#MarvelMonday again, Fellow Foodies!
So, Young Avengers and the MCU (Earth-199999, NOT 616). I’m disappointed that I don’t see more internet voices bringing them up. (Slightly less disappointed that I don’t see them in Phase 5) I’ve been seeing reminders of them again and again since Wandavision. Now in Quantumania we finally see Cassie Lang as Stature. (Or at least wielding a suit and some Pym Particles.) The first time we saw her donning those, she was teaming up with a juvenile Kang (pre-Conqueror) named Iron Lad. Gonna let that sink in… …before I say that they were romantic. I find this hilarious in hindsight. She doesn’t call herself Stature, and she’s emulating her father while he’s still alive, but ultimately more absent from heroics. I also saw the old running bit about upholding the status quo. When Henry Pym is excitedly saying what can be learned from the ants, he is only interrupted when he mentions that “I know socialism is a loaded word, “. And the movie begins with Cassie getting released from prison for defending demonstrators. (And shrinking one police car, lol). Maybe Scott doesn’t want her to follow those old footsteps of his. Maybe he jus wants Hope’s initiatives to take care of everything.
Now let’s see about other Young Avengers and their positions in the MCU.
The Hawkeye mini-series gave us Kate Bishop (also Echo…), and now we finally have Cassie stepping up as Stature. Eli Bradley‘s Grandfather (or maybe Great-grandfather) showed up in Falcon and the Winter Soldier. After Loki Season 1, there’s a juvenile Loki not far from where a Kang died. After Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, we have America Chavez (her given name translates to “Henrietta” Chavez) and a living set of Maximoff twins. Bringing in the X-Men stands to bring in David Alleyne, the Prodigy (not that one). And of course by building up Kang, you’ve probably introduced Iron Lad.
And about their rosters, there’s someone missing. Hulkling, bastard son of Mar-Vell and the Skrull Princess Anelle. Part of the first gay couple on the roster, husband to Wiccan. …I don’t think we’re going to see him come up. And that’s if Multiverse of Madness is not the last we see of Wanda’s children. One of them (Billy) is married to the son of the above Princess (in the comics).
And about Hulkling. He’s supposed to be the one in the manner of the Hulk come up but he’s the son of Captain Marvel. Not that one. Not him, either. The one who is famous for dying of cancer in 1983. The one who was succeeded by Monica Rambaeu, to keep the name out of DC’s hands. The Mahr Vell whose other son (Genis) took over the mantle from Monica Rambau, at great cost to her. I don’t know how well those connections were or will be explored. I just know that by jumping straight ahead to Carol Danvers, it doesn’t look like we’re going to get him. Or maybe it will be like “N’Amor,” and wholly irrelevant to the source material, (unless it ways that are confusing.)
In light of how Marvel’s New 10’s crop of writers treated ANYONE who didn’t agree with the(ir specific) inclusion of LGBTQI+ legacy characters, it’s …surprising that Phase 4 introduced so few of them. No, I’m not ignoring “The Eternals,” but that movie was so isolated, it felt like it wouldn’t have any bearing on the broader MCU overall (and didn’t the intended ending opt to blow up the Earth and kill almost everyone we’d been following as an audience?) Hulkling and Wiccan were the 1st gay couple on the Young Avengers. America Chavez might be a lesbian, but does it look like that will be addressed? For the sake of China and India’s dollars, it just looked like there’s never going to be a whole lot of gay representation in the MCU. Hopefully I’m wrong, it’s probably a coincidence that at least 1 of Hulkling’s parents were erased. Secret Invasion certainly didn’t do him any favors, when he’d only been around for a handful of years. And after that, I probably wouldn’t want to invest in him, either. Maybe when they make that movie, we’ll see him first.
But ultimately I’m not seeing any promotion for this team. It’s possible that they’re just coming up due to their relation to other characters. Kate Bishop had her own thing going apart from the team, but her most prolific partner that I ever knew of also showed up in the Young Avengers. So we’ll see. My thoughts on the movie itself are going to be coming in a little bit. I’ve only had one person to discuss it with so far. And I just went to ECCC. I’d like to cover that first. Lots of great cosplay, and a brand new building to explore. See you then.
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