Why The Young Avengers Could Be The Best Thing The MCU Does In Years
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Published Jun 28, 2026, 8:30 AM EDT
Kevin Pantoja is a writer and editor at Screen Rant based in New York City, where he brings deep expertise in blockbuster franchises ranging from Harry Potter and Spider‑Man to Succession and the MCU. A passionate storyteller with a creative writing degree (Valedictorian, Full Sail University), Kevin blends entertainment news, feature essays, and pop‑culture commentary into engaging, audience-first content
It's no secret that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is looking to set up the Young Avengers, whether it's for a big screen movie or for a series on Disney+. That much has been evident since the first project arrived on Disney+, WandaVision. The show introduced Wanda and Vision's children, Billy and Tommy (they go on to become Wiccan and Speed), who are on the team in the comic books. Since then, several movies and television series in the franchise have brought in others who have appeared in the comics.
The comic pages have seen the Young Avengers include the likes of Iron Lad, Hulkling, Stature, America Chavez, Kate Bishop, Kid Loki, and several more. It looks like the MCU is going to change a handful of things about the team whenever we do eventually get to see them together, yet there's a good chance that it's the best thing the franchise has put together in a long time. To be fair, the MCU has been up and down in quality in the years since Avengers: Endgame, which might be why nostalgia is playing a major factor in Avengers: Doomsday.
While it's unlikely that the Young Avengers will ever replace the original group in terms of popularity, shifting the focus to them could be beneficial. There are talented actors involved, fun characters, and the comics they could pull from are quite good.
One interesting thing that the Marvel Cinematic Universe seems to be doing with its take on the Young Avengers is putting the focus on Kamala Khan, better known as Ms. Marvel. The character debuted in the franchise with the 2021 series Ms. Marvel, which introduced us to Iman Vellani's charismatic portrayal. The show was well-received, and Kamala returned in the 2023 film, The Marvels. Although it was a massive commercial flop, Vellani's charisma was a huge part of it going down as one of the more fun MCU projects.
Of note, The Marvels ends with Kamala paying a visit to Kate Bishop, introduced in the Hawkeye series, as she looks to form a team. It's a play on the famous scene with Nick Fury and Tony Stark at the end of Iron Man, with Kamala playing the role of Nick Fury. That team is clearly the Young Avengers and Kamala is the ideal pick to lead the way. As noted, the actor is immensely talented and full of charisma, which is needed from a leader.
Kamala doesn't have to be the most powerful or even the most popular character to lead the way because Iman Vellani is incredible enough to make it work.
The Likely Cast Is Full Of Charismatic Actors
Iman Vellani is far from the only actor with charisma who is likely to appear in the Young Avengers. The first character that Kamala has recruited is Kate Bishop, who is played by Hailee Steinfeld. Her performance in Hawkeye was one of the best things about the show and the actor has proven herself in projects like The Edge of Seventeen and Sinners. Her interactions with Florence Pugh's Yelena were a highlight and we can't wait to see her interact with others.
Some of the other potential Young Avengers who have shown up in the MCU have been played by Kathryn Newton, who is great in everything from Big Little Lies to Freaky to Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, Joe Locke, who is fantastic in Netflix's Heartstopper, Xochitl Gomez, who was a standout in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Dominique Thorne, who is underrated as Riri Williams.
That only scratches the surface of the kind of talent that can potentially be part of the Young Avengers. There's a lot to live up to, considering how well the actors in the Avengers got along and worked together. Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, and many others all shared strong chemistry, which the Young Avengers cast have a chance to match.
Some Young Avengers Have Been Set Up Well
The introduction of these potential Young Avengers has been something of a mixed bag in the MCU. Several notable characters have debuted in a lackluster fashion and already feel like they've been forgotten about. Skaar isn't a comic member, yet as Hulk's son, he could be the replacement for Hulkling. However, he just awkwardly popped up in She-Hulk and there's no indication of his return. Kid Loki showed up in Loki, and while he was good, he didn't exactly feel like a must-see character.
A few characters have gotten great introductions, though. Kate Bishop gets time to develop as a character in Hawkeye to the point where she's one of the best new additions to the franchise. Despite several recastings, Cassie Lang as Stature is an established character whom audiences have grown to like. Eli Bradley, aka Patriot, was set up well in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, though he hasn't been seen much since.
America Chavez had a perfect introduction as a character who can hop through the multiverse, which makes her underutilization frustrating. However, making her a key piece of the Young Avengers could help make up for that. Billy Maximoff had a fantastic setup in Agatha All Along, turning him into one of the most intriguing new characters in the MCU. There's also Riri Williams, Love, and of course, Ms. Marvel, who have all been given solid stories to this point.
The MCU Must Avoid Repetition With This Team
One thing that the MCU must be careful of with the Young Avengers is not to hit the beats we've already seen with the original characters. Far too often have viewers looked at these new characters as knockoff replacements. Ironheart as the new Iron Man, Wiccan as a new Wanda, Kid Loki as a new Loki, Kate as the new Hawkeye, and Cassie as a new take on Ant-Man have all been called out by more negative fans.
That means the MCU needs to ensure that they don't lean too far into these things and allow these characters to breathe on their own. They should all play different roles on the team than their predecessors did, allowing the Young Avengers to feel unique from what we've seen before. It would also help if these characters were focused more on street-level threats. These characters don't need to have the fate of the world or universe at stake to get together, and their stories should be more lighthearted.
If the Young Avengers keep things different and allow the talented actors to make the characters their own, the MCU could be onto something special.
TV Show(s)
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter, Inhumans, WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, What If...?, Hawkeye, Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Secret Invasion, Marvel's Echo, Agatha All Along, Ironheart, Daredevil: Born Again, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
First Film
Iron Man
First TV Show
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Cast
Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Edward Norton, Paul Rudd, Tom Holland, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Brie Larson, Chadwick Boseman, Sebastian Stan, Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Pom Klementieff, Josh Brolin, Karen Gillan, Clark Gregg, Paul Bettany, Don Cheadle, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Simu Liu, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Angelina Jolie, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, Richard Madden, Barry Keoghan, Gemma Chan, Ma Dong-seok, Brian Tyree Henry, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Ridloff, Lia McHugh, Jonathan Majors
Created by
Kevin Feige
Upcoming Films
Blade, Avengers: Doomsday (2026), Avengers: Secret Wars
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a multimedia superhero franchise that began in 2008 with Paramount's Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. The franchise quickly grew in popularity, with Disney eventually buying out Marvel Entertainment in 2009. The MCU consists of dozens of movies and TV shows, most notably Avengers: Endgame, WandaVision, and Loki.
©Marvel/©Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
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