Kevin Feige seems to be hard at work with multiple projects. With big names like the X-Men and the Fantastic Four on their way to the MCU, it seems that there will be a slew of high-profile Marvel content in the coming years, even with the various content caps that have been put on the studio for quality assurance.
Armor Wars is a project that got turned from a show that would air on Disney+ to a film, which would be released in theatres. However, the project does not seem to have any potent bandwidth behind it, such that it could bring people to the theatres. However, there is a different film that has been reportedly turned into a show, despite having a more potent case to work as a film.
Champions have more theatrical bandwidth and Armor Wars ever would have
The Young Avengers film has reportedly gone through a couple of changes, such as possibly being called Champions, and it will now be a TV series. However, Armor Wars, which people are less excited to see, or at least has less going on for it, is still on its way to being a film.
While it might bring back Justin Hammer into the MCU, it still makes little sense to religate the Champions to the small screen, while Armor Wars gets one of the slots for a film release, which has already been crunched by Bob Iger.
While Champions might not have the theatrical bandwidth to make the kind of money that a standard MCU film does, it can definitely outperform Armor Wars if both were on their way to a theatrical release. Young Avengers might not have a star-studded cast, but that could be amended with some big cameos post-Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts*.
While Armor Wars could also be enhanced by these, the fact that the narrative would focus on Rhody, who arguably has less narrative bandwidth than characters like Kate Bishop, might not hold the interest of the audience as much as the latter would.
If Champions wants to succeed, it needs to focus on Kate Bishop and Kamala Khan
So far, of all the candidates for a Young Avengers/Champions lineup, only Kate Bishop and Kamala Khan have managed to garner some sort of fan following. Kamala Khan has been part of the most popular run of Champions, along with Mile Morales and Nova. However, should Marvel fail to introduce these characters into the MCU, Kate Bishop could be one of the principal characters that the show ends up focusing on.
However, Champions could be a little more selective with its lineup. Given that ‘Young Avengers‘ might not have to worry about the ‘young’ part of its title anymore, the show could line up a slew of characters in its ranks that could elevate it to a more high-profile status. Rather than depending on characters like Stature and Patriot, who are yet to get some time to familiarise themselves with the audience, Kevin Feige could have a Champions team that includes characters like Sylvie, Joaquin Torres’ Falcon, Moon Knight, and even characters like Daredevil and The Punisher.
