The Original Avengers assembled to fight Loki’s invasion of New York and became the most iconic team of the MCU. The team was balanced, had some precedent in the comics, and served as the premiere IP for the franchise for at least a decade. However, the team found itself disassembled in the wake of Avengers: Endgame, with only three members still active, but not united.
Essentially speaking, since Avengers: Endgame, there has been no concrete team of heroes to carry the mantle of the group. While a host of heroes have been introduced in films and streaming series, none of them have united as a team, leaving the fate of a major part of the franchise up in the air. However, there are more than a few candidates for a core team that could take the IP forward, but it all depends on how Marvel decides to approach the next iteration of the team.
Marvel could stay its current course with the core team of the Avengers
After Avengers: Endgame, Kevin Feige promised that the Marvel Universe, and by extension the Avengers lineup, was going to get a lot more diverse. Keeping this in mind, a host of heroes were introduced in the MCU, albeit with mixed responses from fans. While Shang Chi and the Ten Rings, Moon Knight, WandaVision, and Loki were received well by fans, missteps like She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Secret Invasion largely painted the franchise in an overwhelmingly negative image.
However, given a competent writer, the characters could come back for Avengers team-ups alone, leaving solo outings to more fan-favorite and lucrative IPs. Under this version of the MCU, the team of heroes that assembled under the Avengers banner could have She-Hulk, Shang Chi, Captain Marvel, Sam Wilson’s Captain America, Shuri’s Black Panther, Ant-Man and the Wasp.
While She-Hulk and Captain Marvel may never receive a solo outing of their own again, a competent writer with some engaging plotlines could make the characters work in the Avengers lineup. This iteration of the team would be diverse, but could also carry the franchise until the next team is introduced after Avengers: Secret Wars.
Marvel will need to ramp up its box office gains to stay afloat
Disney has decided to scale back a lot of its content for quality assurance. If the MCU is to win back its glory days through its Avengers lineup, the core members of the team will need to be a group of actors who can consistently bring in audiences to the theatres. This means the team will be comprised of the most lucrative IPs of the MCU.
This version of the team might see Doctor Strange, Star-Lord, Wolverine, Black Panther, Captain America, Black Widow, and Thor. Not only will this lineup bring in some heavy hitters in terms of acting talent, but the lineup will also include an OG Avenger, along with characters that can cater to the widest number of fans.
It is yet to be seen whether Captain America: Brave New World is going to be a lucrative venture. However, including fan-favorite characters like Star-Lord, Doctor Strange, Black Widow, and Wolverine will possibly make it easier for fans to digest a new team, which would maximize the number of tickets sold, given the big names involved in the venture, who have continuously yielded lucrative box office results for Marvel Studios.
If Avengers 5 becomes Avengers vs X-Men, Avengers could have an interesting lineup
Currently, as things stand, the fifth Avengers film does not have a title. Previously titled ‘The Kang Dynasty‘, the film will probably pivot away from that storyline. However, given that the mutants will be making their debut in the MCU with Deadpool & Wolverine, it is quite possible that the X-Men and the Avengers could clash in an Avengers vs. X-Men scenario.
In this case, the team will probably consist of characters that have had run-ins with mutants, such as Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Daredevil, Captain America, Thor, and Shang-Chi. Doctor Strange has already fought Wanda, Black Panther has a connection with Namor and Storm (both mutants), Benjamin Poindexter took surgery from the man responsible for the formula that gave Wolverine his metal skeleton, tying that plot up with Daredevil, and Thor has shared his power with Storm as well.
Captain America and Shang Chi have both worked with Wolverine in the comics and could also do so in the MCU before they find themselves at odds with each other. This storyline would bring a lot of fans to theatres but has the potential to backfire if not done right. Marvel needs to be careful with the approach it takes towards crafting the new Avengers team, given that it needs to be strange enough to carry the franchise for at least the coming decade.
