Back in March, the cast and crew of Captain America: Civil War had a nice little Tumblr Q&A session with Buzzfeed’s online community. Fans had a field day, asking hard questions that deserved hard answers. The stars did their part, accessing archaic and powerful knowledge of Marvel Lore to stun fans. Robert Downey Jr. mentioned that his Iron Man suit could use “a feather boa around the midriff;” it was all great stuff.
Eventually, the most important question of all was directed at the Russo brothers, who will be directing the next two Avengers films after having helmed Captain America: The Winter Soldier and the soon-to-be-released Civil War adaptation. When a forward-thinking fan asked about the possibility of a Young Avengers movie featuring one Miss America Chavez, Joe Russo didn’t hesitate:
“Damn. That’s actually a really good idea… And you’re right she would kick ass!”
The Young Avengers are just begging for a film adaptation. If Marvel wants to continue building momentum on the backs of the current franchises in their Cinematic Universe, they’ve got to look at the emerging audience trends. The Russo brothers are on board. The fans are on board. Take notes, AMC theaters. This is how you corner the millennial market.
Here are 12 Actors We’d Like To See In A Young Avengers Movie.
Chloë Grace Moretz as Stature
Cassie Lang (aka Stature) is the daughter of the Ant-Man, Scott Lang. Enamored with Papa’s superhero past, she exposes herself to the Pym Particle on purpose (try saying that five times fast). Unlike her father, Cassie gains the ability to grow to magnificent proportions. eventually using that power to help create the very first version of the Young Avengers. Including her in the next phase only makes sense; she’s already made her Marvel debut (2015’s Ant-Man), albeit without any superpowers to speak of. Yet.
Abby Ryder Fortson (Cassie) quickly stole the hearts of audiences – heck, she pretty much stole every scene she was in. The kid was downright adorable, effortlessly switching on the sass and charming us with that incisor-less smile. Unfortunately for us, Fortson is only eight — just a bit young for this hypothetical casting.
Enter Chloe Grace. At the tender age of 19, she’s done it all, taking on roles as a bite-sized crime fighter in Kick-Ass, a telekinetic time-bomb in Carrie, and a lonely (but extremely hungry) vampire in Matt Reeves’ criminally underrated Let Me In. The girl’s got skills, and she happens to look just like Cassie Lang in the comics. As long as Moretz’ career continues its upward trajectory, she’ll be a wanted asset for superhero projects for the next decade or more. Marvel would be wise to scoop her up while they can.
Tyler Posey as Wiccan
Billy Kaplan, aka Wiccan, is one half of the Young Avengers’ twin-tastic duo. He’s one of several openly gay characters in the Marvel Universe, and he forms a powerful bond with teammate Hulkling. Wiccan and his twin sibling, Speed, are reincarnations of Scarlet Witch’s children. Kaplan is more of a feeler than his other half; he is also, in the grand scheme of things, infinitely more powerful than Speed. Like his kind-of mother, Wiccan has the ability to wield Chaos Magic, hurling off-the-cuff spells and warping reality at will.
Kaplan is a bit broody and full of inner turmoil. And boy, can Posey do the whole ‘inner turmoil’ thing. You’ve probably seen him on Teen Wolf at some point over the last five seasons — he’s the one with the claws and teeth and tons of teenage angst. You might dislike the show, but the kid is scary good as the titular hero, Scott McCall.
Bonus Points: Moretz and Posey have already established a bit of on-screen chemistry in Funny or Die’s Snackpocalypse, so they’re pretty well-prepped for any end of the world scenarios Marvel can throw at them.
Nicola Peltz as Speed
PLOT TWIST! We’ll play this one as if Wiccan and Speed aren’t identical twins. Why? Because for any actor to convincingly portray Speed, they’ll need to channel his haughty, arrogant side quite heavily. He did, after all, “accidentally” vaporize his entire high school. And even if this hypothetical adaptation were to set the two characters up as twins, it’s not like Aaron Taylor Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen are dead ringers for one another.
