If you’re wondering why Doctor Strange is teaming up with another kid in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, let me tell you about Ms. America Chavez. Played by Xochitl Gomez, the young Avenger has some very cool powers and will be an important asset to Stephen and Wanda in their multiversal conflict.
In Marvel comics, America Chavez comes from a pocket dimension called the Utopian Parallel. Like Wonder Woman’s Themyscira, only women inhabit the Utopian Parallel. An all-powerful future version of Wanda Maximoff’s son Billy, called the Demiurge, created the Utopian Parallel. When America was a child, her parents sacrificed themselves so that she could escape. She was adopted by a Puerto Rican family in Washington Heights and, later, became an interdimensional superhero called simply “Ms. America.”
There is another version of her backstory in the comics that claims she made up the Utopian Parallel as a trauma response to losing her family on a magical island (because that’s more believable) and is actually from the Bronx. I don’t know which version we’ll get in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. When you think about it, self-mythologizing as a coping mechanism does sound like a certain witch who I know …
She can punch and kick through dimensions!
Seriously, that is the simplest way to describe America Chavez’s powers. She makes portals. She doesn’t need one of Doctor Strange’s portal-making brass knuckles or the little “tempads” from Loki to travel between time and alternate universes. All she needs is her fists and her feet. America does this pretty much intuitively. She doesn’t need a map. Oh, and her portals are star-shaped because she understands the power of aesthetics.
Additionally, America can fly, run at superhuman speeds, and use superhuman strength. She’s bullet and fireproof. She also has a lot of knowledge and understanding when it comes to the multiverse.
Something LGBT just happened …
In Marvel comics, America has two moms in a wlw marriage and is queer herself. Will we see this in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness? Disney has been awkward about LGBT representation onscreen in recent years. They patted themselves on the back for passing mentions of same-sex attraction or relationships in films like Avengers: Endgame, The Rise of Skywalker, Cruella, and Jungle Cruise. We’re going to need more than an “exclusively gay moment” to properly tell America Chavez’s story. From the trailers, it does look like she has Pride pins and stickers on her jacket, at the very least.
Parenthetically, I’m incredibly nervous about this particular aspect of the MCU’s Young Avengers rollout in Disney+ shows and new films. The majority of the heroes on that team are queer (Noh-Varr, America Chavez, Teddy Altman, Kid Loki, Billy and Tommy Maximoff), and so far, all of those characters who have been introduced on screen in the MCU happen to have been portrayed by children. Meanwhile, the few straight team members Kate Bishop, Cassie Lang, and Eli Bradley are played by young adults. It’s suss.
On the page, these characters are young adults in their older teens and 20s. They’re constantly dating and flirting with each other. So I’m worried, but it’s nice to see that they aren’t totally tiptoeing around America’s queer identity. Maybe I have nothing to worry about. For all I know, two young adults are already cast to play an aged-up Wiccan and Speed (a.k.a. Billy and Tommy) and it just hasn’t been announced yet.
Finally, she’s kind of a smart*ss
I should also note that America herself would disagree with my assessment of Kate, as you can see above. Her confidence will fit right in with the other characters in the MCU, even if she considers herself a lone wolf. America is cool, funny, and so powerful, and I can’t wait for everyone to meet her.
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Published: Feb 17, 2022 10:52 am