The Avengers: Children’s Crusade is an American comic book limited series written by Allan Heinberg and drawn by Jim Cheung. The series is part of the Marvel Comics’ Avengers franchise and is a continuation of the 2005-2006 Young Avengers series. In this post, I’ll go through a summary of the comic, and stop along the way to write about some potential applications to the MCU. I hope you enjoy.
The series follows the Young Avengers, a team of teenage superheroes composed of Wiccan, Speed, Hulkling, Patriot, Hawkeye, Iron Lad, and Stature, as they search for the Scarlet Witch, who as you know, is the children’s missing mother. The team discovers that the Scarlet Witch has gone missing and is believed to be a threat to all of reality due to her ability to alter reality with her magical abilities.
Scarlet Witch is still alive even after she was smashed by a stone in Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, but many people including myself think that she is still around in one form or another. One question in the MCU is that since her children don’t exist there, who will go looking for her. One possibility is White Vision who we haven’t seen since the finally of Wandavision.
The team is joined by Doctor Doom, who is revealed to be a former lover of the Scarlet Witch. Doctor Doom helps the team by providing resources, equipment, and information that they need to find the Scarlet Witch and prevent her from using her powers to alter reality.
Many of us are eagerly awaiting the debut of Doctor Doom into the MCU, so this could be fun, but we having him be a former lover of the Scarlet Witch may not be the best way to go since she has only had feelings for Vision. I suppose they both could have been children in love, but another way, and perhaps a better way to go is to have Doctor Doom from another timeline and that timeline is where Scarlet Witch went after the events of Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. This Dr. Doom could have also originally been from the MCU, but got lost around the same time as the Fantastic Four. Of course, them being lost is still only a theory. Maybe Wiccan and Speed are Dr. Doom’s children as well and he brings them along on the search.
Meanwhile, the team discovers that the Scarlet Witch has been kidnapped by the Avengers’ arch-enemy, the mutant terrorist group, the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. The team is forced to fight the Brotherhood and ultimately defeats them. However, during the fight, the Scarlet Witch is killed. Devastated by the death of the Scarlet Witch, the team is determined to bring her back to life. To do this, they enlist the help of Doctor Doom, who has the ability to tap into the Marvel Universe’s energy source and use it to resurrect the Scarlet Witch. With the help of Doctor Doom, the team succeeds in resurrecting the Scarlet Witch.
My guess is that they will bring back Scarlet Witch before the Secret Wars, so they probably won’t bring in the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in this story, especially since they’re being led by her father, Magneto. It could be really amazing if they did though. They could introduce us to a Brotherhood team that will be more or less the team that survives the Multiverse reboot at the end of Avengers Secret Wars that many of us think will happen.
The team then discovers that the Scarlet Witch had been under the control of her father, the villainous Magneto. Magneto had been using the Scarlet Witch’s powers to try and create a world in which mutants ruled and humans were subservient. To prevent this, the Young Avengers join forces with the adult Avengers and fight Magneto.
This would also be a great opportunity to bring back some of the Fox X-men Universe actors as an alternate versions of the characters that they’ve already played. It would also be nice if they threw in a few X-men as well. With Magneto in their, this sounds like it might be better if this story took place in an alternate timeline. Perhaps as I suggested before, Scarlet Witch is lost in this alternate timeline where this Magneto has captured her. Also, I would limit the amount of “grown up” Avengers to 2 or 3. Even though the source is an Avengers comic, it seems better suited as a Young Avengers story.
In the end, the team defeats Magneto and the Scarlet Witch is able to use her powers to restore the world to its original state. In the aftermath of the battle, the Young Avengers are praised for their bravery and heroism. The series ends with the team reflecting on their experiences and their newfound appreciation of family and the power of friendship.
With the Young Avengers involved this could be part of the premise for a Young Avengers movie. In the end, the Young Avengers can rescue Scarlet Witch and bring her back to the MCU timeline. After seeing Scarlet Witch in the MCU, it seems odd that she would need rescuing, but it could happen. Personally, I think there is something here, but I would also like to see more in a Young Avengers movie. I think a loose adaptation of this one could work perfectly with some other elements thrown in there as well.
I think that the Avengers: Children’s Crusade would provide a great inspirational launching point for the story of a Young Avengers movie, and maybe I’ll workshop it more in a future post or video. And maybe, there are just too many other shows and movies coming out between now and Avengers: Secret Wars. That’s all for me though. What do you think about all of this? Do you want to see Scarlet Witch back in the MCU? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. If you feel so inclined. Take care.
Leave a Reply