The entire upcoming slate of MCU releases, save a few, got a significant reworking in the aftermath of the WGA strike.
The decision to push back the majority of the franchise’s releases is far more welcome than continuing production without a proper writing staff, of course, but Marvel still left a trail of broken hearts in its wake. We now have an additional five month wait before we set our sights on Thunderbolts, and even longer delays hit flicks like Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars.
It was almost certainly a wise, and well thought out, decision on Marvel’s part, but the studio has officially run out of excuses in one key area. We’ve been patiently awaiting news of the official Young Avengers project, after years of scintillating hints and breadcrumbs, and received nothing but crickets in return. If this were due to the MCU’s absolutely stacked schedule over the next few years, we might understand, but there is officially more than enough room to slide a Young Avengers release — be it film or series — into Marvel’s far-looser calendar.
Look, I know I talk a lot about the Young Avengers, but they hold a special place in my heart for a reason. For one, I read those comics at a titular point in my life, when absolutely everything was changing around me and those lighthearted, sweet comics offered an escape. But, more importantly, the stories are wonderful, and I fell in love with those characters for a reason. Other people have been falling in love with them too, via MCU releases like Hawkeye, Falcon and the Winter Soldier, and WandaVision, and we’ve only got two team members left to introduce before every OG Young Avenger will be positioned in the MCU.
So why haven’t we heard anything about a Young Avengers project? It simply doesn’t make sense at this point. We know Marvel’s intended slate of releases a full three years out, at this point, with hints and rumors about releases even further into the 2020s. None of them even signal toward the Young Avengers, despite the franchise’s careful introduction of almost every member of the team.
There are no more excuses. Concerns over the Young Avengers aging out of the “young” portion of their name — for god’s sake, Hailee Steinfeld is already 26 — are valid, despite movie magic (and movie tendencies) allowing for far older actors to play young parts. There’s also the simple timing of it all. Introducing the Young Avengers, a team that, in a perfect world, will replace the Old Avengers, after the old team is already retired, doesn’t make sense. We need to learn with them, grow with them, and experience their development into a team that is truly worthy of replacing the likes of Clint Barton, Scott Lang, and Steve Rogers (or even Sam Wilson). If they aren’t properly debuted until its time for a hand-off, half of the point of their story is abandoned.
The appeal behind comics like Young Avengers and Teen Titans resides in their youthfulness. While following established heroes like Spider-Man and Black Widow is certainly captivating, there’s a special allure in seeing undeveloped, inexperienced heroes learn the ropes. There’s a rawness to that experience that can’t help but capture the spirit, and that appeal disappears as soon as Marvel debuts the team as seasoned, experienced heroes with few lessons left to learn.
So I’m here to call you out, Marvel. Any excuses you had — which were bare in the first place — went out the window with the schedule reshuffle. You’ve got plenty of space to fit in a Young Avengers project, one that can allow fresh faces to join our favorites in those heavily-delayed future Avengers flicks. So get on it, bring in our boys Teddy and Iron Lad, and introduce the world to their new favorite Marvel team.
