For the last few years, Marvel Studios has introduced several possible members of the Young Avengers team to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but there’s one we might never meet. The end of The Marvels in 2023 all but confirmed Marvel’s plans to bring the Young Avengers together, bringing to life the team, created by Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung, from Marvel Comics’ Young Avengers #1 in 2005. We’re still not sure when the team will come together in the MCU, but a number of prominent members have already debuted.
The MCU’s Young Avengers team could already be comprised of Kamala Khan’s Ms. Marvel, Kate Bishop’s Hawkeye, Cassie Lang’s Stature, Riri Williams’ Ironheart, America Chavez, and Billy Maximoff’s Wiccan. Ruaridh Mollica has now been confirmed to be appearing as Tommy Maximoff’s Speed in the upcoming VisionQuest series, adding another powerful member of the Young Avengers to the MCU. However, there’s one iconic member of the team from Marvel Comics who is perhaps less likely to appear in the live-action MCU after recent changes.
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Marvel Moving On From Kang the Conqueror Means Iron Lad Probably Won’t Be a Young Avenger
Young Avengers #1 introduced Nathaniel “Nate” Richards to Marvel Comics as the young armored superhero Iron Lad. Richards was a younger version of Nathaniel Richards’ Kang the Conqueror who sought to escape from his destiny as the time-traveling supervillain by doing good, so he helped found the Young Avengers with the purpose of defeating his future self and reshaping his own destiny. Despite being crucial to the development of the Young Avengers in Marvel Comics, it seems unlikely that Iron Lad will be included on the team in the MCU.
As a variant of Kang the Conqueror, Iron Lad would have been a great addition to the MCU during Jonathan Majors’ time as the multiversal antagonist. Kang and his variants posed huge problems to Loki and Ant-Man in various Multiverse Saga instalments, but Marvel Studios has seemingly moved on from this villain entirely. This was in response to Majors’ arrest and conviction on two misdemeanour counts of assault and harassment in 2023, which culminated in Majors being fired from Marvel Studios. This left Kang’s future – and the futures of his variants – in serious jeopardy.
Kang’s removal from the MCU led to the reshuffling of the Multiverse Saga to focus on Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom. This choice has been controversial, however, especially since there are still countless Kang variants that went unexplored, and Iron Lad is among them. He would have been a fantastic addition to the Young Avengers team, and would have brought a character dynamic to the MCU that we haven’t really seen before – a hero destined for villainy, trying to fight against his fated future.
Iron Lad’s MCU Debut Could Solve a Huge Kang Problem
While the firing of Jonathan Majors – despite his own wishes – and the apparent removal of Kang and his variants from the MCU means Iron Lad’s debut may be difficult, it certainly isn’t impossible. In fact, bringing Iron Lad into the MCU now could give many viewers exactly what they want. Following Majors’ removal, some wanted to see Kang and his variants recast. Iron Lad is too young for Majors to play anyway, so introducing him now would be a brilliant way to recast Kang.
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Nathaniel Richards is a teenager when he becomes Iron Lad, renouncing his destiny as a supervillain, but this fate catches up to him nevertheless. This means that a young star could still be introduced as the MCU’s Iron Lad, and this actor could grow up into Kang the Conqueror, thereby fully replacing Jonathan Majors and allowing Kang and his variants to pose a threat to heroes in the franchise’s future, long after operating as a superhero alongside the likes of Ms. Marvel, Hawkeye, Wiccan, Speed, and more.
We’re still not sure when the Young Avengers will debut in the MCU, as none of the possible members have yet been confirmed to be returning. We’d love to see Iman Vellani, Hailee Steinfeld, Dominique Thorne, Joe Locke, Ruaridh Mollica, and more join forces to bring their MCU characters together on-screen, perhaps in Avengers: Doomsday or Avengers: Secret Wars, and we think it’d still be fantastic to see Iron Lad get a spot on the team. Iron Lad’s debut could bring Kang back and redeem him from Majors’ past, which gives us hope for the villain’s live-action future.
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