The second that Agatha all the time“Teen,” aka Billy Kaplan (Joe Locke), started spouting trivia about Agatha Harkness and said he was a big fan of her “Salem era,” I groaned. Not again. Even though that was partly an act with an ulterior motive, he goes along with it in a way that feels so familiar in the moment. And if the Marvel Cinematic Universe wants to team him up with the next generation, they have a big problem: these young adult characters are too similar.
This is not a criticism of Locke’s achievements. It’s not a criticism either Agatha all the time – or even WandaVisionfor that matter. These shows with “Agatha” and “Wanda” in the title are clearly not Billy’s story, and that’s fine. But the Marvel Cinematic Universe is, for better or worse, a connected franchise with its own set of trends that can sometimes be frustrating. The latest seems to be to introduce younger characters on the backs of more established heroes and villains in a way that doesn’t allow them to stand alone.
There is a homogenous devotion to them. They serve as surrogates for the audience and as explanatory tools. Many of them are fans of the character whose property they are entering. In Hawkeye, Kate Bishop idolizes Clint Barton, and says it to a stranger she was just talking An Avenger. Riri Williams drops the chip on her shoulder to ask Shuri and Okoye if she is being recruited Black Panther: Wakanda forever. America Chavez is strangely interested in whether or not Doctor Strange will get the girl inside Multiverse of madness. In Black widowYelena may be overachieving, but she still pays enough attention to her sister’s Avenger career to make fun of her fighting stance and various team-ups. Cassie Lang, whose superhero journey should have been a slam dunk after a successful introduction in Ant Manhas been recast so many times that her personality has been forgotten. By means of Quantumaniashe is a quintessential Disney STEM girl and a family learner who is just as impressed as her less experienced peers. (Did you know she dated a Kang variant who founded the Young Avengers? Think about that next time you watch Quantumania.) Don’t get me started on how two Young Avengers from Marvel comics, Kid Loki and Eli Bradley are just guest stars Loki And The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. And if Billy’s friend “Eddie” turns out to be Hulkling, which is how they chose to introduce him, so help me!
Now, when the first issue of Young Avengers was published in 2005, many of those characters identified themselves as fans of Marvel heroes. But they were fans from far away; they weren’t their fans And their protectors. These heroes were never meant to be sidekicks. The kind of crazy, enthusiastic pep these characters display on screen is more akin to what we’d associate with – apologies for crossing the streams by invoking DC comics here – the Robin to someone’s Batman. This go-getter attitude is what you would expect from a young person in a stereotypical superhero adventure, but today’s comedic stories have moved beyond that. Kate Bishop, Billy Kaplan, and America Chavez, etc., in Marvel comics, are far too independent and capable to follow behind the adults on screen.
Then there’s Kamala Khan, who is canonical should be an over-enthusiastic superhero fangirl. She received a good introduction and headlined her own series Ms. Marvel. But also on the big screen The miraclesshe became more of a supporting character whose hero’s journey was set aside to support Captain Marvel’s emotional journey. Like Riri Williams, she is excited to possibly be recruited by the Avengers. Like Billy and Kate, she is an expert in the world of her heroes. She also serves as a foil to the adult Monica Rambeau, who was first introduced as an enthusiastic child who idolized her Aunt Carol in Captain Marvel and has since become disillusioned. Kamala’s character stands out in the Marvel comics as an avid fan turned superhero, more so than even the geekiest member of the Young Avengers (not Billy, if you care). On screen she just feels like more of the same.
It seems like Feige and company’s blueprint for this is Spider-Man. In 2016, thanks in part to the infamous Sony hack, Peter Parker first appeared in the MCU, played by Tom Holland in Captain America: Civil War as Tony Stark’s “trainee” on Team Iron Man. Back then, there was a different kind of superhero fatigue than what we’re talking about now, and it actually opened up more opportunities for the studio. After seeing Bruce Wayne’s parents die on screen for the umpteenth time Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice That year it was a relief not to have to see Uncle Ben die Captain America: Civil war or see a radioactive spider take a bite out of a high school student to introduce this well-known character. The MCU’s short Spider-Man origin story felt new and fresh. (This was before Sony’s animated masterpiece, of course Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse changed the telling of that iconic origin story in a bit.)
There are Spider-Man fans who, to put it both kindly and ambitiously, don’t prefer the MCU version of the webslinger. Not only is he attached to Tony Stark’s story, the canonical working-class hero is also attached to Stark’s money. But against all odds, introducing Peter Parker as Tony Stark’s sidekick in a Captain America movie still felt seamless. The character is just so incredibly relatable. All Civil war All they had to do was flash the word ‘QUEENS’ in giant sans-serif letters on the screen and the audience knew exactly who they were going to see and why he was here. This doesn’t work with cartoon characters introduced in the last twenty years. The average person doesn’t know who Miss America Chavez is, why the identity of Billy Kaplan’s boyfriend matters, or what it means that Isaiah Bradley has a grandson named Eli. If the MCU wants to continue with these characters, they need to put in the work.
Turning all of these characters into Peter Parker, both in their behavior and in the way they’re used in the story, makes the prospect of a Young Avengers team feel tiresome. These kids would be too excited to just be Avengers to get anything done. There was once doubt that bringing together radically different superheroes like Iron Man, Thor and Captain America into one cohesive story could work. However, that film had to create an ensemble of supporting characters from the leads. These children have the opposite problem. All the things that make us fall in love with these characters are sidelined when they serve only as sidekicks or Easter eggs in someone else’s story. While the end of Agatha Complicating Billy and Agatha’s relationship and setting him on his own journey, Agatha is still literally by his side, but as a mentor archetype rather than a ghostly sidekick.
To be fair, there are a lot of loose threads in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that are beyond the control of those in power thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, industry strikes, and box office panic. Iron heartthe continuation of Riri Williams’ story, won’t be released until 2025, despite being announced in 2020. There may be plans to flesh out these characters further, which we have yet to see. But that doesn’t change the problems with how the next generation of Marvel characters are already being written and presented to audiences – not as heroes per se, but as kids who are just so happy to be here.