Nicola Peltz (Transformers: Age of Extinction, Bates Motel) has THE look down pat. You know the look. It’s the look that says, “Not in your dreams, buddy.” She’s sassy and tough, she’s proven that she can succeed in an action role (see: Transformers), and she’s looking to take the next step in her career. A superhero role is always a great way to launch yourself onto the A-List.
R.J. Cyler as Prodigy
Prodigy is a quirky superhero with the ability to absorb the knowledge and skills of anyone around him. For Marvel to bring this bespectacled brainiac to the big screen, they’re going to need an actor that can kick some serious tail while maintaining an intelligent and fun disposition.
After breaking out last year in Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, R.J. Cyler was recently tapped to play the new Blue Ranger in the highly-anticipated 2017 Power Rangers reboot. Obviously, the Big Bosses over at Lionsgate saw something special in the 21 year old, who’s been glimpsed training hard to get into superhero shape in recent weeks. The role of Prodigy makes perfect sense for Cyler: the Blue Ranger is smart, shy, and a touch nerdy, but still manages to lay the smack down on hordes of Putty Patrollers. If he can manage to balance two franchises at once, he’s a great fit for the part.
Ty Simpkins as Iron Lad
Casting Iron Lad for a Young Avengers film might be more difficult than you think. Nathaniel Richards (aka Iron Lad aka Young Kang the Conqueror) has roots in the Fantastic Four franchise. As many fans know, Marvel doesn’t own the rights to the Fantastic Four, meaning they’d need to introduce a new origin story for this to work. Hmm.
Don’t panic just yet — they might laid the tracks for one already! Being the clever foxes that they are, the creative minds over at Marvel introduced Harley Keener (Ty Simpkins) in Iron Man 3. Keener, the wise-cracking baby genius that confronts Tony Stark with a potato gun, could be destined to take up the Iron Lad mantle. If this is the direction that Marvel chooses to go, we’re all for keeping Simpkins in this role. Just 14 years old, he’s already starred in two blockbusters (most recently Jurassic World) and a handful of other major films.
Let’s cut those luscious locks and get this kid some armor!
Alexander Ludwig as Hulkling
Hulkling is the one of the first members of the Young Avengers; he’s right there in issue #1, hand-picked by Iron Lad for his remarkable set of abilities. He’s a man of many names — Dorrek VIII, Teddy Altman, and, obviously, Hulkling. As previously mentioned, he’s romantically involved with his teammate, Wiccan. Half-Skrull, half-Kree, Teddy is an extremely powerful alien-hybrid with origins that span the galaxy. He possesses nigh-unrivaled strength, has the ability to shape-shift, and heals at an accelerated rate. If a Young Avengers arc is in the cards for the MCU, rest assured that Hulkling will be there in a big way.
Ludwig is most recently known for his role as Bjorn Ironside, son of Ragnar Lothbrok, on Vikings. He also played Cato in the original Hunger Games movie. Ludwig is the perfect blend of raw power and charming good looks, making him quite well suited to take on the role of the fearsome (but loveable) Hulkling.
Pierce Gagnon as Young Loki
Did you see him in Looper? He hadn’t even turned 6 years old when he stole the show from the likes of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emily Blunt and Bruce Willis in Rian Johnson’s sci-fi thriller. The rage-filled little monster was utterly fantastic, and we don’t say that lightly. Just give him a couple years; there’s no question that Gagnon could bring the same ‘angel-on-the-outside, demon-on-the-inside’ thing to the Young Loki in the Marvel Universe.
The now-10 year old Georgia native has pretty busy since breaking out in the highly-underrated Looper. He’s appeared in several major films, including Zach Braff’s Wish I was Here and last summer’s Tomorrowland, and he co-starred alongside Halle Berry in the recently-canceled CBS series, Extant. Gagnon is as talented as child actors get these days, and we’d love to see him step into the role that made Tom Hiddleston a star.
Eiza Gonzalez as Miss America
Interesting fact: Latinos comprise 26% of the movie-going public, but represent only 4% of the talent in Hollywood, according to recent statistics. Marvel’s most recent Miss America is a Latina LGBT hero by the name of America Chavez, a fitting name if we’ve ever heard one (if a bit on the nose). If Marvel plans to introduce this inter-dimensional, ass-kicking character into the Young Avengers franchise, they’d be wise to cast her accordingly.
