West Coast Avengers, Assemble: Marvel Studios’ Next Super Team May Come from Disney+

Y’know us Marvel fans—we love finding connections in every single detail of every Marvel TV show. After all, any character could be Mephisto! You better believe my brain, ravaged by nearly 30 years of keeping up with comic continuity, can spot things that the writers and producers never intended. Like, did WandaVision intend to do a ridiculous amount of Fantastic Four foreshadowing? Even though it didn’t lead anything in the end, I still say yes because why else would they put Monica Rambeau in that casual cosplay FF outfit?! Some of these connections are larger than just one show, though. Sometimes you can see a through line running through an entire slate of movies and TV shows. Take the Young Avengers for example. Marvel’s been making a lot of moves that indicate we’re gonna get a Young Avengers something in the near future. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier even added another character to the potential team lineup just a couple weeks ago!

But I don’t think that the Young Avengers are the only team that Marvel’s prepping. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is vast, and this franchise can easily lay the groundwork for multiple teams and mini-franchises all at once. So while it seems like Disney is totally focused on getting the Young Avengers up and running, I think Marvel Studios has been assembling another team without us knowing it: the West Coast Avengers.

Yes, that is a real team—and it’s a real beloved team, too. The Avengers’ went Hollywood in 1984, and that series ran for 10 years. Since then, a few other West Coast Avengers lineups have popped up for much shorter runs. There was also Force Works which—we don’t need to talk about Force Works here, what am I doing? But even though there hasn’t been a long-running WCA book in 25 years, the series made a lasting impact on all of Marvel. WandaVision actually pulled a lot from John Byrne’s run on West Coast Avengers/Avengers West Coast. The series still matters and just the phrase “West Coast Avengers” makes a lot of longtime Marvel readers feel the warm embrace of nostalgia.

That’s why it makes sense for Marvel Studios to bet big on WCA being the next iteration of the headlining superhero team, and it makes even more sense when you look at the upcoming slate of Disney+ series. Almost all of them feature characters who were members of the West Coast team! There’s Scarlet Witch and (specifically White) Vision (WandaVision); the new Captain America introduced in Falcon and Winter Soldier changed his name to U.S. Agent and traveled west in the comics; the California team was co-founded by Hawkeye, and his Disney+ series arrives this fall; Moon Knight’s getting his own Disney+ series starring Oscar Isaac; and Don Cheadle’s War Machine will head up Armor Wars. That’s… a lot of Wackos. Oh—that’s the nickname given to WCA members. Comics are fun!

Look at this lineup on the whole and the character and story choices feel really specific. Like, WandaVision pulled heavily from the West Coast Avengers run and gave Vision the ghastly makeover he had at the time. Wyatt Russell’s not-Cap is getting a lot of attention in TFATWS. Even Moon Knight is not a team player—but he was a West Coast Avenger for almost two years. The fact that all of these specific characters are all part of Disney+ shows first and foremost makes all of this feel intentional. Maybe this could lead to an original Disney+ Avengers movie or six-part series—or maybe this is Disney+ building a property that will jump to the big screen. And maybe this theoretical movie could add WCA members Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Wasp (Michelle Pfeiffer) for some star power.

This also seems more likely than the other, more popular option: New Avengers. A lot of that team already exists in the MCU (Captain Marvel, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, Hawkeye)—but a couple of key heroes don’t yet. Luke Cage, Wolverine, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, and Spider-Woman are very notably absent from the MCU. When New Avengers shook up Marvel Comics in 2005, the book’s premise was all killer, no filler. Put all of the best-selling, most famous Marvel heroes in one book and toss in some creator faves. That’s why I don’t think you can get the everything-and-the-kitchen-sink vibe needed for New Avengers without, at the very least, Luke Cage and Wolverine. So, where are they, Kevin Feige?!

But West Coast Avengers? All of their major members are alive and able in the MCU. You can totally capture that west coast vibe with who’s still around, mainly because most of the A-list OG Avengers from the movies either never joined the team (Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Black Widow) or were only briefly members (Iron Man). I even think that Marvel Studious could double down on the Disney+-ness and swap Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye for Hailee Steinfeld’s new Hawkeye (she has lead a WCA comic!) and enlist She-Hulk (Tatiana Maslany). Both characters have the irreverent vibe that made West Coast Avengers a fun read.

The only thing Marvel Studios might have to change for a West Coast Avengers movie or show is, uh, the name. Unlike in the comics where the Avengers lived on Fifth Avenue and went to space more than they went to California, the MCU was actually founded in Malibu of all places. 2008’s Iron Man took place almost entirely in California. MCU Tony Stark lived in Malibu, and Stark Industries and S.H.I.E.L.D. both had HQ’s in Los Angeles. The notion of an Avenger living in ol’ Californy isn’t exactly as novel in the MCU as it was in the comics.

So maybe Marvel Studios just takes this lineup and calls them the Avengers, or maybe they triple-down on the “West Coast” angle of this Avengers roster and make them all crystal-using, protein smoothie-drinking, fitness-conscious social media influencers. Hey—the team could be bankrolled by Pepper Potts! She’s got the money and she sure ain’t using all that Stark inheritance to help Falcon buy a boat.

Stream The Falcon and the Winter Soldier on Disney+