Marvel’s Young Avengers Movie Has Already Avoided Its Biggest Casting Problems

The potential Young Avengers movie of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has already avoided several big problems that could have faced its cast. At the end of The Marvels in 2023, the first three members of the Young Avengers’ cast were confirmed. Iman Vellani’s Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel sought out Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop, with the former telling the latter she is building her own superhero team. This directly sets up a YoungAvengers MCU movie, with hints being placed that Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania‘s Kathryn Newton would also appear as Cassie Lang.

As one of many potential projects on the MCU’s upcoming list of movies, the Young Avengers is highly anticipated. If not for the promise of these three characters joining forces, Young Avengers holds the excitement of bringing a new team to the MCU that offers something different from the mainline Avengers of the Infinity Saga. However, with excitement also comes pressure both on the film itself and its cast to solidify the team as an MCU mainstay. Despite this pressure, the cast members already confirmed for the Young Avengers have avoided several casting issues that could have been prevalent otherwise.

The Young Avengers’ Leads Won’t Age Out Of The Roles

Marvel’s casting makes the timeline pressure of the Young Avengers a less-pressing issue.

The first casting problem that Iman Vellani and Hailee Steinfeld avoid as the two main characters of the Young Avengers is that they will not age out of their roles. Kathryn Newton similarly avoids this problem as Cassie Lang, though The Marvels’ cliffhanger ending only hinted she would be a part of the time rather than outright confirming it. Concerning Vellani and Steinfeld, the actors are 21 years old and 27 years old respectively. With both performers being notably older than the character they are playing, Marvel Studios does not have to worry about them looking too old for their roles.

This was certainly a possibility if another route was taken for the Young Avengers‘ main cast. For example, if Julian Hilliard (Billy Maximoff aka Wiccan) and Jett Klyne (Tommy Maximoff aka Speed) from WandaVision had been chosen to lead the Young Avengers team, Marvel Studios would face pressure to shoot the movie quickly. Hilliard and Klyne are much younger than Vellani and Steinfeld and would have quickly aged out of their 10/11-year-old characters based on how swiftly teenage boys tend to visibly age. With Ms. Marvel and Kate Bishop though, Vellani and Steinfeld will not physically age as drastically.

The Young Avengers’ Two Leads Avoid A Cap & Iron Man Problem

Ms. Marvel and Hawkeye will not be expected to replace Cap and Iron Man.

Through Vellani and Steinfeld leading the Young Avengers team, the film has avoided another problem. This links to the concept that Iron Man and Captain America would need to be replaced in every new superhero team in the MCU. Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans were so good in their respective roles that the two pillars of any future team would likely be compared to the two and their characters. Given the iconicity of both roles, it is equally likely that these comparisons would have been negatively skewed if lesser actors were chosen as the Young Avengers’ leads, for example.

That said, Iman Vellani and Hailee Steinfeld are two of the best individual casting choices the MCU has made since Avengers: Endgame. Both actors shone in their roles, with Vellani proving to be the best part of Ms. Marvel and The Marvels and Steinfeld more than matching an original Avenger in Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton in Hawkeye. As such, both actors and their characters are some of the best MCU inclusions in the entire Multiverse Saga, meaning negative comparisons will not be made to Captain America and Iron Man.

The Young Avengers’ Leads Put Less Pressure On The Rest Of The Team

The other Young Avengers can shine as its two leads remove the burden of expectation.

Finally, the casting of Iman Vellani and Hailee Steinfeld puts less pressure on casting the rest of the Young Avengers team in a way that also links back to the original six Avengers. Throughout the Infinity Saga, Captain America and Iron Man were the two main pillars of the team. As such, the casting of Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans was arguably more integral to the success of the entire MCU than the casting of the other members of the team.

This was evident with the recasting of Hulk not causing issues, as well as other Avengers like Hawkeye and Black Widow rarely receiving as much attention as the team’s leaders. With Vellani and Steinfeld as the main pillars of the Young Avengers, there is less pressure on the rest of the team to reach these heights in terms of casting. Pinning Ms. Marvel and Kate Bishop’s Hawkeye as the Young Avengers’ two leaders alleviates the expectation placed on other Marvel Cinematic Universe characters of this team, in a similar vein to the casting of the original Avengers in Phase 1.

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