Who better to put on the stars and stripes than Eiza Gonzalez? The dazzling Telenova star has already transitioned into the realm of American entertainment, playing the beautiful (and fanged) seductress in From Dusk till Dawn: The Series. Another solid up and coming talent, Gonzalez would be a natural fit as a Young Avenger. She even dated Thor’s (Chris Hemsworth) little brother Liam for a spell in recent years.
Taron Egerton as Noh-Varr / Marvel Boy
This one’s all about attitude, and Egerton’s got it in spades. He absolutely crushed it as Eggsy in Kingsman: The Secret Service, and has the chops to pull off Noh-Varr’s rebellious antihero antics. Egerton has the ability to walk the line between overly-smug and almost-lovable, and that’s the perfect combination for Noh-Varr. Even when you hate him, you can’t help but like him. After all, an “intergalactic ladies man” wouldn’t make an omelette without breaking a few space-eggs, if you catch our drift.
Lines like “Come with me if you want to be awesome!” would sound decidedly cooler delivered with Egerton’s working-class English accent. We know he’s Welsh, but he pulled it off nicely, wouldn’t you say?
Aubrey Peeples as Kate Bishop / Hawkeye
Marvel loves taking lesser-known individuals and plugging them into huge roles. It allows them to truly shape the character, lending a sense of credibility to every casting. Peeples fits the mold — though she’s been building a stronger resume of late (Jem and the Holograms, Sharknado), the 22 year old hasn’t quite broken out into the mainstream just yet. Some might argue that her Jem performance makes this a moot point, but I think stepping into Hawkeye’s spandex-y shoes would be her real big break.
Peeples has the look and the acting ability to bring Kate Bishop to the big screen. It won’t be easy to step into Jeremy Renner’s shoes, but we think Peeples is capable of the same type of understated (and unexpectedly hysterical), bow-toting performance as her eagle-eyed predecessor.
Stephan James as Patriot
You’re looking at the next John Boyega. Actually, you’re looking at a kid that has a chance to create his own category and thrust big Hollywood names into his shadow. Just 22 years old, James has broken into the scene in a big way; over the past two years he’s starred in When the Game Stands Tall, Selma, and the Jesse Owens biopic, Race (a project on which he actually replaced Boyega, who had to back out after signing on to star in the new Star Wars films.
Patriot (Elijah Bradley) is a hero rooted in controversy. His ancestors were part of the same super soldier project that spawned Captain America, but Eli wasn’t born gifted with superpowers. It wasn’t until he started using the illegal MGH (mutant growth hormone) pills to fabricate superhuman abilities that he actually joined the Young Avengers. James has already taken on quite a bit in his young career and would have no problem breathing life into the slightly-troubled Patriot persona. Like Moretz, he appears to be a superstar in the making, one Marvel needs to pull the trigger on sooner rather than later.
Paul Bettany as Vision
Vision is the glue that holds the Young Avengers together. His search for new blood drives the formation of the team, uniting some of the galaxy’s most powerful beings. Simply put, without Vision, there would be no Young Avengers. That being said, the younger iteration of the character found in this series has a pretty convoluted backstory, one that Marvel heads might want to gloss over and simplify for film audiences. That’s where Paul Bettany’s Vision comes in.
The character was already introduced in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and while we have a feeling that Infinity Stone in his head will soon be in some serious danger at the hands of Thanos — who will be looking to decorate his gauntlet in the very near future — Vision could always make a comeback, as so many comic book characters have before him. A (now slightly depowered) hero with the sort of temperament he possesses would serve as an ideal guiding force for this youthful take on the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, one that further connects the team to the rest of the MCU and helps cement them as a cornerstone of Marvel’s Phase 4.
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What did you think of our casting decisions? Is a Young Avengers adaptation a smart step for Marvel to take, or should they focus on their more mature characters moving forward? Sound off in the comments section.
