Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Daredevil: Born Again Season 1, Episode 5.The MCU has, for most of phases four and five, felt directionless. It lacked that endpoint and throughline it had with the Infinity saga that led toThanos (Josh Brolin)andAvengers: Endgame. Some of this has to do with the fact we have no grand villain, with harassment and assault convictions leading toJonathan Majorsbeing removed from his role as Kang. However, the far bigger issue is that we have no heroes to follow on this path to who will now beRobert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom. Before, we had Captain America (Chris Evans), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.),Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), etc., who we spent multiple films with. They have tried with characters likeSam Wilson (Anthony Mackie)inCaptain America: Brave New World. Althoughone of the most promising routes seemed to be the Young Avengers, who seemed to have disappeared post-The Marvels.
However, whileDaredevil: Born Again’s fifth episode, “With Interest,” may have divided fans of the show, it finally reintroduced at least the idea of the Young Avengers. This was done via the surprising cameo ofYusuf (Mohan Kapoor)and not Kamala (Iman Vellani). One line hints at what his superpowered daughter is doing and allows us to begin to theorize how it relates to a new, younger, team of superheroes. But, while it is nice to have an acknowledgment of the wider MCU and its future, it might have been the most anticlimactic way to do it.
‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Teased the Young Avengers With One Line From Kamala Khan’s Dad
Despite the building momentum surroundingFisk (Vincent D’Onofrio)andMuse’s (Hunter Doohan)machinations in the previous four episodes,Born Againtakes an episode to focus solely onMatt’s (Charlie Cox)decision about whether to suit up as Daredevil again. This allows the show to present the wider world Matt lives in and shows him visiting a bank where he meets Yusuf Khan to discuss a bank loan. With the show knowing that we know it is Kamala’s dad, the conversation quickly steers to him discussing his daughter. A text from Kamala interrupts them, andYusuf remarks that she is “visiting some friends” in California, which he refers to as “La La Land.” It isn’t a subtle nod towards her, similar to the Funko that Yusuf holds up and the fact he talks about her and Ms. Marvel in almost the same sentence. Instead, it invites us to remember the last time we saw Kamala, which seems to be teasing the possibility of the further formation of the Young Avengers.
In Just One Scene, ‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Made the Boldest Move the MCU’s Made in Years
It took guts.
Kamala Was Recruiting Young Heroes to Her Own Avengers in ‘The Marvels’
DespiteThe Marvelsreceiving mixed reviews and performing poorly at the box office, it did contain one of the best final scenes in the recent MCU. At theend of the film,Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) comes home to find Kamala waiting for her. The ominous-looking superhero delivers a speech similar to Nick Fury’s (Samuel L. Jackson) in the first MCUpost-credit scene inIron Manand asks Bishop to join her team.
In that scene, we may have also gotten a clue as to why Kamala would be in California. She and Kate discuss the fact that Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) has a daughter, Cassie (Kathryn Newton). In the comics,Cassie Lang does become a part of the Young Avengers team, and in the MCU she does, indeed, live in California, so this may be why she is there, perhaps with Kate. There is also the possibility she is visiting her friend Bruno (Matt Lintz) there, who goes to college in that state, though the line feels more implied towards the larger scope of the MCU than just Kamala’s best friend.
Real-world details have also come out that point towards this conclusion. The leaked concept art also suggested an iteration of Young Avengers may appear at some point, with Kamala Kahn and Kate Bishop as part of that art. It is unlikely this art, which depicts the team with Wong and Starlord (Chris Pratt), will be adapted directly into something likeAvengers: DoomsdayorSecret Wars. However, it does imply thatplans are being formulated in the background, with the project “Champions,” the name of a similar teenage superhero team in the comics, coming closer to filming after finding a writer, viaNexus Point News.
‘Daredevil: Born Again’s Teasing Line Isn’t Enough Set Up for a Young Avengers Team
Look, it is great that the MCU is at least committing to a direction. However, it is ashame this was done via one linethat hints at something we saw in a film released in November 2023 and with no mention of anything else since. One may have picked up on the line if they had seen the end of that film or the concept art leak, but it goes by so fast in the episode I wouldn’t be surprised if others missed it. When we compare this to how The Avengers were set up as individual characters that came together organically, intense and purposeful planning went into each stage, and there were only four years betweenIron ManandThe Avengers.
Perhaps there may be some time to devote to this team inDoomsday. But even still,Championsis going to have a heavy burden of bringing these heroes together and reintroducing characterswe know but haven’t seen in a while. We know we are heading towards a Young Avengers team, but how we will get there seems rather vague and insignificant compared to how big of a step this should be for the MCU. Just a throwaway line that acts more like an Easter egg than an intentional set-up is ultimately disappointing.
New episodes ofDaredevil: Born Againare released weekly on Disney+.
Daredevil: Born Again
