The following article contains spoilers for Thor: Love and ThunderThor Odinson has reached the end of his fourth solo adventure, once again having stared death in the face, as he was forced to say goodby to another loved one. The God of Thunder is no stranger to grief, since his mother, father, brother, and close friends have all died in the past. However, fans are hopeful for his future, now that he’s channeling his energy into raising a child.
In the final moments of Love and Thunder, Thor seems to be doing much better emotionally, having settled down to live a domesticated life of fatherhood with his adoptive daughter, Love. This new duo will most certainly be back in the future, since the film’s post-credit scenes confirmed the return of Thor, but Love might be setting out on her own “classic adventure” as the MCU progresses.
Having produced a mixture of majorly successful and just okay projects during Phase 4, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is lacking direction at this point in time. Unlike the first three Phases, it's unclear what the ultimate end goal will be for Marvel’s current heroes, leaving fans to speculate about the future. One possibility circulating the internet is that the MCU is gearing up to create a Young Avengers movie, since many of the originals are being phased out as new blood is brought in. If this is the direction Marvel decides to go in, it seems as if the Young Avengers have just found their new Thor.
In addition to his mundane fatherly duties, Thor is also teaching Love how to fight and protect those who are in need of saving. Love charged in battle confidently alongside Thor, wielding Stormbreaker, to get some hands-on experience for her hero training. It’s also implied that Love can lift Mjolnir as well, since she took it when Thor wasn’t looking to paint a face on the side.
Thor is now the second Avenger to take an inexperienced kid under their wing, which fans saw first when Clint Barton teamed up with Kate Bishop as they worked together to take down the Tracksuit Mafia. As of now, it appears that the remaining members of the original MCU Avengers will be taking a break from saving the world, to focus more on their personal lives and processing their grief. It makes sense that Love and Kate would one day pick up the mantle from their mentors entirely, which is why some viewers suspect they’ll both be members of the Young Avengers.
Marvel will also be releasing a show in 2023 titled Ironheart, in which the show’s titular character Riri Williams will have to grapple with the consequences of creating a suit of armor as advanced as the ones built by Tony Stark. Based on patterns from past projects, it’s clear that the upcoming Disney Plus show will be using Marvel’s new teenage genius to take the place of Iron Man.
She-Hulk is due to premiere this August, and although series protagonist Jennifer Walters claims she doesn’t want to be an Avenger in the show’s trailer, perhaps another fresh-faced, green-skinned character will be happy to take the place of Bruce Banner. Natasha Romanoff’s sister, Yelena Belova, is more likely to be involved in the Thunderbolts movie than join the Young Avengers, so a Black Widow replacement is still needed, as well.
Sam Wilson, meanwhile, has already come in contact with another young individual since agreeing to become the new Captain America. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier introduced Eli Bradley, also known as Patriot in the Marvel Comics. Eli was part of the Young Avengers in the comics, and assuming that a Young Avengers film is on the horizon, it only makes sense for him to be the Captain America equivalent.
With that being said, the Young Avengers team comprised a widely different group of heroes in the comics. If Marvel decides to make a Young Avengers film, they could take it in one of two ways. First, they could find replacements for the original six Avengers, like the franchise seems to be doing so far. Alternatively, the MCU could take advantage of the opportunity to recreate a live-action Young Avengers squad that’s identical to the one in the comics. Multiverse traveler America Chavez, Kid Loki, Ant-Man’s daughter Cassie Lang, and Scarlet Witch twins Billy and Tommy were all members of the Young Avengers in the comic books. These characters have already been introduced into the MCU, so even though not all of them are fully super powered yet, Marvel Studios might be planning to get the comic squad back together.
Whichever way things go, there’s no denying that many of the original Avengers have worthy successors ready to finish what they started in 2012. As the never-ending stream of outer space threats and multiverse chaos continues, Earth-616 needs heroes to keep the universe safe. So far, Clint and Thor have done a great job finding people who are ready to uphold the legacies the Avengers worked so hard to build.