The Avengers are a series of fictional superhero teams, that have starred in the Avengers and related comic book series published by Marvel Comics. Over the years, the teams have featured a rotating lineup composed of a large number of characters.
Original Organization (1963â€"2004)
Founders
All of these members helped form the team in The Avengers #1 (September 1963).
1960s recruits
1970s recruits
1980s recruits
West Coast Avengers recruits (1984â€"1987)
Avengers members recruited by Hawkeye as the West Coast Avengers chair.
Post-Inferno recruits (1989â€"1990)
UN Charter recruits (1991â€"1992)
Post-Heroes Return recruits (1998â€"2004)
New Avengers recruits (2005)
The New Avengers were formed due to a mass break-out at the super villain prison The Raft.
Post-Civil War recruits (2007â€"2009)
The New Avengers became a splinter group that chose not to comply with federal superhuman registration, as opposed to the governmental-sanctioned team presented in Mighty Avengers then Dark Avengers. Mighty Avengers after the Dark Avengers launch was an international agency sanctioned team.
Heroic Age recruits (2010â€"2011)
Characters who have officially joined the Avengers after the events of Dark Reign and Siege.
Shattered Heroes recruits (2011â€"2012)
After the Fear Itself event, the lineup of the Avengers teams was shifted by Captain America during the Shattered Heroes storyline.
Marvel NOW! recruits (2012-2013)
After the Avengers vs. X-Men event, members from both Avengers and X-Men teams were shifted by Captain America during the Marvel NOW! storyline.
Infinity recruits (2013-2014)
Characters that joined the team during the Infinity event.
Avengers NOW! (2014-present)
Honorary
Heroes that have been granted honorary status during their lifetime or posthumously for acts of great courage and/or sacrifice.
Guardians of the Galaxy (1978)
A group of superheroes from the 31st century, the Guardians of the Galaxy time traveled to the 20th century in vol. 1 #168 (February 1978) and served as honorary members during the Korvac saga.
Young Avengers
A group of teenage heroes modeled after the Avengers, the surviving Young Avengers were awarded honorary membership following the "Children's Crusade" storyline.
Avengers Third Grade
The Avengers promoted several senior Academy students to "Avengers Third Grade", as part of a plan to eventually award them full Avengers membership.
Infiltrators
Other teams
Fury's Black Ops Initiative (1959)
As revealed in New Avengers #10 (March 2011).
Great Lakes Avengers (1989)
A group of heroes independently formed their own branch of Avengers, as Great Lakes Avengers, in West Coast Avengers vol. 2 #46 (July 1989), with no official status. Later known as the Lightning Rods (after the Thunderbolts during Heroes Reborn), they eventually switched their name back. In the GLA Misassembled miniseries, the team was contacted by the Maria Stark Foundation and forced to change their name. They chose the Great Lakes X-Men. In The Thing #8, they changed their name again to the Great Lakes Champions. Since the Civil War, the team has been known as the Great Lakes Initiative.
Avengers Resistance (2009)
Justice and other former members of the New Warriors eventually left The Initiative to form Counter Force, with the purpose of ensuring that The Initiative stayed true to their goal of training new and undeveloped superhumans. After Camp Hammond was shut down, Tigra and Gauntlet joined the New Warriors who had left the Initiative, and formed the Avengers Resistance, with the specific purpose of exposing the criminal deeds of Norman Osborn.
Astonishing Avengers (2014)
During the AXIS storyline, Magneto assembles an unnamed group consisting of Absorbing Man, Carnage, Deadpool, Doctor Doom, Enchantress, Hobgoblin, Jack O'Lantern V, Loki, Mystique and Sabretooth to combat the Red Skull. When the Red Skull was defeated, the villains went their separate ways, but were inverted due the spell cast by Scarlet Witch and Doctor Doom. The inverted villains were reassembled by Steve Rogers when he noticed something was wrong with the Avengers and X-Men to assemble an effective resistance against the heroes after the other Avengers - with the exception of Spider-Man and Nova - were captured, naming the new team the Astonishing Avengers. During the subsequent fight, Carnage sacrifices himself to prevent the inverted X-Men detonating a 'gene bomb' that would have killed every non-mutant in the blast radius, with the fight concluding with the rest of the 'Astonishing Avengers' - with the exception of Sabretooth, who was protected by a shield generated by Iron Man - being returned to normal. However, the team left a video message claiming responsibility for the heroes' actions while corrupted before they returned to their own villainous ways, identifying themselves as the 'Axis of Evil', allowing the Avengers and X-Men to rebuild their reputations.
Bibliography
See also
- A-Next (List of A-Next members)
- Avengers Academy
- Avengers Arena
- Avengers: The Initiative (List of Avengers: The Initiative characters)
- Dark Avengers
- Force Works
- Great Lakes Avengers (List of Great Lakes Avengers members)
- Marvel Adventures: The Avengers
- The Mighty Avengers (List of Mighty Avengers members)
- The New Avengers (List of New Avengers members)
- Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow
- The Ultimates (List of Ultimates members)
- Secret Avengers
- West Coast Avengers (List of West Coast Avengers members)
- Young Avengers