Kamala Khan Is The Future Of The MCU – And The Young Avengers May Be Next
Warning: This article contains spoilers for "The Marvels."
"The Marvels" is one of the funniest Marvel movies ever. Much of why it is successful as a film comes down to it being not just a sequel to the hugely successful "Captain Marvel," but a sequel to the best yet most underrated Disney+ Marvel show, "Ms. Marvel." The Khan family is utterly hilarious, and they offer a nice new dynamic for the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a group of just regular people tied up in superpowered chaos. Granted, Luis (Michael Peña) and the rest of the Ant-Man gang were also regular people entangled in bigger plots, but they didn't go to space!
Iman Vellani is a star, a breath of fresh air to the MCU as a character who is endlessly enthusiastic about her powers and living in a world of heroes. She is not Peter Parker, who started out very optimistic about having powers and joining the Avengers but whose story got progressively darker until the character became a fairly tragic hero in his own right. Instead, Kamala knows things can suck, but it doesn't matter, because she is living her best life. Even the dark parts of her adventure with her idol Carol Danvers are simply fuel for her fan fiction.
It is honestly criminal that Kamala hasn't got her own franchise greenlit already. That being said, the ending of "The Marvels" makes it abundantly clear she is the future of the MCU, as the leader of the next generation of heroes. More accurately, she is the new Nick Fury.
'You've become part of a bigger universe'
Early in the movie, Kamala notices Fury and S.A.B.E.R. have a tablet with intel on every superpowered individual on the planet, including her. Rather than be angry or insulted at the violation of privacy, she gets an idea.
In the final scene of "The Marvels," Kamala ambushes "Hawkeye" protege Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) in New York by cheekily recreating the post-credits scene of the first "Iron Man." Not only channeling her inner Samuel L. Jackson but repeating his speech pretty much verbatim, Kamala asks the new Hawkeye if she thought she was the only teenage superhero in the world (Bishop remarks that she's in her 20s, but you get the point) and tells her she is part of a much larger universe. Kamala also mentions other kid heroes, like Ant-Man's daughter, Cassie, and finally extends an invitation for Kate to join her Young Avengers initiative.
It makes perfect sense that the MCU's biggest fangirl would outright just do a reenactment of the scene that changed Marvel forever, word for word. And before you complain that there is no way she would know what Fury said, come on. Don't you think she is capable of grilling Nick Fury until he told her every single detail of his speech that night? Of course, she would. She would memorize it, too, because she is that big of a fan.
After "Endgame," there has been a lack of cohesion in the MCU, with little to actually unify the characters into one team. In Phase One, it was Fury and Coulson who assembled the Avengers and kept them together, but what about now? S.H.I.E.L.D. is gone, S.W.O.R.D. is essentially just window dressing, and Fury is barely dealing with heroes now.
The future of the MCU
The ending of "The Marvels" makes it clear that Kamala is taking up the mantle of Nick Fury for the new Avengers. In a weird way, Marvel already assembling a new Avengers team rather than rebuilding its old one makes a lot of sense. Maybe the fact that we haven't seen any big superheroes involved in world-ending threats like the end of "Eternals" or even "The Marvels" shows that the old guard is busy elsewhere, unless Fury forces their hand.
So if Doctor Strange, Hulk, or the new Captain America won't want to play superhero, then Kamala is going to assemble her own team with heroes she knows will answer the call. Forget the old Avengers, we can do better!
It's been clear for a few years that Marvel is building up to a Young Avengers team, introducing several young heroes of late. Of course, they'll need a leader. The question is, will Kamala be the team's Iron Man? Or the team's Nick Fury, assembling and then managing them? If nothing else, she will definitely serve as the team's social media manager.
Regardless, Kamala, the funniest and most enthusiastic of Marvel's current roster of heroes being the one to assemble a team sets a very different tone for the Young Avengers. She is not Iron Man with his sarcasm and bleak view of things. She will kick ass and have a blast doing so. As for who will join the team, Kamala already mentions Cassie, but remember there's also Riri Williams, aka Ironheart, from "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" and also America Chavez from "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness." One big question is whether Peter Parker will join the team. At this point, does anyone even remember Spider-Man? Are there records of him working with the Avengers?
"The Marvels" is playing in theaters everywhere now.