‘Young Avengers’: How ‘WandaVision,’ ‘Hawkeye,’ and ‘Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ Could Set Up Marvel’s Next Generation of Heroes on Disney+
Besides taking place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Disney+ show might not seem like they connect much. However, WandaVision, Hawkeye, and Falcon and the Winter Soldier all have one thing in common, and that’s establishing heroes that form the Young Avengers team. Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), Wanda’s kids Billy and Tommy, and Eli Bradley have close ties to the Young Avengers. Here’s what Marvel might have plans for in the MCU.
The kids from ‘WandaVision,’ Billy and Tommy reincarnate into the hero’s Wiccan and Speed in Marvel comics
When it comes to Wanda Maximoff, possessing reality-altering powers makes almost nothing in life straightforward. WandaVision delved into her grief over the Vision’s death in Avengers: Infinity War.
She created a hex, a massive area where her powers controlled everything. Her abilities warped the people, the weather, even the era. Then, Wanda made children for herself and the Vision, Billy and Tommy Maximoff.
Wanda’s artificial children line up almost exactly like Marvel Comics, right down to the end. In WandaVision, Billy and Tommy disappear with the hex. However, in Marvel comics, Wanda’s kids come back to team up with the Young Avengers, Hawkeye, and more.
William Kaplan and Thomas Shepherd are the reincarnations of Wanda’s kid, the heroes Wiccan and Speed. Like in WandaVision, Wiccan possesses magical abilities, and Speed has incredible, well, speed, like Quicksilver.
Billy even wore his Wiccan costume in the Halloween episode of WandaVision.
Even though the two no longer called each other siblings, they joined the first line-up of the Young Avengers along with Kate Bishop’s Hawkeye.
‘Hawkeye’ Kate Bishop and Cassie Lang joined the Young Avengers together
Several fans wondered why Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop felt more like the main character of Hawkeye than Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton, who came out of retirement one more time. In Marvel comics, both heroes frequently work together and confusingly use the same codename.
In Hawkeye episode 6, Kate Bishop brainstormed superhero names. The credits roll just as Clint suggests a name, hinting at Kate officially becoming Hawkeye.
She spent a long time rejecting Hawkeye’s name in the comics, even after she joined the Young Avengers. Ant-Man Scott Lang’s daughter, Cassie Lang, joined the Young Avengers around the same time as Kate Bishop.
As the first two female heroes on the team, Kate Bishop and Cassie Lang became quick friends.
‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ introduced Eli Bradley who led the Young Avengers
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier has gotten a little lost in the wave of Disney+ Marvel shows like Hawkeye and WandaVision. However, it introduced the most important character connected to the Young Avengers.
Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes meet Isaiah Bradley, an African-American man who endured experiments that attempted to recreate the Super Soldier Serum. The US government forced him into hiding, where he raised his son Eli Bradley.
Eli Bradley became the hero Patriot in the comics and formed the Young Avengers with Wiccan and Speed, another hero called Hulkling, Kate Bishop Hawkeye, and an alternate version of Kang the Conquerer.
As Loki teased the alternate versions of the villain Kang in its final episode, Marvel has intentionally laid all the pieces on the table for the Young Avengers to form the next big Marvel team. Fans could see more of Scarlet Witchs kids and Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop in her iconic Laika shirt.
And with American Chavez set to star in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, even more pieces are falling into place.
