The roster of upcoming 2025 movies will see the Marvel Cinematic Universe seemingly back to normal. With the machinery revving up to continue pushing its heroes and villains towards some pretty huge signposts, the opportunities are endless for young talent to join the cause. But as a Millenial Marvel fan, it’s surreal to hear younger MCU stars like Ant-Man 3’s Kathryn Newton talk about how they wanted to become a superhero thanks to childhood movie experiences.
I’m not going to totally date myself here, but let’s just say that by the time the Marvel movies in order kicked off in 2008, I was relatively fresh out of college. So reading the following remarks made during an Empire interview with Ms. Newton caused just a slight moment of joint pain:
I started watching those movies when I was eight years old. So they’re a big part of my life. Honestly, one of the biggest goals of my career was to be a Marvel superhero. I would do it forever if I could.
I know this isn’t the first time that the Abigail ensemble member has talked about this life milestone, as Newton’s Young Avengers hopes also made reference to her childhood aspirations. And this mini-rant I’m going on isn’t a complaint, as I remember being taken by Marvel Studios’ origin story in real time myself.
Nevertheless, it’s still trippy that at the time I wanted to live like Tony Stark from Iron Man, suit of armor and all, the future Cassandra Lang was looking up, too. While it’s surreal, it’s also kind of cool, especially in the wake of that recent Marvel 85th anniversary tribute video.
I haven’t really raised the subject with my father, but he’s probably still blown away seeing the comics that he read as a kid become movies with that kid from Weird Science. Now that I think about it, I need to ask my dad what he thinks of Robert Downey Jr.’s decision to play Doctor Doom, which somewhat brings us all back to the beginning.
It’s crazy to think that we’re coming up on 20 years of Marvel Studios movies, continuing the cycle of young actors like Kathryn Newton growing up to suit up and save the world. And just like any other part of life, some kid out there is going to watch her role in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and have similar hopes for upcoming Marvel movies of the future.
Which means that if Ms. Newton ever feels that bit of surreality creep up on her in the future, it’s only right that I offer her some aspirin when that slight joint pain kicks in. Consider it a friendly rite of passage, and very helpful for getting up from those old-style theater seats.
The world of the MCU will continue to entertain audiences of all ages, both with new movies like Captain America: Brave New World and TV series like Agatha All Along. And the place to be in the name of preparing for these experiences is in front of your Disney+ subscription. A bottle of aspirin is not included.
