Young Avengers
PURPOSE: Develop skills necessary to fight crime as an Avenger
AFFILIATIONS: Avengers, The Vision
ENEMIES: Kang the Conqueror
BASE OF OPERATIONS: Formerly Avengers Mansion, New York City
FIRST APPEARENCE: Young Avengers #1 (2005)
HISTORY :
In the year 3016 in an Alternate Dimension, 16-year-old robotics student Nathaniel
Richards was rescued by his future self, the Tyrant Time-traveler known as Kang
the Conqueror, from a near-fatal attack from a band of school bullies. Kang
outfitted young Nathaniel with a suit of neuro-kinetic armor that responded to
his very thoughts. Horrified by the deaths of his attackers and the destruction
caused by his future self, young Nathaniel rejected Kang and used his armor to
escape to modern-day Earth-616. He hoped to find the Avengers so that they could
help him defeat Kang.
Calling himself Iron Lad, young Nathaniel arrived at his destination, only to find
that the Avengers had disbanded after the tragedy of Hawkeye's and Ant Man's death.
A glitch in his armor prevented him from traveling further back in time. After
failed attempts to contact individual Avengers, Iron Lad broke into Stark Industries
where he uploaded the central processing unit of the Vision, the synthozoid member
of the Avengers who was destroyed just prior to the team's disbandment, into his
armor. Iron Lad found a failsafe program within the Vision's CPU which was designed
to pinpoint the exact locations of the next wave of young Avengers (super-powered
youths with either some significance to the Avengers themselves or to Avengers
history) if anything were to happen to the original Avengers.
Iron Lad used this data to recruit three "Young Avengers" who resided in New York
City: Patriot (Elijah Bradley), the grandson of Isaiah Bradley, the sole survivor
of an early American Super-Soldier program that experimented on African-Americans
in the 1940s, who supposedly received super-powers of his own after receiving a blood
transfusion from his grandfather; Asgardian (William "Billy" Kaplan), a boy mage
with the ability to project waves of energy; and Hulkling (Teddy Altman), who was
able to shape-shift into a green-skinned powerhouse with a healing factor. Iron Lad
led the quartet of young heroes on several missions in an attempt to train them for
their impending showdown with Kang. But when Captain America and Iron Man learned
of the team's existence, they set out to end the young heroes' exploits before
they got hurt.
Meanwhile, Cassandra "Cassie" Lang, the daughter of Ant-Man II, an Avenger who
had recently been killed, set out to join the Young Avengers and continue her
father's heroic legacy. Cassie had been stealing the Pym particles responsible
for her father's size-changing abilities for years in an attempt to gain
superpowers of her own and, as a result, found that she could increase or
decrease her own size.
She was joined by Kate Bishop, the athletic daughter of wealthy Manhattan publishing
mogul Derek Bishop, who previously assisted the Young Avengers in stopping gunmen
at her sister's wedding. But by the time the two girls finally tracked down the
Young Avengers at the remnants of Avengers Mansion, the team had already been
located by Captain America, Iron Man, and Jessica Jones (AKA Jewel). The adult
heroes were about to send the teenagers home to their parents when the adult Kang the
Conqueror appeared before them and demanded that they hand over Iron Lad or risk
destroying the time-line. When the Avengers refused, a battle ensued.
Kate Bishop gained access to the personal quarters in the Avenger's destroyed
mansion and assembled a costume for herself including Mockingbird's battle staves
and Swordman's blade. She also found Captain America's old shield and gave it to
Patriot. Cassie Lang found her father's costume and donned it.
Meanwhile, Kang had defeated the Avengers and pursued Nathaniel. The presence
of Kang and his younger self were beginning to change the world about them.
A fierce battle ensued with the Young Avengers proving their heroism and powress;
holding their own vs Kang. To save the Time-line, Iron Lad finally returned to 3016.
Captain America and Ironman threatened the rest of the group that they would tell
their parents about their exploits if they did not return home and stop acting
like heroes. Disgruntled, the teens left but resolved to continue their efforts
to become heroes anyway.
Current members of the Young Avengers are Wiccan, formerly Asgardian (Billy Kaplan),
Kate Bishop, Stature (Cassie Lang), Hulkling (Teddy Altman) and Patriot (Eli Bradley.
Iron Lad (Nathaniel Richards) is not currently a member.
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