Earth's Mightest Heroes lost some of its key players following Avengers: Endgame, and while there's still plenty of heroes to protect the world and universe at large, it may take some time to find that definitive team lineup. Iron Man and Captain America made for fantastic leaders in Avengers past, and there's a real question of who in the MCU could hope to match their level of command in the future.
Who is the most fit to lead the next iteration of The Avengers? Here's some of the heroes I feel are most suited for the job, along with the reasons why it would make sense to have them in charge.
Falcon
Regardless of whether or not his upcoming Disney+ series will officially hand him the title of Captain America, Sam Wilson feels like the most natural choice to lead the Avengers. He's level-headed, has military experience and has been working alongside Steve Rogers ever since he was brought into the Avengers fold. He hardly needs to be called Captain America to earn the right to lead the team, though it certainly wouldn't hurt.
I don't see a lot of pushback to Falcon being made the Avengers' leader either. He's a friendly guy, on good terms with most everyone and a well-rounded fighter. He's also operated within a team dynamic before, which means he has a better idea of who to use and where they should be put during the big situations.
Captain Marvel
While I don't normally advocate for the strongest hero of any universe to be the leader of a hero team, Carol Danvers would be a great leader for the Avengers. She has experience around the galaxy, but she's also been a citizen of Earth as well. Plus, there are few people in the universe who can match her in power, which makes it hard to go against her authority.
Carol Danvers also feels like a more natural fit to lead the Avengers, as Spider-Man: Far From Home teased Nick Fury monitoring galactic threats from space. Danvers has some experience with fighting around the galaxy, though viewers still don't quite know the full extent of her journeys. We'll likely see more of that in Captain Marvel 2, which may give more evidence for why she's more suited for leadership.
War Machine
James Rhodes has been around the MCU since the beginning, and his record speaks for itself. Though he's spent most his tenure as a sidekick of sorts to Iron Man, Rhodey came into his own in Avengers: Endgame, and he could easily shoulder the immense responsibility it requires to be the Avengers' leader.
Despite his name, I'd argue War Machine is one of the most cautious members of the group. That is to to say, he thinks things through and won't be the type to jump into action before knowing what to do. Of course, his mortality and lack of powers may have something to do with that, and it may be hard for Rhodes to rein in other stronger heroes without a way to command their respect when times get hard.
Vision
At the time of this writing, VIsion is still dead and dismantled in the MCU, though it seems as though he will return via Scarlet Witch's upcoming Disney+ series. Depending on how that works out and whether Vision is more or less the same hero we knew before his exit in Avengers: Infinity War, he'd be a great choice for an Avengers leader.
Beyond the fact that he's about as well-rounded in terms of superpowers, Visions analytical mind and quick processing power would help determine the best scenarios for every situation. Plus, he has Scarlet Witch to back up whatever decision he makes for the team, and who's really going to try and go up against her?
Black Panther
T'Challa has led the nation of Wakanda (for a brief time anyway), so why wouldn't that translate to leading the Avengers into battle? Sure, as a product of the monarchy, T'Challa inherited the right to lead his people, but his years of grooming for the role and how he reclaimed the throne in Black Panther should confirm he's every bit capable of commanding a team of the world's strongest heroes.
Black Panther may not have the experience of being in the Avengers, or vast knowledge of the world of other candidates, but he also has a whole nation. Not to mention he also has access to a slew of Wakandan technology that will no doubt be useful in future adventures. When it comes to team leaders, one could do a lot worse than T'Challa.
Wasp
Though she's relatively new to the Avengers and MCU in general, there's some great potential in Hope Van Dyne as a leader of The Avengers. She's a great businesswoman, a genius and the daughter of Hank Pym. What more could you need?
Hope Van Dyne becoming the leader of the Avengers would be a nice Marvel Comics nod to Wasp's long leadership of the team in the comics, though it that continuity, it was the Janet Van Dyne Wasp. Even so, the MCU could create a similar arc for Hope in which she levels out the male to female ratio in the Avengers, and serves as a competent point person for even the most perilous of missions.
Doctor Strange
Stephen Strange is a strong magic user and one of the few people currently in the MCU who truly understands the mystical world, which makes him the obvious leader for adventures of that nature. Plus, his magic rings allow for fast travel, and that's just way too convenient for any leader to have at their disposal.
And while Doctor Strange can't quite fill the intellectual void left by Iron Man on the team, his extensive knowledge of magic and other things should help offset that by just a bit. Plus, there are still guys like Bruce Banner around to tinker and work on science-y things, so it's not like the Avengers absolutely needs a tech-savvy intellectual back at the front of this team.
These are my top picks for leaders of a future Marvel Avengers team, but maybe you feel differently. Share all thoughts in the poll and comments below, and continue to stick with CinemaBlend for all the latest happening in movies and television.
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