The Marvel Cinematic Universe is still introducing several new teams and characters, though the Avengers remain the premier group. To this end, rumors persist that a youthful new group derived from Earth's Mightiest Heroes is on the way. While this makes some sense, there might be another team that fits even better in the future phases of the shared universe.

, even if they use the Champions name. Previous attempts to push certain characters haven't gone well, and Marvel's potential avoidance of the Avengers name proves this. On the other hand, while they've yet to make a real mark in the modern day, the New Warriors could and should be the MCU's team of young heroes going forward.

There have been rumors about the Young Avengers for a while now, with these reaching a crescendo following the release of 2023's The Marvels. It seems that Marvel Studios is slowly building up to a version of the Young Avengers being formed, especially given the lack of a proper Avengers team being seen since the events of 2019's Avengers: Endgame.

No concrete plans for a movie or a Disney+ TV show have been announced, but many feel that they're right around the corner, especially if this all happens after the upcoming Avengers: Secret Wars. At the same time, the biggest debate involves what the team itself will be called.

The Young Avengers is a somewhat contentious name for the MCU version of the team to possibly use, and for several reasons. For one, the term "Young Avengers" was always more of a marketing gimmick of a name than anything else, and it feels "comic booky" in the worst way. Likewise, besides the inclusion of Billy Kaplan/Wiccan, .

Ironheart and Skaar might be used in the place of Iron Lad and Hulkling, but this would likely only anger some fans. Another potential name might be the "Champions", which is currently used as a similar group of young Marvel heroes. It's also where Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel and Riri Williams/Ironheart teamed up, so using this name would make sense. However, there are some issues with the team, especially given previous MCU projects.

. There are a few exceptions to this, with many clamoring for a new movie for Shang-Chi, but in the case of the legacy characters in particular, Marvel Studios hasn't had success with the new blood.

This is likely why Marvel has doubled down on nostalgia-driven projects such as Spider-Man: No Way Home and Deadpool & Wolverine. Likewise, even the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday features more characters (of the cast that has been announced so far) from the Fox X-Men movies than the newer MCU movies.

Even in the mostly well-received Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Ironheart's inclusion was widely criticized, especially since she wasn't beloved in the comics. Stature/Stinger was criticized in the already disliked Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and the same was the case for America Chavez in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. There are only two truly popular legacy characters, and even one of these is debatable.

The Kate Bishop Hawkeye was introduced in the Disney+ show of the same name, with many seeing Hailee Steinfeld's version of the character as an improvement over the comics. The show was also well-received, which helped get the character over. While Iman Vellani's performance as Ms. Marvel is generally liked, her Disney+ show was the lowest-viewed of the streaming MCU shows on the platform. Similarly, her theatrical debut in the now-infamous The Marvels was both the biggest MCU flop and one of the biggest box office flops of all time, and many see it as the end for the characters involved in terms of prominence.

Recently, , but it's unknown if this is enough to translate to the Young Avengers as a whole working as a concept. Too many of the heroes potentially involved are unpopular or not popular enough to move the needle for such a project. This team-up, especially if it manifests in a Disney+ TV show called Champions, would wear this insecurity on its sleeve.

If the rumors over the Champions name are to be believed, it suggests that Marvel refuses to use the "Avengers" moniker for a small-scale project on a streaming platform. Marvel Studios might also want to avoid connecting a team of largely unsuccessful heroes to the Avengers name as well. Some of the actors for the characters involved also won't be "young" for too much longer, and a lot is working against this time. Thankfully, there is another group of young Marvel heroes who might fit into this role a lot more organically in future projects.

Though it's now fairly overlooked, . They initially existed as a sort of junior counterpart to the Avengers, foreshadowing similar teams such as the Young Avengers and the modern version of the Champions that came later. This was in an era when the Avengers name meant little beyond the opinions of hardcore fans, with Earth's Mightiest Heroes trailing behind the popularity of Spider-Man and the X-Men. Perhaps for this reason, the team, while tied tangentially to the Avengers, wasn't completely connected to other heroes such as Iron Man or Captain America. This made them closer to half of the new heroes from DC's The New Teen Titans than the classic version of the Titans or DC's Infinity Inc. group. Likewise, this is also a big reason why the New Warriors might work in the MCU.

, which is definitely a plus. For this reason, they won't be seen as an attempt to replace other, far more popular characters and can stand on their own. In fact, the only real "legacy" character would be Namorita, and it's not as if Namor is some beloved character in the MCU at this point. There was also a fairly decent mix of diversity for the time, with two female heroes being part of a team led by the rich, resourceful African-American hero Night Thrasher. Individual shows and movies can be used to slowly trickle the team in before they debut in their own project, emulating what made the build-up of the first Avengers team so successful. Most importantly, there was already going to be an MCU New Warriors show that was eventually canned, with the team at one point poised for potential stardom in the shared universe. This didn't come to pass, but fixing the mistake now might ultimately be a better route than going forward with the Young Avengers/Champions. The New Warriors might even tie into one of the most beloved parts of the MCU.

A major disconnect for some MCU fans involves the movies and the TV shows, as some feel that the Marvel Cinematic Universe Disney+ shows are "homework" needed to watch the newer movies. This wasn't how things were with the MCU shows released before 2020, namely those on Netflix. The Marvel Netflix shows like Daredevil were a one-way street, briefly commenting on the changed world after the events of 2012's The Avengers while otherwise being independent.

This helped make the grounded, dark tone of these shows work, as they didn't have to comment or coalesce with the increasingly outlandish aspects of the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe. That can even be seen in the current TV series Daredevil: Born Again, but it does create a bigger gap between the Marvel movies and the best MCU TV shows. There's one team that might work best to fill this role, and it's ironically not the Young Avengers.

This will create hype for their TV show projects while letting movie-only viewers be aware of their existence. The scope of many of the team's classic members also fits this idea, as few of them are particularly grandiose. The one exception to this would be the many-times cosmic Richard Rider/Nova, but he can have his own movie for his space-based adventures.

Nova and occasional member Darkhawk could have their own movies, whereas team leader Night Thrasher is perfect for a gritty, TV-MA Disney+ show. The other New Warriors have never really been solo heroes, so they would mostly just show up in the New Warriors team-up. While Nova might try to rebuild the Nova Corps and even encounter familiar faces from the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, Darkhawk could spend time with street-level characters such as The Punisher, Daredevil and even a certain friendly neighborhood hero.

Some have suggested that Spider-Man could join the MCU Champions or Young Avengers. This would emulate how the modern take on the Champions has the Miles Morales version of Spider-Man on the team, and it helps that Spidey remains Marvel's most popular character. Still, this wouldn't feel organic given Peter Parker's age, and it would be a more than obvious example of using him to prop up a team of comparatively disliked or unpopular heroes.

Ironically, Ben Reilly/Scarlet Spider was briefly tied to the New Warriors, so connecting this team to Spidey in the movies might work on this level. It wouldn't mean having the Web-Slinger actually on the team, but having him be unofficially involved or related to them (somewhat similar to the hero's ties to the Fantastic Four by way of fellow young hero Human Torch in the comics) would be a key way to use him judiciously while rounding out Marvel's young and street-based heroes.

In the end, a lot of Marvel's plans beyond Avengers: Secret Wars are tightly under wraps, and that includes anything involving the young heroes. This does, however, give time for Marvel Studios to try and position the New Warriors up for stardom in the MCU.