The release of Marvel’s fourth solo Thor film has the God of Thunder on viewers’ minds.
Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Thor: Love and Thunder.
Thor: Love and Thunder released on July 8 to an eager fanbase, and it didn’t disappoint – most of us, at least. The film marks Thor’s first appearance post-Endgame, and provides the character with space to learn and grow from the many hardships he’s endured. It also introduced several new characters, and most of them have yet to hit puberty.
A range of children were graced with serious screen time in Thor: Love and Thunder, and audiences want to know if they’ll be seeing more of them. Gorr’s daughter, in particular, appears poised to play a major role in future MCU releases, but does that mean that she is destined for a spot in the Young Avengers?
Will Gorr’s daughter be in the Young Avengers?
The MCU appears to be carefully setting the scene for the introduction of a brand new team. Many members of the Young Avengers, a popular group of youthful heroes from comics, have already been introduced through MCU releases. This is spurring theories that a Young Avengers film — or perhaps Disney Plus series — is part of the MCU’s broad plan for the future, and ramping up excitement for the team’s eventual introduction.
Almost all of the primary members of the original Young Avengers team have been introduced in the MCU. The team consists of Hawkeye (aka Kate Bishop), Patriot (aka Elijah Bradley), Stature (aka Cassie Lang), Asgardian/Wiccan (aka Billy Kaplan/Maximoff), Iron Lad (aka Nathaniel Richards), Hulkling (aka Teddy Altman), and Speed (aka Tommy Shephard/Maximoff).
Of these characters, a full five have already been introduced, as have several members of future Young Avengers lineups. Later issues of the comic included Kid Loki, America Chavez, Noh-Varr, Vision, and Prodigy (aka David Alleyne) among the Young Avengers ranks, and of these two characters — Kid Loki and America Chavez — have already been introduced. That gives us a team of seven characters that are already members of the MCU at large, with high hopes that characters like Teddy and Iron Lad will eventually join their ranks.
There is also the possibility that the MCU has plans to alter the Young Avengers’ lineup somewhat, nixing characters like Teddy and Prodigy in favor of recent additions like Gorr’s young daughter Love. The character, resurrected by the powerful Eternity, appears to contain a massive amount of raw power, and could be a stellar addition to the team. The same could be said for Heimdall’s son Axl, who played a key role in Love and Thunder.
It is entirely conceivable that both of these young heroes will eventually find themselves linked to the Young Avengers. The team has yet to be formed, but the existence of so many members across Marvel releases has to mean something. If the MCU really is headed toward a future with the Young Avengers in it, the team would be hugely improved by the presence of both of these powerful adolescents.
Love appears to be the MCU’s take on Gorr’s child in comics, Agar. Agar is the final of Gorr’s children to die, and in many ways is the catalyst in his decision to kill all the gods. The primary difference between the two seems to be that Love was resurrected — after Jane appealed to Gorr’s love for his daughter — and convinced him to choose her over the destruction of the gods. Love is now a living child once again, set to be raised by the goofy, gorgeous God of Thunder.
Fans got the barest of glimpses of what Love may be capable of in Love and Thunder‘s final moments. As the film came to a close, a final scene showed her battling alongside Thor against an army of enemies. She is capable of wielding Stormbreaker, Thor’s powerful ax, and the dark glimmer in her eye indicates that some vestige of Eternity’s power may still exist in the child. With power like that, Love could easily replace several of the characters in the Young Avengers’ comic lineup. Iron Lad’s true identity — which we won’t spoil here — makes him an unlikely choice, but characters like Prodigy or Noh-Varr could be replaced without raising too many fans’ hackles.
While Love is a tad young to fit alongside characters like Kate or even America, she appears to be of a similar age to other members of the team, like the Maximoff twins and Kid Loki. She could make a very interesting — and seemingly powerful — addition to the team, and her origins and upbringing would certainly add some spice into the mix.
What about Axl?
Then there’s the question of Axl. Heimdall’s son was a major player in Love and Thunder‘s storyline, coming to Thor’s aid on more than one occasion. He is shown to wield the same control over the Bifrost his father once boasted, and he likewise displays his father’s ability to share vision, and perhaps his Absolute Senses. See, when he was alive, Heimdall was capable of seeing and hearing almost everything that occurred across the Nine Realms. This is why he was able to respond when Thor requested his help from worlds away, and aided greatly in his continued elusion of Hera and her footsoldiers in Ragnarok.
Heimdall’s son appears to wield the same impressive and unique abilities. He uses his father’s shared vision to speak with Thor on several occasions in Love and Thunder, and later uses his control over the Bifrost to whisk himself and the other Asgardian children to safety.
If Axl were to join the Young Avenger’s ranks, he would likely be one of their most powerful members. As an Asgardian, he already boasts a number of enhanced abilities, including heightened endurance, durability, and healing, as well as super strength, speed, agility, and reflexes. These abilities make him a force to be reckoned with all on their own, but add his shared sight and Absolute Senses into the mix, and you’ve got a Thor-level hero in pint-sized form.
Axl would make a wonderful addition to the Young Avengers. He had just enough screen time in Love and Thunder to make him an instant crowd favorite, and very few viewers would complain if his role expanded into future MCU releases. He was never a part of the Young Avengers team — and, in fact, doesn’t exist at all — in comics, but his addition to the MCU team could make for a wonderful change to existing lore. The same can be said for Love, whose unique, godly abilites could be thoroughly explored in a Young Avengers Disney Plus release.
It’s still not even clear if the MCU intends to branch off into any Young Avengers releases, but fans of the comics are holding out hope. The existence of so many members of the team indicates that they may have plans for a youthful team in the future, and we think it would be hugely improved by the presence of these Love and Thunder favorites.