Marvel Studios fleshed out its ambitious plans at Comic-Con International in San Diego, with announcements that bring the Marvel Cinematic Universe into 2025, and Phase Six, with Fantastic Four, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars. However, noticeably absent was, yes, the X-Men, but also Young Avengers.
After all, the MCU has been quietly gathering young heroes -- or future heroes -- for seven years, beginning with the introduction of Cassie Lang (aka Stature) in 2015's Ant-Man. So, what gives?
"We’ve got… we’re sort of reminding people of all the amazing characters that we have introduced in Phase Four," Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige told MTV News following the Hall H presentation, "and sort of where those characters go and how they form their own cliques."
It's not exactly an answer to Josh Horowitz's question about the absence of Young Avengers news. But fans can, perhaps, draw some context from Feige's comments moments earlier about the compartmentalization of the MCU: characters like Blade, Doctor Strange and Ghost Rider in the supernatural; Daredevil and Spider-Man among the street-level heroes; and cosmic, including the further adventures of Eros and Pip.
Of course, none of those categories suits the Young Avengers, a group of teen heroes established in the wake of Marvel Comics' 2004-2005 storyline, "Avengers Disassembled." Nevertheless, we can begin to see the organization of the MCU's Phases Five and Six fall into place.
Which Young Avengers Have Already Debuted in the MCU
To date, the MCU has introduced seven Young Avengers from the comics lineups: Cassie Lang/Stature (Ant-Man); Billy and Tommy Maximoff, aka Wiccan and Speed (WandaVision); Kid Loki (Loki); Eli Bradley/Patriot (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier); Kate Bishop/Hawkeye (Hawkeye); and America Chavez (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness). Add Iron Lad to the mix with revelation in Loki of Kang the Conqueror variants, and Marvel has the team's foundation in place.
That's before we even consider Ms. Marvel, coming off of her own Disney+ series, and Ironheart, debuting in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Although the two heroes aren't connected to the comics team, it's difficult to imagine they wouldn't be included in an MCU team.
The MCU's Phase Five movie slate kicks off in February 2023 with Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, followed by Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, The Marvels and Blade. They are joined on Disney+ by What If...? Season 2, Secret Invasion, Echo, Loki Season 2, Ironheart, Agatha: Coven of Chaos and Daredevil: Born Again.
Source: MTV News