As we begin to ease into Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the focus has shifted to different heroes in the wake of Avengers: Endgame. With the loss of some of our beloved original Avengers, the spotlight has now fallen on characters like Bucky Barnes, Sam Wilson, Wanda Maximoff, and Vision.
Though nothing has officially been confirmed, all signs are also pointing to the imminent introduction of a popular superhero team from the comics — the Young Avengers. The first iteration of the team first appeared in 2005 alongside the Avengers Disassembled storyline, and has since gone on to appear in various facets of Marvel’s comic book universe.
Episode 2 of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier introduced us to Isaiah Bradley, who was known as the first Black Captain America in the comics. A boy coldly greets Sam and Bucky at the door when they arrive at the house, and in the credits actor Elijah Richardson’s character is listed as Eli Bradley — Isaiah’s grandson.
So who exactly is Elijah “Eli” Bradley? In the comics, Eli was one of the founding members of the Young Avengers, and he worked with the team under the mantle Patriot.
Rather than being a one-off coincidence, this heavily hints at the Young Avengers because we’re already met some other members of the team as well. In WandaVision, we were introduced to Billy and Tommy, who are also known as Wiccan and Speed. Meanwhile, Kate Bishop will be making her MCU debut in Hawkeye, Cassie Lang will be back in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Miss America will appear in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and who knows what time-bending possibilities Loki could hold for the potential appearance of Kid Loki.
Stay tuned for more of our MCU speculation and our continued weekly coverage of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier!
