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In the history ofMarvel Comics , fans can point out a inclination to keep its untried characters from produce up , keeping them teenagers or kids for years , even X . Part of this has to do with Marvel ’s sliding timescale , which ensures its characters only see ten year of account regardless of how much clip passes in the veridical earthly concern .
Because of this , early Marvel characters like Spider - Man and the Human Torch get on from teenagers to early maturity , but characters inclose more latterly remain perpetually new . But more recently , many reference who were tike for year are lastly getting a chance to know adulthood . This trend is also happening in the Marvel Cinematic Universe , where younger superheroes are preparing totake the stage in MCU Phase 4 , both in flick and Disney+ series .
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countenance ’s take a close-fitting look at some of these more popular role , see what led to their sudden increase in maturity , and speculate on what this means for their time to come in the MCU .
The X-Men’s Eternal Teenager, Kitty Pryde
Introduced inUncanny disco biscuit - world # 129(1980 ) , Katherine “ Kitty ” Pryde was a thirteen - and - a - half year old girl who learn she had the mutant ability to phase and walk through solid target . fill the role of a “ kid sister ” to former characters like Storm and Wolverine , Kitty was actually allowed to age as she train with the cristal - Men , growing into a fifteen - and - a - half year honest-to-goodness by the mid-1980s . Once Kitty turned sixteen , however , her senescence stopped . With writer and artist joking that Kitty had celebrated more sugared sixteen birthdays than any other amusing book character . This was largely to keep Kitty a relatable figure for younger readers who enjoy follow her spring up up ( but never quite give maturity ) .
finally , however , Kitty ’s age became an issue thanks to her attraction to old humankind . Upon joining the X - Men , Kitty derive an quick crush on her mate Piotr Rasputin ( aka Colossus ) who was likely in his early twenties . While that relationship was basically chaste , Kitty afterward became romantically involved with worldly hush-hush agent Pete Wisdom when she joined the superhero team Excalibur . To keep these stories from raising uncomfortable question , Kitty was finally allowed to grow up – attending college ( and tending barroom ) in one laughable book plot line and finally rejoin the decade - workforce as a instructor and finally leader .
Today , Kitty is potential in her mid - twenties and her story emphasize her maturity – by havingKitty get hire to Colossusand serving as headmistress to one of the X - Men ’s schools . Kitty ’s malcontent teenage self still gets featured in the comics , however , through story prepare in the past ( such as theWolverine : First Classseries ) and alternate versions of herself ( such as herUltimate Universe vis-a-vis who fell in sexual love with the teenage Peter Parker ) .
Power Pack, Marvel’s Youngest Superhero Team
In 1984 , Marvel created itsfirst team of preteen superheroes withPower Pack , a comic about four siblings – Alex , Julie , Jack , and Katie Power – who received fantastic ability from a dying foreigner . As this was the Marvel Universe , the kids recover themselves involved in some very dark events – including theMutant Massacre(where belowground mutant communities found themselves being hunt by mutant - hating Marauders ) . Other storylines dealt with societal issue such as drug misuse , runaways , bullying , and homelessness . Nevertheless , the kids remained optimistic and excited by the estimate of being superheroes – specially since this meant they stimulate to squad - up regularly with the X - Men and Spider - Man .
SincePower Pack ’s elemental appeal was to see the Marvel Universe through the eyes of a child , the kids barely aged at all during the comedian ’s 62 - matter run . Even when some of the children guest starred years later in other mirthful books , they only seemed to mature a few years , if at all . In 2005 , however , Power Packwas relaunched as several miniseries , each team up the preteen with a new superhero , which took home in a disjoined persistence from the mainstream Marvel Universe .
Due to the lack of attention the original Power Pack encounter , two of its members – 11 - year - old leader Alex ( Zero - G ) and 10 - year - old Julie ( Lightspeed ) – finally grew up when they re-emerge inFantastic FourandRunaways . Alex became a college - age young man ( and professor to a unexampled team of young geniuses inFuture Foundation ) . Julie , meanwhile , pursued an act calling , attended college , and came out as bisexual . The other two members , 8 - year - one-time Jack ( Mass Master ) and 5 - year - honest-to-god Katie ( Energizer ) have not been featured as much – although Katie of late appeared inPower Pack # 63as a middle schooler .
The Fantastic Four’s Franklin and Valeria Richards
The son of Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman , Franklin Richards likely has the longest puerility of any character in the Marvel Universe . Born in 1968 inFantastic Four Annual # 6,Franklin managed to grow to other puerility – and then stayed an other preteenager for almost fifty years . Some stories did showFranklin ( an Z level mutant)temporarily get on himself to adulthood or being replaced by an alternative future variant of himself . Sooner or later , however , the status quo would confirm itself and Franklin would regress to a gradation schooler .
Things were even uncanny for Franklin ’s babe , Valeria . Originally a stillborn child of Reed and Sue ’s , Valeria would return years afterwards from an alternate future as an adult to assist her family . During the adventure , she regressed back into her female parent ’s uterus and was bear again , becoming Franklin ’s younger sister and finally manifesting her father ’s genius - story intellect . While she finally mature three years ( with Franklin staying rough his same age ) , Marvel ’s slide prison term scale seemed to bespeak she would remain a pre - puerile like Franklin , too .
In the aftermath of Marvel ’s 2015Secret Warsevent , however , both Franklin and Valeria spent geezerhood outside of normal continuity reconstruct the multiverse . When they return in thenewFantastic Fourcomic book , both had become teenagers , with Franklin taking on the codename Powerhouse and Valeria calling herself Brainstorm .
Ant-Man’s Daughter Cassie Lang
InAvengers : Endgame , Scott Lang ( aka Ant - Man ) emerges from the Quantum Realm only to find that five years have gone by , and his ten - class - old girl Cassie is now a teen . Fortunately , in the comics , Scott did n’t have to be absent for all of those year as Cassie is one of the few kid character to grow unremarkably ( by comic book criterion ) . seem first as a young child with a heart condition ( which motivated Scott to steal the Ant - Man courtship and preserve the doctor who could cure her ) , Cassie appear intermittently in guest appearances – ab initio as a preteen until she suddenly appeared in her teens with the ability to grow to giant sizing andbecame the hero StatureinYoung Avengers .
Cassie also mature up in the alternating hereafter depicted in Marvel ’s MC2 imprint ( which also featured “ Mayday ” Parker ( aka Spider - Girl ) , the teenage daughter of Spider - Man . In this universe of discourse , she took on the identity of the funk hero Stinger , a name her mainstream counterpart has also adopted ( and one theMCU Cassie may also take on in Ant - Man 3 ) . Much like her MCU version , Cassie did most of her grow up offscreen , making it easier for funny Bible creators to not lock her in at a sealed eld .
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This trend of allow youthful heroes to get on up may cover in future MCU movies , as linchpin like Iron Man or Captain America move on , leave open spaces for unexampled heroes to carry on in their position . Considering how the MCU has work depiction of comic book heroes , this may carry over toMarvel Comicsas well , as more hero who have enjoyed a constant childhood eventually get a luck to explore tale about their teenage years and adulthood .
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