Last November, we learned that Marvel Studios had reportedly given up on producing a Young Avengers movie. Instead, the focus has reportedly shifted to bringing the Champions to Disney+.
It's hard to deny that the moment for the Young Avengers to assemble has passed. Fans have pointed out for years that the characters who fit under that umbrella are ageing up quickly, and the clear lack of focus in the Multiverse Saga's early stages did little to get them where they needed to be for a team-up.
The search for a Champions showrunner has, however, begun and the main reason we're getting a movie instead of a TV show is supposedly down to The Marvels underperforming at the box office last year.
Disney CEO Bob Iger has also discussed the importance of protecting the Avengers brand and a Young Avengers spin-off that doesn't live up to expectations would risk tarnishing the main event movies...which are guaranteed money-makers, of course.
Today, we have news on the Champions roster; it's said that the team will feature Wiccan (Joe Locke), Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani), Hawkeye (Hailee Steinfeld), America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton), and Ironheart (Dominique Thorne) in lead roles.
There's really only one noteworthy omission here: Elijah Richardson's Eli Bradley, the Young Avenger better known to comic book fans as Patriot. He was introduced in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier but this latest report doesn't necessarily close the door on characters like him, Amadeus Cho, or Speed factoring into this series.
Locke first played Wiccan in Agatha All Along and will likely return for a second season alongside Kathryn Hahn's Agatha Harkness. Iman Vellani put herself on the map with Ms. Marvel and was teased as the founder of this team in The Marvels' closing moments. As for Steinfeld, she received rave reviews for her take on Kate Bishop in Hawkeye.
Gomez, meanwhile, made her MCU debut as America in 2022's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and is expected to be a major player in the next Avengers movies given her ability to travel between realities. Thorne first played Riri in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever that same year and will headline her own Ironheart TV series this summer. Finally, Newton took over the role of Cassie in 2023's Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania.
Of course, the Young Avengers Champions have already assembled outside of the MCU...