Young Avengers Presents #2
Hulkling
Now
Teddy Altman, aka Hulkling of the Young Avengers, has come face to face with Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell), his father.[1] He doesn’t know what to say and in a panic Teddy introduces himself and pretends its neat to meet this hero. Realizing that this is going wrong, Teddy bites the bullet and puts it bluntly: He is Mar-Vel’s son.[2] This comes as a shock to Mar-Vell, and as Teddy rhymes off everyone involved raises more questions from the legendary Kree hero. After a pause, the Captain asks Teddy to start from the beginning.
A Few Days Earlier
When Captain Marvel re-appeared, the story made big news. Teddy was out in Times Square with his boyfriend and teammate Billy Kaplan (Wiccan) at the time and saw it on the big screen. Despite the fact that there were still questions about his parentage, Teddy wanted to go there immediately to meet his alleged father. Growing wings he then flew into the sky. Fearing they might get caught, Wiccan uses his magic to cast a flight spell and follows after him.[3] He tries to remind Teddy that they aren’t 100% certain that he is the son of Mar-Vel anymore than he was certain that the woman who raised him was his mother. Wiccan told Billy to think about how he is going to approach Mar-Vell. Teddy promises that he won’t just go up to him and say he is his son…
Now
Teddy realizes how wrong he was, but moves along by showing off his shape-shifting powers which he gets from his Skrull heritage. He also tells Mar-Vell that he is super strong, which he likely gets from his father. Captain Marvel is understandably shaken by this and tells Teddy that he needs time to process this new revelation. As he flies off, he promises he will be in touch soon.
Later, Hulkling is on a mission with his fellow Young Avengers — Patriot (Eli Bradly), Wiccan, Hawkeye (Kate Bishop) and Vision. In the middle of a battle with cyborg bank robbers, the group discuss how Teddy approached Captain Marvel. They all agree that Mar-Vell has returned to a much different world he left and processing the idea that he has a son is likely a lot for him to take in on top of everything else. When the police show up, the Young Avengers all retreat before they are arrested for being unregistered heroes. Teddy, who is upset by what everyone is saying vents his frustration by slamming one of the cyborgs onto the hood of a police car before fleeing the scene himself.
That evening, Teddy returns to the rooftop where he met Mar-Vell and realizes that venting did little to calm himself. That’s when Captain Marvel arrives and asks Ted what he thought would happen once he revealed he was Mar-Vell’s son. He admits that it was a lot to take in, and he admits that a lot has changed since he’s been gone.[4] He asks if Teddy believes the story he was told. Ted explains that this is what the Super-Skrull had told him, and that he has no memory of his father. He was told that he died before Teddy was born and that is why his family had no photos of him.[5] Mar-Vell finds this a terrible thing to tell a child. However, Teddy found it oddly comforting as he used to “talk” to his dead father and it helped him at a very young age. He then tells Mar-Vell that he had read up on him on the internet and learned how he is destined to die. This makes Mar-Vell look down in sadness. Teddy then says that there is nothing about Princess Anelle, his alleged mother to be found.
Mar-Vell fondly remembers Anelle as a good strong woman and that had she not been killed by Galactus she would have been a just ruler who brought peace to the between their warring races.[6][7] Unfortunately, Mar-Vell had only met Anelle the one time and sadly doesn’t have any stories to share other than the fact that the two of them conceived a child together. He then shares stories about his own childhood. Telling Teddy that he was conscripted into the military at age 9, like all Kree children. Teddy admits that at that age he wasn’t the warrior his father was. Still, Mar-Vell points out that Teddy is on of the Young Avengers an honorable group of young warriors.
