So with Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Widow out of the picture by the end of Endgame, and with everyone working together in Infinity War and Endgame, we're probably going to have a very different Avengers line up next time we see them. So who do you think will be on the team now? My line-up: Banner-Hulk Hawkeye Black Panther Spider-Man Wanda Maximoff (have they actually refered to her as Scarlet Witch onscreen?) Dr. Strange Ant-Man Wasp Captain Marvel
Feige has more or less stated we won't see another Avengers for some time, focusing on the individual films, although he didn't rule out it never happening. Remember, they're also introducing new characters including the Eternals, Shang-Chi, and possibly reintroducing Blade. Everyone is going to be busy doing their own thing for awhile. Plus, although I might be misremembering this, I think Feige even said that Phase 4 would be very different from the previous phases and wouldn't necessarily have some grand build-up like before. Hell, he even didn't want to say Phase 4 for while until it was officially used last month. Having just recently watched all of her films, I can confidentially say they don't.
I'd add Falcan/Cap II and War Machine, with Bucky as a maybe. I don't think Hawkeye will be part of the line-up, andI also feel like Banner would be taking more of a "Q" type role with less front-line Avenging, especially if his injured arm is permanent. Almost, though. Doesn't Thor call her a witch in "Ultron," in the same line where he nearly calls himself "the Mighty Thor?"
I think it's safe to say the next Avengers line-up will be whatever best suits the story they want to tell, not the other way around. I can see Banner taking on more of a support role, assuming the "Professor hulk" thing sticks. IIRC Clint and Wanda supposedly have their own shows now, so they may be off the board. Sam will probably be back if for no other reason than Avengers without Captain America would just feel weird. T'Challa never really makes sense as a full-time Avenger, what with having a whole country to rule and whatnot. Peter & Stephen, similarly are more part timer material for obvious reasons. Ant-Man & Wasp seem like serious contenders for full-time Avengers. Carol...I think they're more likely to give her a version of 'A-Force' or something. I suppose it's possible that by the time a new Avengers movie rolls around they could do a line-up made up of mostly legacy characters (Scott & Clint's daughters in 'Endgame' seems to be pointed in that direction.) Namor seems like an inevitability, though personally I don't see the appeal and if DC's Aquaman sub-franchise is gaining legs, they may have missed the boat on that one (no pun intended.) Jocasta might be an interesting possibility, reimagined as a "daughter of Vision & Wanda" type character. IIRC over the years a few X-Men characters have been on the roster in the comics (Beast & Wolverine I think?) so that's also a possibility now. Personally, I think they'd be crazy not to bring in X-23 as a way of having their Wolverine pie and eating it too. I mean recasting Logan is a loose-loose proposition for at least the next decade or so. But with Laura they can have *a* Wolverine around and by implication have him as a person who exists/existed in the MCU without having to actually show him. Hell, they could even kinda-sorta squash the plot of Logan into that 5 year gap, albeit slightly re-contextualised. Or they could go the Dark Avengers route and have some government run team of mostly former villains (a good way to re-introduce Abomination and/or The Leader?) Not sure where I read it, but I'm pretty sure the general idea was that internally, they considered Phases 1-3 as 'Chapter One' or something to that effect, so there would be no "Phase 4" but "Chapter Two: Phase 1". I think that might just confuse people, so it would make sense if they're now just going with 'Phase 4' for simplicity and brevity's sake.
Namor might be tricky. From what I understand, Universal owns the rights to that character. Maybe they could make a deal like Sony did with Spiderman... Universal hasn't done anything with him, so, why not?
Beast had good run with the Avengers starting in the late 70s and through the early 80's. Wolverine joined in the '00s. For fans of a certain age the Beast is more of an Avenger than an X-Man.
Oh yeah, definitely Falcon/Cap and War Machine, I can't believe I forgot them. I swear it was completely unintentional. I have been wondering if the Falcon/Winter Soldier series is post Endgame if will call Sam Falcon, or Captain America.
Can't quote the above due to tag weirdness, but re: the Thunderbolts/Dark Avengers, they were basically both Norman Osbourne's personal soldiers during Dark Reign, and the Dark Avengers from Secret Empire took their orders directly from Hydra, too, so I'd say 'government run' is a logical description. For the topic, I'd say the following characters are guaranteed: Black Panther - Sure, he may not hang out at Avengers HQ all day, but the next time there's an Avengers movie, he'll be one of the main stars, guaranteed. I see no logical scenario in which this isn't true. Captain Marvel - Same as above. Ant-Man Wasp - These two together are probably the most 'full-time avengery' of the available characters, and they make a lot of sense as the new Hawkeye/Black widow. Falcon - He's Captain America now. This is really non-negotiable, even if he does have a tv show. These characters imo definitely won't be there: Thor Valkyrie Shuri Any of the Guardians - These and the above all have other stuff to deal with. Hawkeye - I think his show is him training and successor. He can't leave his family again after finally getting them back. These characters could go either way: War Machine - I could see him getting a government position, like head of whoever does SHIELD's job now, or he could stick around. Scarlet Witch - I don't think her time should be up yet, but she clearly has plenty of reason to leave. Hulk - I could see him being Avengers support, or being a celebrity working on his science, or becoming a wandering hero who just pops up in other people's movies. Bucky - He's tired of heroing, but he kind of has to have Sam's back now that he can't have Steve's Back. Spider-man - I could see his FFH storyline going in a certain direction that makes him question whether he wants to be on a team or not. I could also see May not wanting him to be an Avenger. If none of that happens, though, he's there. Dr. Strange - He really has no interest in the team and no reason to be there unless they're fighting magic or infinity stones. So it depends on the movie you make, really. My personal choice would likely be Falcon, Panther, Captain Marvel, Ant-man, Wasp, Scarlet Witch and Spider-man. I won't comment on what other characters could be added except to say that I think it will be a while before we see any X-Men (as in longer than it will be before a new Avengers movie).
LOL, that works. I honestly can't remember if people gave him any kind of nickname like that when he was Captain America in the comics. OK, I didn't realize the two groups were so similar. I actually thought about including Valkyrie in my line up, but then I realized we never really saw her with the team outside of the big battle at the end of Endgame, and she's going to have her hands full in New Asgard. The only reason I could maybe see adding her is to have a new Thor analog now that he's probably not going to be on the team anymore. Now Wasp also never really interacted with the team outside of the final battle, but she is connected to Ant-Man, and she did seem annoyed that he didn't bring her along to help out in Civil War, so she's possibly interested in joining the team. She's also the last of the original Avengers not to be part of the team, so it makes sense from an out of universe perspective to finally add her. Since we lost Iron Man, I could see them keeping him around as an Iron Man analog. I'm thinking she'll probably stick around, she has suffered a lot of losses, but I don't know if it would really be enough to drive her away. The team is pretty much all she has at this point. Hulk as tech support does seem to be a more popular choice than him continuing on as a regular Avenger. I know I had him on my team, but I could definitely see him going either way. It'll be interesting to see exactly what ends up happening with him in the Disney+ series. He's such an iconic character I just can't see them not having Spider-Man on the team. Maybe, but it just feels to me like they're setting him up to one of the new core characters now that Cap, Thor, and Iron Man are gone, and so that pretty much guarantees him a spot on the team. Not a bad line-up. It seems to me that Captain Marvel, Black Panther, Spider-Man, and Dr. Strange are pretty much going to be the new Iron Man, Thor, and Captain America in terms of prominence in the MCU, so I think they're pretty much guaranteed to be Avengers.