder was casting for a young black male age 11 or 13 for a role referred to as “Zappa”. While many speculated that it could be Heimdall reborn in a new body, another possibility could be Kid Loki just with a new form.
And the idea of a “new form” for Loki isn’t a stretch. The upcoming Loki television series for Disney+ is expected to introduce female Loki. And the idea of identity is expected to be a big theme in Loki’s upcoming arc, according to Loki showrunner Michael Waldron.
“I think it’s the struggle with identity, who you are, who you want to be. I’m really drawn to characters who are fighting for control,” Waldron said during a recent podcast appearance. “Certainly, you see that with Loki over the first 10 years of movies, he’s out of control at pivotal parts of his life, he was adopted and everything and that manifest itself through anger and spite towards his family.”
Cassie Lang
Another almost sure bet for a Young Avenger is Cassie Lang. First introduced as a child — played by Abby Ryder Fortson — and then seen as a young adult in Avengers: Endgame (played by Emma Furhmann), in comics Cassie Lang has Stinger, Giant-Girl, or Ant-Girl so there’s a wide range of heroic possibilities for her. With Cassie already in the current MCU timeline, it seems like a sure bet that we’ll definitely see more of her, especially since Ant-Man 3 could be a perfect set up for a Young Avengers origin story.
Maybe: Miles Morales
Sure, Peter Parker is still a kid in the MCU but last we saw him he’d just been exposed to the world at the end of Spider-Man: Far From Home. Should the MCU have need to explore a Spidey successor or even just a new Spider-Man, Miles Morales would be an excellent choice. While the character hasn’t actually directly appeared in the MCU yet, he was hinted at in Spider-Man: Homecoming when Aaron Davis (Donald Glover) mentions his nephew in the neighborhood — and in comics, his nephew is Miles.
Miles is a wildly popular character right now which would make him a great fit to any live-action incarnation of Young Avengers but it would also set up for another major Marvel team — Champions.
Maybe: Harley Keener
An important member of the Young Avengers team, as well as someone to carry on Tony Stark’s legacy is Iron Lad and while this isn’t an exact match to comics, it’s something that the MCU has already somewhat set up for. We mean, of course, Harley Keener (Ty Simpkins). The character was introduced as Tony’s protege in Iron Man 3, but he also appeared at Tony Stark’s funeral in Avengers: Endgame. While the comics version of Iron Lad is actually Nathaniel Richards from the future, given the established connection between Harley and Tony in the MCU, it seems like a solid choice for the franchise to put their own spin on things.
Maybe: Morgan Stark
This one is a little bit more of a case of hopeful thinking but could still be pretty cool. The MCU already introduced another possible successor to the Iron Man legacy with Lexi Rabe’s Morgan H. Stark in Avengers: Endgame, though unlike most of the others on this list there really isn’t a comics precedent for her. While some have suggested Morgan could become Ironheart, in comics that role belongs to Riri Williams and it feels unlikely that the MCU would do that — in comics Riri is a young Black woman — there is the possibility they could, at some point explore the idea of Morgan as Rescue.
However, it doesn’t appear that there is any current plan for that, at least not with Rabe in the role. Rabe previously spoke with ComicBook.com’s Adam Barnhardt about the role of Morgan H. Stark. “People are asking us, are you in another movie?” she told ComicBook.com in August of 2019. “And I don’t know.”
That’s when mom Jessica Rabe, stepped in and admitted they haven’t filmed another movie — nor was one currently planned at the time of that interview more than one year ago. “We haven’t filmed another one,” Jessica revealed. “And we’re not under contract, negotiations, or conversation at this point.”
