Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow

Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow is a direct-to-video animated film. It is fifth in a series of animated films from Marvel Animation, based on Marvel Comics by Lions Gate Entertainment. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 2, 2008. The project was originally announced under the title Teen Avengers and later changed to Avengers Reborn. It was then referred to as Next Avengers before being given its full title. The title is also a reference to "A-Next" (Avengers Next), a similar team of Avengers children set 15 years in the future in a line called MC2. A preview of the film (under the Avengers Reborn title) was included on the DVD of the Doctor Strange: The Sorcerer Supreme animated film. It is the first of the Marvel animated films to be rated PG as opposed to PG-13.

Plot
A battle with Ultron leaves The Avengers defeated, with the heroes killed during the fight, and the world at the mercy of Ultron's machine army. Before his death, Captain America tells Iron Man to take the Avengers' children to a fortified refuge hidden above the Arctic Circle. The children are James Rogers (son of Black Widow and Captain America), Henry Pym Jr. (son of Giant-Man and Wasp), Azari T'Challa (son of Black Panther and Storm), and Torunn (daughter of the absent Thor and Sif).

Stark secretly raises and trains the children for 12 years. One day, The Vision arrives at the refuge after hiding for over a decade from Ultron. He has come to inform Stark that Clint Barton's son is "alive".

While the curious children are eavesdropping on Stark and The Vision, James accidentally activates a series of Iron Man-style robots, called the Iron Avengers, that mimic the looks and abilities of Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Panther, Thor, Black Widow and Giant Man. Because they are programmed to defeat Ultron upon activation, they take off to do so, whereupon they are detected by Ultron's worldwide sensors, revealing the location of the refuge. Easily defeated by him, Ultron then reprograms the Iron Avenger robots to follow his commands, proceeds to the refuge and invades it. Stark, now dressed as Iron Man, is able to stall Ultron long enough for the children to escape, but he is eventually subdued and captured.

Sneaking into Ultra City to rescue Stark, the four young Avengers run into  Francis Barton (son of Hawkeye and Mockingbird), the new Hawkeye. They decide to team up with him and his group of resistance fighters, called the Scavengers, to rescue their guardian.

The five manage to escape with Stark from Ultron's trap in his citadel, and they head to the desert, along with an older Betty Ross, where Bruce Banner, in an effort to submerge The Hulk, has decided to hide out and keep away from other people for their own safety. After he refuses to help them, James comes up a plan to lure Ultron there so he can cause The Hulk to appear, destroying the robot.

The young Avengers fight the mechanical doubles of their parents, and manage to awaken The Hulk, who defeats the Iron Avengers. However, Ultron attacks The Hulk and defeats him before attacking the young Avengers, nearly killing them. Pym revives The Hulk, who then ultimately destroys Ultron, ripping him in two. Then, in a fit of rage, The Hulk begins to turn on the young Avengers, but is subdued by Betty. Finally, to stop Ultron from rebuilding himself, Toruun takes the two halves into space and throws them away. She nearly suffocates and freezes in the process, resulting in her father, Thor, rescuing her and explaining why he left her on Earth. Thor invites Torunn to join him in Asgard, but Torunn chooses instead to return to her family on Earth. As a parting gift, Thor sends her back to Earth in full Asgardian armor.

With Ultron finally defeated, the five young Avengers prepare to return to Ultra City, to deal with Ultron's remaining forces and rescue the populace.

Cast

 * Noah C. Crawford as James Rogers
 * Brenna O'Brien as Torunn
 * Aidan Drummond as Henry Pym, Jr.
 * Dempsey M. Pappion as Azari T'Challa
 * Adrian Petriw as Francis Barton/Hawkeye II
 * Tom Kane as Tony Stark/Iron Man and Ultron
 * Ken Kramer as Bruce Banner
 * Fred Tatasciore as The Hulk
 * Shawn MacDonald as The Vision
 * Nicole Oliver as Betty Ross
 * Michael Adamthwaite as Thor

Comics
The Next Avengers made their comic book debut in Avengers #1, as part of Marvel's Heroic Age event. In the preview, the team is shown fighting Immortus. This reality has been designated as Earth-555326.

They appear in the first six issues of the Avengers (2010), but play a small role. When the current Avengers travel forward in time, they are knocked out by the Next Avengers and brought to Hulk and Iron Man. Later, they perform recon work, and witness the defeat of Ultron by Kang and his Legion. Finally, they kill Immortus after he murders their reality's version of Stark and Hulk.