Geeklings, I’m tired and more than a little worn out (#thankswork). I’ve been on the phone so much this week that I’m starting to lose my voice which is giving me this pre-pubescent/Kathleen Turner-like vibe which no one asked for. All I want to do is sit on my couch with the Mrs., Hudson the Cat, and spark up Godzilla vs Kong. That’s literally all I want right now. So please excuse me while I skip the usual elaborate introduction paragraph and jump directly into today’s subject. The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s elephant in the room if you will.

The Young Avengers are coming to the MCU, right?!

Seriously, there’s no way that they’re not coming to the MCU at this point. I’m not a gambling man but I’m willing to bet large sums of money, that I don’t have, that we are heading down a road toward the debut of the Young Avengers team. Has to be, right? Why else would the MCU be introducing us to Young Avengers characters like Hansel and Grettle dropping breadcrumbs on their way to that witch’s oven.

For those who don’t know, the Young Avengers are a Marvel comic of young superheroes. Think Teen Titans but Marvel’s version with less brooding Robins. The title kind of describes it all. The Avengers… but young. Boom! You now have the premise of the book. Shall we move on?

In the comics, the Young Avengers team consisted of the following characters at one time or another- Wiccan, Hulkling, Patriot, Loki, Speed, Stature, Kate Bishop, Iron Lad, and Miss America. Some of these names should seem familiar to you. Stature is none other than Ant-Man’s daughter Cassandra Lang who we’ve met a few times in various age demographics. Wiccan and Speed are the twins Billy and Tommy, the children Wanda manifested into existence through magic and then vanished when said magic left but somehow are still calling out to their mama.  We know from the Disney Share Holder’s Meeting that Kate Bishop will be in the upcoming Hawkeye Disney+ series and that America Chavez (a.k.a. Miss America) will be making an appearance in the upcoming Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness. And most recently in the latest episode of Falcon and the Winter Soldier, we caught a brief glimpse of Eli Bradley, better known as Patriot, as he opened the door for Sam and Bucky.

As for other members, is it possible that we get a Kid Loki from the Loki series? Maybe, if you look in the trailer Loki is rocking that Kid Loki outfit pretty hard despite very much looking like an adult. Hulkling, who is part Skrull and part Kree, seems like the perfect character to introduce in Captain Marvel 2. Iron Lad eventually becomes Kang the Conqueror but that involves a lot of time travel and confusingness but it’s possible that we get some version of that character because of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Then you throw in the fact that Vision was once a member of the team and White Vision is out there pondering ships and Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan, is coming to Disney+ and she would make a fantastic fit into a new Young Avengers team, you have to start wondering…

Is Marvel actually going to do this?!

With all these characters appearing or soon to be appearing or rumored to be appearing, one has to believe that Phase Four is leading us towards some kind of Young Avengers project. Whether it’s a movie or a Disney+ series is yet to be seen but nothing in the MCU happens by accident. These characters arriving on screen has to be more than just easter eggs for comic nerds. Think about the previous Phases of the MCU, they were all leading to something. Phase One was an introduction and eventual team-up with The Avengers. Phase Two was expansion with another team-up. Phase Three was the Infinity Stones and the showdown with Thanos. We still don’t really know what Phase Four is heading towards. Multiverse? Most likely. Skrulls? Good chance. Vampires? Well, Blade is coming. Other than that, who knows. Is it out of the realm of possibilities to believe that Phase Four is leading us to the formation of another Avengers group albeit a younger one?

Kevin Feige has said that there isn’t an Avengers movie at the end of Phase Four, but could he have been playing coy with us because this wouldn’t be an Avengers movie it would be a Young Avengers movie. Granted Phase Four has a lot of work to do before this team can be put together but when you think about it, we’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s to come. Nine episodes of WandaVision and two of Falcon and the Winter Soldier is nothing compared to what we still have ahead. Who knows what Black Widow, Eternals, Hawkeye, and/or Loki will bring to the table. But I’m willing to bet when all the dust settles that the MCU will have a new superhero team ready to jump into action.

What do you think Geeklings, do you think the Young Avengers are coming to the MCU? Have these characters been appearing just as easter eggs or are we building to something? Who would you like to see in the completed team? Sound off in the comments below or throw me a line over on Twitter @iamgeek32. Now if you’ll excuse me, there’s a thunder lizard and a giant monkey I need to watch fight each other.