Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow

Lore & Background

The film's premise begins with the Avengers killed in battle against Ultron, whose machine army controls the world. Before his death, Captain America tells Tony Stark to take the Avengers' children to a fortified refuge above the Arctic Circle. Stark raises the four children—James, Torunn, Azari, and Pym—in secret, training them in their inherited powers. Twelve years later, Vision arrives to inform Stark that he has found Hawkeye's son. The children accidentally activate the Iron Avengers, robots built by Stark that mimic the deceased Avengers, which are programmed to defeat Ultron. Ultron defeats and reprograms them, traces their flight path, and attacks the refuge. Stark stalls Ultron but is captured.

Reader's Guide

The children infiltrate Ultra City, an Ultron-controlled city built on the ruins of New York City, and meet Francis Barton, the new Hawkeye, and his resistance group the Scavengers. They free Stark and escape with Betty Ross to the desert, where they find Bruce Banner in hiding. They lure Ultron to Banner's location to force him to transform into the Hulk. The Hulk defeats the Iron Avengers but is subdued by Ultron. Pym revives the Hulk, who destroys Ultron. Torunn takes the two halves of Ultron into space and is rescued by her father, Thor, who offers her a place in Asgard, but she chooses to return to Earth. The group decides to liberate Ultra City as the new Avengers.

Did You Know?

• The film was originally announced as Teen Avengers, then retitled Avengers Reborn before becoming Next Avengers.
• The screenplay was written by Christopher Yost, a regular comic book writer for Marvel Comics.
• A comic-book sequel was published from May to October 2010 as the first storyline of Brian Michael Bendis's and John Romita Jr.'s Avengers (vol. 4).
• The film received mixed reviews, with positive comments from Common Sense Media and IGN, and a negative review from DVD Talk.

A World Without the Originals

The story opens with the original Avengers perishing in a war against Ultron, whose machine army then dominates the globe. Before dying, Captain America instructs Tony Stark to shelter the team's offspring, and Stark raises James, Torunn, Azari, and Pym in a secret fortress above the Arctic Circle, drilling them in the powers they inherited. Twelve years on, Vision emerges to report that he has located Hawkeye's son. A careless act by James—accidentally activating Stark's "Iron Avengers" robots—launches the central conflict. The mechanical duplicates are swiftly defeated and reprogrammed by Ultron, who uses their flight path to find the refuge. After a harrowing escape, the children slip into Ultra City, an Ultron-constructed metropolis built over the wreckage of New York. They join forces with Francis Barton and his Scavengers resistance, free Stark from a citadel, and track down a hermit Bruce Banner. The final battle pits the group against the Iron Avengers and Ultron himself; the Hulk, roused by Pym, tears the villain in two. Torunn then carries the halves into space, nearly perishing until Thor rescues her. The film ends with the team vowing to free Ultra City as the new Avengers.

From Teen Avengers to Final Title

The film's path to the screen was anything but straightforward. In January 2007, Craig Kyle, then serving as vice president of creative development for animation at Marvel Studios, publicly announced a project called Teen Avengers as part of the Marvel Animated Features lineup. The title would change twice more—first to Avengers Reborn, and finally to Next Avengers—before the finished product reached audiences. The screenplay was penned by Christopher Yost, a veteran of Marvel Comics who brought an insider's understanding of the characters to the page. In a Marvel.com interview, Yost described the tonal challenge: the story carries the weight of humanity's survival, yet the protagonists are children. His solution was to keep them perpetually in motion, running for their lives, so the grimness never settles into despair. The project was co-directed by Jay Oliva and Gary Hartle, and it became the fifth entry in the MAF franchise. A promotional trailer debuted in March 2008, and Lionsgate Home Entertainment issued the film direct-to-video on September 2 of that year.

A Divided Critical Verdict

Critics offered a mixed verdict on the finished product. David Cornelius of DVD Talk was openly negative, criticizing what he called unimpressive and repetitive action sequences and a story he deemed thin. Nancy Davis Kho, writing for Common Sense Media, took the opposite view, singling out the characters as the film's greatest strength and granting it a positive assessment. Christopher Monfette at IGN also responded favorably, describing the production as an immensely watchable piece of animated entertainment. The overall critical consensus settled in the mixed range, with reviewers acknowledging the inherent limitations of the direct-to-video MAF format while still finding genuine appeal in the storytelling. The voice cast—Noah Crawford, Aidan Drummond, Brenna O'Brien, Dempsey M. Pappion, Adrian Petriw, Tom Kane, and Fred Tatasciore—lended their talents to the young heroes, grounding the production in a recognizable ensemble even as opinions on the script itself remained divided.

The Comic Book Afterlife

The narrative did not end with the 2008 video release. Between May and October 2010, Marvel Comics extended the story through a dedicated comic-book sequel that served as the opening storyline of Avengers volume 4, written by Brian Michael Bendis with art by John Romita Jr. In this continuation, Ultron resurfaces and once again seizes global control, forcing the Next Avengers to mount a second resistance. The leadership structure shifts: Felicity Hardy, known as Spider-Girl and identified as the daughter of Peter Parker and Felicia Hardy (Black Cat), takes a commanding role alongside Iron Man and the Maestro. The Bendis-Romita collaboration gave the young heroes a serialized, chapter-driven format, allowing their arcs to unfold across multiple issues rather than a single two-hour runtime. This comic extension effectively cemented the Next Avengers as a recognized branch of the broader Marvel Universe, bridging the animated feature and the ongoing comic-book continuity that readers followed throughout 2010.