By far one of the most exciting prospects of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s future is the team-up of the Young Avengers franchise after a years-long set up. Still, there’s one major problem with the way the squad has been portrayed so far — at least according to fans online.
When you think about it, the future members of the Young Avengers we have met so far — Kamala, Riri, Kate, Teen (it should be no spoiler by now that he’ll most likely be revealed to be the Scarlet Witch’s son Billy aka Wiccan), America, and Cassie — all have variations of the same personality. They all fit the excited, snarky teen sidekick model that has been around since the dawn of television and film. Some might also chalk it up to how a writers’ room of millennials and Gen X’ers think a Gen Z teenager is supposed to speak and act, with little nuance.
However likable all of these characters are — and they easy to like, with their fangirl/boy approach to the superhero/magic world they inhabit closly mirroring the way longtime MCU viewers feel towards the franchise — they are also repetitive.
“The problem here is that they are all written exactly the same,” responded one fan to a video edit of all the future Young Avengers in their respective movies and shows. Others are more concerned about how, by the time these gifted teens get together, their ages will be so advanced that the personalities with which they were introduced will no longer make sense, and nor will the “Young” half of “Young Avengers.”
They're all Gen Z ™️ which is funny because we're pushing 30 here in a few years when this movie would start development let alone be released. they should be working on gen alpha young avengers pretty soon.
— Sato, the Artist (COMMS OPEN) (@BigSatoDontArt) October 5, 2024
In opposition, the Avengers team we met in 2012, and all the movies leading up to that, had markedly contrasting identities and world views — it’s what made their coming together so ripe with possibility and conflict. A Norse god meets an earthly millionaire meets a 1940s soldier meets a rehabilitated Russian assassin meets a nervous lab rat is hardly comparable to how Marvel has established the new generation of heroes so far.
And this is the thing. When watching the early MCU movies and being aware of the prospect of an Avengers movie? There was a genuine interest in seeing this group because it was like ‘Man I can’t wait to see how Tony works off of Cap or how Thor reacts to Hulk’ because they were…
— RebelOfReality (@Rebel0fReality) October 7, 2024
I’m not interested in seeing them in an Avengers movie because I know they’ll all get along perfectly fine. One of the best parts of the MCU is when Iron Man and Captain America were constantly at each other’s throats because of their different personalities.
— TripleAAAkers (@TripleAAAkers7) October 5, 2024
Readers might recall that the Young Avengers were teased at the end of 2023’s The Marvels when Kamala/Ms. Marvel approached Kate/Hawkeye to form a team of equally gifted young superheroes. Marvel fans have anticipated this for a long time, but with the way the future live-action schedule is laid out, it does feel like a Young Avengers film or show isn’t exactly at the top of the studio’s priorities.
Despite the debut of a significant number of squad members over the past few years, including those named above but also Eli Bradley/Patriot, Kid Loki, and Billy’s brother, Tommy/Speed, Disney hasn’t officially announced a Young Avengers production, though there are currently four untitled Marvel films in the Mouse House’s release slate.
Equally disappointing is the lack of time we’ve gotten to spend with each of these characters apart from Kamala, Kate, and now Teen. Plans also include a stand-alone outing for Riri in Ironheart, which is expected to come out in 2025. With how long we’ve waited for these characters to meet, it’s frustrating that the build-up has been both so slow and so monotonous. Let’s hope that changes soon.
Published: Oct 7, 2024 02:01 pm