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Scarlet Witch is one of the most important characters in Marvel Comics and the MCU. However, Wanda has been presumed dead in the MCU since Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022). The comic miniseries, Avengers: The Children’s Crusade, lays the perfect groundwork for Wanda’s return to the MCU.
The Children’s Crusade by Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung, who also co-created many of the original Young Avengers characters, focuses on the Young Avengers as they search for Wanda, who has been missing. From the very beginning of their story, the Young Avengers team has included Billy Kaplan (Wiccan), who is the reincarnated soul of Wanda’s magically created son, along with Billy’s twin brother, Tommy Shepherd (Speed).
Once Billy and Tommy discover that they are brothers and Wanda’s sons, they make it their mission to find her. As Billy and Tommy are officially part of the MCU, along with almost every other member of the Young Avengers, an adaption of The Children’s Crusade in the MCU could effortlessly usher in Wanda’s return.
The Young Avengers Could Be Essential to Scarlet Witch’s MCU Return
Avengers: The Children’s Crusade #1 by Allan Heinberg, Jim Cheung, Mark Morales, Justin Ponsor, and Cory Petit
The Children’s Crusade, whichran from 2010 to 2012, follows a team of super-powered teens in their search for Wanda. Like the adult Avengers, the roster for the Young Avengers often changes. However, at the time of The Children’s Crusade, the team includes Wiccan, Speed, Hulkling (Teddy Altman), Hawkeye (Kate Bishop), Patriot (Eli Bradley), Vision (Jonas), Stature (Cassie Lang), and occassionally the time-traveling Iron Lad (Nathaniel Richards). Driven by Billy and Tommy’s desire to meet their missing mother, the team ventures across the world to find her.
Even after locating Wanda, the Young Avengers have to fight through a series of trials and tribulations that could only happen in the world of comics.
Billy takes on the protagonist role in this Young Avengers story, as his desire to find and meet his mother is inherently connected to their shared powers. Billy feels as though a part of him is missing without her. The team’s search efforts lead them to Doctor Doom’s home country, Latveria, where they finally find an amnesiac Wanda, who thinks she is Doom’s bride. Even after locating Wanda, the Young Avengers have to fight through a series of trials and tribulations that could only happen in the world of comics.
What Young Avengers: The Children’s Crusade Means For the MCU
A Majority of the Young Avengers Have Already Debuts in the MCU
With the massive success of Agatha All Along and the overwhelmingly positive response to Joe Locke’s Billy, fans have been clamoring for more. As Agatha All Along ended with Agatha and Billy setting off to find Tommy, once they find him, surely they will search for the twins’ mother, too. The MCU’s Billy is so powerful in chaos magic that he can warp reality without realizing it, exactly like Wanda.Billy wanting to seek out Wanda to understand his magic to prevent another situation like the Witches’ Road from happening would be an understandable goal for the young witch.
Over the last few years, the MCU has already introduced almost every Young Avenger. While fans speculate that a Young Avengers-starring Disney+ series could be in the works, perhaps the methodical build up to the Young Avengers is meant for a big-screen payoff – one that would perfectly align with a plot inspired by The Children’s Crusade. While very little is known about Avengers: Doomsday besides the fact that Robert Downey Jr. is returning to the MCU as Doctor Doom, a Young Avengers storyline to find and save Wanda from Doom is already established in the comics.
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Wanda bringing down Mount Wundagore on top of herself to destroy all versions of the Darkhold at the end of Multiverse of Madness would certainly be a cause for memory loss, of which Doom could take advantage. Wanda’s massive power draws others to her, and Doctor Doom is nothing if not an opportunist, even if he is a Doom from another universe. A Doom from another multiverse sporting the face that Wanda knows as Tony Stark would also add an extra layer of complexity to an amnesiac or confused Scarlet Witch.
And It Has to Do with the Fantastic Four’s MCU Introduction
One of the original Young Avengers who has yet to appear in the MCU is Iron Lad, who happens to be a younger version of Kang the Conqueror. However, rumors of Nathaniel Richards being introduced in the upcoming Fantastic Four film are already swirling, making it likely that one more Young Avenger will join the ranks. Nathaniel Richards is an essential part of The Children’s Crusade, as his choices during the event lead to him becoming Kang the Conqueror in the future. With Kang’s importance in the future of the MCU, a Children’s Crusade adaptation would also be a perfect place to see that defining moment for Nathaniel.
With so many characters already from The Children’s Crusade already in play in the MCU, it’s only a matter of time before the Young Avengers assemble in some way. There have been rumors about the studio’s intention to bring back Scarlet Witch and make her a focal point of the MCU. As one of the most popular characters in both the comics and the films, it wouldn’t be totally surprising to see Scarlet Witch return, but the manner of her return being at the hands of her sons – like in The Children’s Crusade – would be a perfect comic-to-film adaptation.
Avengers: The Children’s Crusade is available now from Marvel Comics.
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