America the Badass
Kate Bishop: “Who are you?”
Young Avengers Vol. 2 #7
America Chavez: “Your ticket to the Multiverse, princess.”
A gang wanders through a poor neighborhood. It’s time to pick up the protection money. The first two houses pay, but the man in the third claims he doesn’t have the money and begs for more time. The gang breaks down the door. The man knows what comes next and screams for help as the lead goon raises a baseball bat.
The bat slams down on a raised arm. A young woman with an annoyed look on her face is standing between the gang and their victim. She blitzes the gang, knocking most of them out with one punch each. The woman lifts the leader and demands to know the location of their base. She flies the two of them to a warehouse there and tosses him through an open window. The remaining gang members look up in horror as America Chavez gives them one warning: “Leave.”
America Chavez is one of Marvel’s most prominent LGBT characters. A character created to use a dead superhero’s name has become a rising star who will is featured in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. So who is she? How did she get her powers? What is her connection to the multiverse? Let’s find out.
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Coming to America: America Chavez’ Backstory
America: “You knew your newly orphaned 6-year-old granddaughter was roaming the multiverse alone and all you did was watch?!”
America #7
America Chavez debuted in 2011 in Vengeance #1. She was created by Joe Casey and Nick Dragotta. Chavez was created to use the code name Miss America, which formerly belonged to a WWII-era hero. Her backstory, powers, and outfit also make America similar to Wonder Woman.
Princess America Chavez was born in another dimension called the Utopian Parallel. Her people lived in peace and were granted superhuman abilities by their guardian, The Demiurge. Their peace was shattered when invaders called La Legion attacked. America’s mothers sacrificed their lives to stop the invasion, traumatizing their young daughter.
America used her powers to run away from home and travel the multiverse. She fought evildoers to make her moms proud, soon earning the nickname Miss America. She eventually made her way to Earth and joined a lesser-known team called the Teen Brigade. America Chavez quickly became the team’s leader and led them in battle against the Young Masters of Evil.
The Teen Brigade wasn’t a good fit for America and she quit after a messy fling with a teammate. She learned that Loki was planning to assassinate Wiccan of the Young Avengers before he could become the Demiurge that created her world. America joined the team protecting him and became one of their longest serving members.
Divided We Fall: America Chavez’ History
Catalina Chavez: “Like any good Latina, you talk about la familia. Now’s your chance to prove what it really means to you.”
America Chavez: Made in the USA
America Chavez stayed with the Young Avengers for many years and formed a close friendship with the second Hawkeye, Kate Bishop. Writers hinted that America is in love with her, but Kate is straight and doesn’t reciprocate.
Black Panther recruited America for a team called The Ultimates to help protect the multiverse. She was one of the team’s most powerful members, but quarreled with the team’s authoritarian leader, Captain Marvel. America Chavez left the team in disgust when Captain Marvel used a precognitive Inhuman to arrest people for crimes they hadn’t yet committed.
America later encountered Catalina, her long-lost sister. She learned that they have a disease called Edges Syndrome and their mothers had brought them to a secret organization called the Utopian Parallel to find a cure. The scientists instead tried to harness the children’s powers as weapons and killed their parents when they helped America escape. All the stuff about being the princess of another universe was America’s coping mechanism, which she believed was real.
Catalina took hostages and forced her sister to open a portal to the multiverse to bring back their parents. America reluctantly did so, but the alternates refused to leave their home. Catalina then disappeared into the multiverse herself. America Chavez has taken a break from heroics to cope with the loss of her sister and her medical condition.
Seeing Stars: America Chavez’ Powers and Personality
Kate: “Is that how you see us all, America? Interchangeable?”
Civil War II: Choosing Sides
America: “This James Rhodes gladly gave his life to protect his world and would do it again. Other James Rhodes have other possibilities. But dying fighting for people you care about, that’s the way to go. That’s why I always come back to this Earth.”
Kate: “What people do you care about so much on this Earth?”
America: “Wouldn’t you like to know, princess…”
America Chavez is one of the strongest members of the next generation of heroes. She has superhuman strength, speed, durability, flight, and can open multiversal portals with a kick. Multiversal physics are wonky, so America also has the ability to time travel, albeit imprecisely.
America’s powerful, but she isn’t infallible. The Edges Syndrome has severely disrupted her powers and risks killing her. The disease was kept in check by a cure developed by the Utopian Parallel that eventually faded, and a replacement has not been found.
Stoic, serious, and proud describe America Chavez. She is often aloof to her allies and has a short temper. She admired Wiccan because he would eventually become the Demiurge, but was disappointed to learn her god was a skittish dummy of a teenager. She eventually befriended him. I guess it is okay to meet your heroes sometimes.
The Actors Who Play America Chavez
Cierra Ramirez – Marvel Rising: Secret Warriors
Xochitl Gomez – Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Didya Get All That?
A multiversal princess turned Young Avenger.
Photo by Jay Maidment/Jay Maidment – © Marvel Studios 2022. All Rights Reserved.
Jared Bounacos has written for Movie Rewind since 2016.
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