That’s when Ted realizes he never asked how Mar-Vell is standing here in front of him. The Captain explains that it involved time travel and is complicated. Hulkling knows exactly what he means after his encounter with Kang the Conqueror, which is equally as complicated.[8] This leads to Teddy asking Mar-Vell if he is going to try and find a cure for his cancer while he is stuck in the present. He tells the boy that he can’t because he cannot know what repercussions that will cause to history. Teddy knows full well and breaks down into tears because it is so unfair for his father to know his destiny and be unable to do anything about it. Mar-Vell then hugs the boy and for the briefest of moments, Teddy knows what it feels like to have a dad.
Mar-Vell then says that he needs to go and promises that he will try to meet with Teddy again before he returns. However, looking back on this in hindsight, Ted knows that this would not come true because he would not see Mar-Vell alive again.[9]
Recurring Characters
Young Avengers (Hulkling, Patriot, Wiccan, Hawkeye, Vision), “Captain Marvel”
Continuity Notes
The real Mar-Vell died of cancer in Marvel Graphic Novel #1. At the time of this story, it appeared that Mar was pulled forward in time in Civil War: The Return #1. In reality, this is actually a Skrull impostor named Khn’nr, who is part of a larger invasion of Earth. As will be revealed in Captain Marvel (vol. 6) #5.
Teddy is the son of Skrull Princess Anelle and the real Captain Marvel as we learned in Young Avengers #9-12. He was conceived during the Kree/Skrull War circa Avengers #89-97 (between issues 92 and 93 to be exact).
This story happens after the passage of the Super Human Registration Act (SHRA) which requires superhumans to register with the government. The law was passed in Civil War #3. Hulkling and Wiccan opposed the law and thus using their powers is illegal. This law will remain on the books until Siege #4.
Specifically, Teddy mentions how the Vision has changed since Mar-Vell last saw him. The original Vision was destroyed back in Avengers #500. Later, his database was downloaded into the neruo-kinetic armor of Iron Lad. This ultimately caused it to become sentient, possessing the memories and personalities of both the Vision and Iron Lad, as seen in Young Avengers #1-6. The original Vision will be repaired in Avengers (vol. 4) #19.
Here, Teddy states that his father died of a car crash, contradicting his earlier statement in Young Avengers #9, wherein he states that his father died of cancer. See “Errors” below for more.
Per Avengers #133, the Kree and Skrulls have been fighting for centuries. It all started when the Skrulls approached the sentient races of the planet Hala the Kree and the sentient plants known as the Cotati. However, they only had desire to add one species into their empire and had them compete with one another to find which race was more successful at building a city on the surface of Earth’s moon. While the Kree created the so-called Blue Area of the Moon, the Cotati were able to grow a lush forest. When the Cotati won, the Kree responded in violence, killing the Skrull envoy and reverse engineering their technology kicking off the conflict.
Anelle was on the Skrull home world when it was consumed by Galactus, as seen in Fantastic Four #257. It is notable that the real Mar-Vell would not have known this. So either Khn’nr learned it after his arrival on Earth or this is a slip of the tongue and a clue to his real nature.
Namely that Iron Lad, the founder of the Young Avengers, gathered the group together to prevent himself from growing up to become Kang. See Young Avengers #1-6, again.
This is foreshadowing Khn’nr’s eventual death in Secret Invasion #6.
Errors
In this story, Teddy states that he was told that his father died in a car accident. This is contrary to Young Avengers #9 where he says his father died of cancer. The cancer story makes sense since that’s how the real Mar-Vell died in Marvel Graphic Novel #1. Still, its interesting that he mentions a car crash here as when Mar-Vell first came to Earth he assumed the identity of Doctor Walter Lawson, who had died in a car accident as seen in Marvel Super-Heroes #13.
Topical References
The billboards in Times Square are depicted as having advertisements for NBC, Budweiser, and Panasonic. These should all be considered topical as they are real world brands.
Teddy quips that the only thing he was interested in at 9 years old was Pokémon. This is a media frachise owned by Nintendo that includes video games, card games, television and movies among other mediums. It continues to be incredibly popular since its inception in 1996. That said, this should be considered a topical reference as this is a real world franchise.