The Marvels' Young Avengers Tease Originally Featured More Characters [Exclusive]
The following article contains spoilers for "The Marvels," including the mid-credits scene.
"The Marvels" has finally hit theaters, and across the board, star Iman Vellani, who plays Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel, has received well-deserved praise. One just cannot look at her enthusiasm and joy and not smile. The film may be having a rough time at the box office, but if Vellani is the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, that future is bright. In fact, the future of the MCU is something /Film's own Ethan Anderton discussed while chatting with Vellani about "The Marvels."
During their conversation, Anderton asked Vellani about the mid-credits scene where Kamala Khan recreates the very first MCU post-credits scene. You know, the "Iron Man" one where Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) recruits Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) for his Avengers Initiative? Not only does Kamala show up at Kate Bishop's (Hailee Steinfeld) place with an offer to start up a group of young superheroes who will eventually become the Young Avengers, but she almost recreates Fury's speech in the process. As such, Anderton inquired as to whether or not Steinfeld was the only potential Young Avenger actor that Vellani filmed a scene with or if there were ever different versions of which character(s) she was recruiting.
'There were more characters in it'
The scene we saw had Kamala using the S.A.B.E.R. files that Nick Fury had to look for other young superheroes, asking if Kate thought she was the only teenage superhero out there. (Kate, of course, points out that she's in her twenties, but hey, that's still young.) As far as whether there were any other actors that scene could have happened with, Vellani said:
"There was another version where — does matter if I say it? There were more characters in it. I will not say which characters, but there were more characters. But that was way before we did additional photography. We knew we were going to get that scene. It was the last thing we ever shot on this film during additional photography. And so yeah, it changed a couple times."
We'll get into which characters are possibilities for the Young Avengers in a bit, but first, here's what Vellani had to say about shooting the scene that did make it into the film:
"I think just Kamala and Kate Bishop is honestly perfect. They are so compatible. Hailee and I got along so well. She's such a fun human to talk to. And honestly, our back and forth, our banter was really funny, and I wish they kept some of that in there because that scene just kept going, Hailee and I just kept bouncing off of each other. So, I would be very excited if I ever got to work with her on a legitimate movie after this. So yeah, it's very exciting and I'm so honored that I get to be the one to bring this entire group together."
Who could it have been?
We may end up getting to see the banter between Kate Bishop and Kamala Khan in the film's home media release or a Disney+ special. Considering these two are my absolute favorites of the Young Avengers candidates, I'm all for it. Some of the others include Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton), daughter of Scott Lang aka Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), Wanda Maximoff's (Elizabeth Olsen) kids Tommy aka Speed (Jett Klyne) and Billy aka Wiccan (Julian Hillliard), Hulk's (Mark Ruffalo) son Skaar aka Hulkling (Wil Deusner), Riri Williams aka Ironheart (Dominique Thorne), America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), Kid Loki (Jack Veal), Love (India Rose Hemsworth), Thor's (Chris Hemsworth) adopted daughter, and Eli Bradley aka Patriot (Elijah Richardson).
Of course, even Nick Fury only started with one future Avenger in his meeting with Tony Stark. Anderton asked Vellani, who has spoken frequently about her Marvel fandom, if she knew Fury's speech from "Iron Man" by heart before the scene came up. She, of course, did:
"Absolutely. I did rewatch 'Iron Man' right before I shot the film. I rewatch 'Iron Man' every chance I get. Any big thing that happens in my life. Oh, I got cast, rewatch 'Iron Man.' Oh, first day of filming the movie, rewatch 'Iron Man.' Oh, I did a big action scene today, rewatch 'Iron Man.' That's now any excuse to rewatch 'Iron Man,' I'll take it."
"The Marvels" is currently playing in theaters.