A Young Avenger was omitted from the final cut of Captain America: Brave New World, but I would argue that the MCU needs to bring them back as soon as possible to answer a big question about super soldiers. Captain America: Brave New World repeatedly addressed the nature of super soldiers in the MCU, with Sam Wilson lamenting his decision to forego taking the super soldier serum and super soldier Isaiah Bradley going on a mind-controlled rampage. Notably, however, Captain America: Brave New World decided to sidestep the role of the serum in creating Hulk.

Still, this did help to detach the mantle of Captain America from the serum, which I think was an important message to deliver in the wake of Steve Rogers’ decision to bestow Sam Wilson with the honor. Wilson proved that he didn’t require the serum to defeat Red Hulk, instead wielding the virtues that Steve Rogers recognized to talk him down. While I appreciate this narrative, I feel like the movie missed an opportunity to answer another pressing question about super soldiers, specifically when it comes to supporting character Isaiah Bradley.

Captain America: Brave New World Cut An MCU Young Avengers Candidate

Eli Bradley, AKA Patriot, Was Initially In The Script But Had His Role Cut

Isaiah Bradley was introduced in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier as a tragic MCU character who was unwittingly given a version of the super soldier serum before being deployed to the Korean War and subsequently imprisoned by the US government as it feared the public ramifications of a Black super soldier. Bradley debuted alongside his grandson, Eli, whom he raised after his death was faked. Eli was initially supposed to return to the MCU in Captain America: Brave New World, but ex-Marvel VP Nate Moore explained that he was written out due to having no consequential role, stating:

“There are early drafts of the script where Eli was in it, but we started to feel like there were too many characters to track and we want to make sure if a character is in the film, they have something to do. And so we had to make the tough decision to just explore Isaiah and to see how Isaiah being pulled into Sam’s world maybe affects him. We also wanted Sam and Isaiah. We wanted room to build up their relationship without a third party kind of commenting on it.”

While I can understand Moore’s reasoning for cutting Eli’s role – Captain America: Brave New World boasted a stacked cast, after all – it’s hard to overlook how Eli was sidelined despite being so closely tied to Isaiah in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Eli also played a small role in the Disney+ series, though the few scenes he did star in showed him to be particularly protective over his grandfather. While it therefore feels strange to exclude him from a particularly traumatic event for Isaiah, I’d also argue that his presence could have answered a pressing question.

Eli Bradley’s MCU Story Can Answer A Pressing Question About Super Soldiers

Does Super Soldier Serum Alter The Recipient’s Genes?

Isaiah Bradley is the only super soldier to play a significant role in Captain America: Brave New World, and the movie could have answered a question that The Falcon and the Winter Soldier didn’t. Namely, whether Isaiah’s serum-enhanced physiology was inherited biologically by Eli. Isaiah is, after all, the only super soldier in the MCU that we know has progeny in the form of Eli, while the likes of Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes thus far remain childless. Despite super soldiers receiving their powers artificially, there is precedent for this eventuality both on and off the comic book page.

Super soldier John Walker is seen sitting beside a crib in the trailer for Thunderbolts*, suggesting this movie could come closer to answering whether super soldier powers are inheritable.

The most notable of these is Hulk. In the comics, Skaar inherits his father’s gamma mutation, and it looks like the MCU is following a similar route as She-Hulk: Attorney at Law debuted his green-skinned son in live-action. Notably, however, the MCU’s Hulk is also imbued with a form of the super soldier serum, which could provide the MCU with a streamlined excuse to adapt Eli, AKA Patriot, with powers already in-built instead of faithfully adapting the more convoluted origins of his powers in the comics.

Why The MCU’s Super Soldier Question Is Crucial To The Franchise

We Could Have Learned How Superhero Families Will Take Shape

Custom Image by Lewis Glazebrook

The MCU is in the process of debuting a litany of younger characters, most of whom are presumed to be forming the Young Avengers down the line. Establishing whether artificially enhanced superheroes can pass on superpowers to their children, therefore, could become pivotal, especially as we’ve already seen it happen with Hulk. Wanda Maximoff, meanwhile, remains something of an enigma, as her powers were initially established to have been bequeathed by the Mind Stone, while it was later revealed that the stone only awakened an innate power.

In Marvel Comics, Eli ultimately receives powers tantamount to those of a super soldier after receiving a blood transfusion from Isaiah.

Nevertheless, Captain America: Brave New World had an opportunity to establish how superhero families work in the MCU, and whether the reasoning behind Hulk bequeathing his powers to Skaar would extend to Isaiah bequeathing his to Eli. In Marvel Comics, Eli ultimately receives powers tantamount to those of a super soldier after receiving a blood transfusion from Isaiah. I can see the MCU essentially cutting out the middle man, therefore, as Eli technically already carries Isiaiah’s blood, making his super soldier debut as a Young Avenger almost ordained.