The next generation of S.H.I.E.L.D. has a lot to live up to. Marvel is really on a ” being a teenage superhero is hard ” kick.
After the success of Young Avengers 2008, Marvel wanted to revisit them in a way that remained trued to Allan Heinberg's characters. Enter Kieron Gillen. A veteran Marvel writer, Gillen has had stints penning Thor and Uncanny X-Men among others before taking the helm for Young Avengers.
Buzzfeed chatted with Gillen via email about the new series and what it means to be 18 and a superhero.
BuzzFeed: Who are the Young Avengers?
Kieron Gillen: Avengers who are young. That's entirely a lie.
Young Avengers are a group of teenagers who, inspired by the original Avengers, started being superheroes. It all went wrong. Some of them died. Other of them wish they did. They all decided, no, let's not do this any more.
That's the story so far. We come in when a youthful Loki puts his oar in, and manipulates them into putting the band together.
It's not about being an Avenger with a membership card. This is about the ideal. It's a book about saving the world because you have to.
BF: What can you tell new readers about each member of the team?
Gillen: Team isn't the word, really. This is a book about a group of people. Young Avengers is about using the concept of superhero fiction to look at everything — absolutely everything — about being 18. From waking up in the bed with beautiful strange alien boys to working a crappy job where you know you're wasting all your talents, we transform it into superhero narrative. There's also fights. We're not stupid.
Brief bio of core cast!
Kid Loki: Reincarnated form of Norse Mischief god. Like Tom Hiddleston but with less pubic hair.
Wiccan: Billy Kaplan. Enormously powerful reality warper and dirty great geek. Going out with...
Hulkling: Teddy Altman. Prince of the Skrull Empire, hiding out on Earth. Shapechanger. Nothing to do with the hulk bar the color.
Hawkeye; Kate Bishop. Lady Hawkguy! Has bow, shoot things. Arrows or one liners, she's not fussy.
Miss America: Miss America Chavez. Mysterious dimension-skipping wearer of hotpants, big doc boots and jacket. Puncher of Loki's face.
Marvel Boy: Noh-Varr. Ex-Avenger. Ex-wearer of hotpants. An Alien Kree boy and hipster pop-cultural obsessive of Earth.
