People, its finally happening.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for The Marvels.
For years, fans of the Young Avengers have been clamoring for any sign — beyond the gradual introduction of its members — that the team was set to enter the MCU. We thought we’d get it in Hawkeye. Then, we thought maybe it would come about with Ms. Marvel or Quantumania. Each of these releases did contain at least one member of the Young Avengers lineup — as did several others — but none of them laid down any concrete hints that the team would ever be formed.
Until now. The final moments of The Marvels finally gave us what we’ve been waiting for, with the clear introduction of the Young Avengers. Or maybe the Champions, but that’s beside the point. No matter what its called, a team of youthful superheroes is poised to enter the MCU, and we couldn’t be more excited to greet them. The way their formation began is definitely a touch different from the version in Marvel comics, and it leads to an ever-necessary question: Who is usually the leader of the Young Avengers, and will they remain in charge in the MCU’s take on the team?
Who leads the Young Avengers?
Marvel fans have seen almost every original member of the Young Avengers introduced over the last several years. The only one missing, as of now, is Teddy, and he might end up replaced by Skaar anyway. As it stands, the Young Avengers clearly make the most sense as the MCU’s official superjunior team.
That being said, its far from Marvel’s only youthful team. There are plenty to pick from, over decades of Marvel history — some of which already have spin-offs of their own — but the only other real contender for the MCU is the Champions, a team that just so happens to be led by one Kamala Khan.
The Young Avengers, however — a team that original consists of Kate Bishop, Eli Bradley, Tommy and Billy Maximoff, Cassie Lang, Teddy Altman, and Iron Lad — simply makes the most sense for the MCU. The franchise has been dropping breadcrumbs for years now, and those finally seem to be paying off.
In comics canon, the original leader of the Young Avengers is Iron Lad, a Kang variant who travels back in time in hopes of changing his blood-soaked future. If the MCU were to maintain this storyline, it could present some very interesting potentials for those future Kang storylines, particularly where Jonathan Majors is concerned.
Even if the MCU goes in another direction, however, it has plenty of options. Following Iron Lad’s departure, leadership of the Young Avengers passes on to Kate and Eli. They bicker over their leadership positions initially, but eventually the two make a perfect team. Other members of the squad have taken on leadership positions over the years, but back when it started Kate and Eli helped guide the team into proper superheroes.
Who will lead the Young Avengers in the MCU?
The MCU and Marvel comics are not the same thing, which often leads to pretty massive gaps between the original comics and their resulting live-action counterparts. Kamala boasts a different power-set, certain characters have different backgrounds, which ultimately means that we can’t expect a carbon copy of the comics we know and love. Hopefully the MCU will use them as inspiration to make something else we love.
Which throws the eventual leadership of the Young Avengers into question. As do the final moments of The Marvels, which saw Kamala Khan approach Kate Bishop about forming their own superhero team. This is already a massive departure from the comics, which saw Iron Lad form the team, and seems to place Kamala in a leadership role. Given her youth, however, particularly compared to Kate’s, I’d still argue that Kate will become the eventual leader of the Young Avengers.
That all hinges on what happens next, however. We still don’t know who the other members of the team will be, but it feels safe to assume that at least Kamala, Kate, America Chavez, the Maximoff twins, Cassie Lang, and Eli Bradley will eventually join. There are some hurdles to surpass before the Maximoff twins can join up, and let’s not even dig into the whole Loki situation, but their eventual acceptance onto the team feels assured. How everything will come to pass is still a mystery, as is pretty much everything else. Will the team make their debut in a Disney Plus series? In a film? As a side-note in another major MCU release? We still have no idea, but with official confirmation, theories are running rampant.
