The MCU’s Young Avengers project is on the verge of becoming entirely pointless. The MCU timeline has spent years subtly ᴀssembling the MCU’s Young Avengers, teasing their arrival across multiple projects in Phase 4 and beyond. Yet despite the groundwork laid in Disney+ shows and films, a formal Young Avengers project still hasn’t materialized. Marvel will have to act quickly if it doesn’t want to project to become entirely redundant.
The Young Avengers are a fan-favorite Marvel Comics team, introduced in 2005 as the next generation of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. With younger versions or legacies of classic characters like Iron Man, Captain America, and Hawkeye, the team became a way to refresh the Marvel Universe and appeal to newer readers. In the MCU, Marvel has carefully teased several Young Avengers, including Kate Bishop, Cᴀssie Lang, and America Chavez, each debuting in their respective shows or movies.
The MCU’s Young Avengers Cast Is Almost As Old As The Original Avengers
The MCU’s Young Avengers are rapidly approaching the age the original Avengers cast were, completely undermining any notion of them being younger counterparts. When the original Avengers ᴀssembled in 2012, most of the actors were in their late 20s to early 30s. At the time of filming The Avengers, Chris Evans was 30, Scarlett Johansson was 26, and Chris Hemsworth was 28. By comparison, the potential Young Avengers cast is rapidly closing that age gap.
Young Avenger |
Actor |
Age In 2025 |
---|---|---|
Kate Bishop |
Hailee Steinfeld |
28 |
Cᴀssie Lang |
Kathryn Newton |
28 |
America Chavez |
Xochitl Gomez |
19 |
Eli Bradley |
Elijah Richardson |
23 |
Billy Maximoff |
Joe Locke |
21 |
Riri Williams |
Dominique Thorne |
27 |
Kid Loki |
Jack Veal |
18 |
Skaar |
Wil Deusner |
23 |
While some, like Gomez and Locke, still fit the “young” label, others are aging into the same demographic as the mainline Avengers. Considering that Young Avengers hasn’t been officially slated, it’ll be years before any project comes to fruition. Compounded by the fact that Marvel movies often take years to develop and shoot, it’s likely that several of these actors will be in their 30s by the time a Young Avengers project finally premieres.
Could The Young Avengers Become The MCU’s New Avengers Instead?
Given the cast’s ages and the MCU’s evolving landscape post-Endgame, it may make more sense for Marvel to position these characters as the next iteration of the main Avengers team. Sam Wilson is now Captain America, and other original heroes have either retired or died. During Captain America: Brave New World, Sam decides to start building his own Avengers team – though there are only a handful of candidates.
As the younger counterparts are mostly battle-tested, rather than siloing them into a separate “junior” team, the MCU might be better off simply merging the Young Avengers with the new Avengers lineup. Characters like Kate Bishop and Riri Williams are already seasoned enough to stand alongside heroes like Sam Wilson, Doctor Strange, and Captain Marvel. In fact, continuing to refer to them as Young Avengers might end up doing them a disservice.
Upcoming MCU Movies
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Thunderbolts*
- Release Date
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May 2, 2025
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The Fantastic Four: First Steps
- Release Date
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July 25, 2025
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Avengers: Doomsday
- Release Date
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May 1, 2026
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Spider-Man: Brand New Day
- Release Date
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July 31, 2026
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Avengers: Secret Wars
- Release Date
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May 7, 2027