Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor Aren’t the Avengers Trinity, This Trio of Heroes Are

The Avengers are household names nowadays and a big reason for that is Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor. These three characters were the standouts of the MCU, positioned as the main characters of their entire universe. You’d often hear people say that none of them were popular before this, but this isn’t the case at all. These three heroes had long formed the nucleus of the Avengers, and when the team became the focus of the Marvel Universe, they took center stage. As the years went on, they would be replaced as Marvel’s Trinity – their equivalent of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman – by Hulk, Spider-Man, and Wolverine, but they would still be the center of the Avengers.

They were the leaders of the team and often were the focus of the stories. However, they were the characters who also perennially had their own books. This meant that while they were in the lead, the book didn’t really do much important with them. However, there have been a legion of characters who were built up in these books and their stories are the ones that truly show what it means to be an Avenger. In fact, I would go so far as to say that there are three characters who we should talk about when we talk about the phrase “Avengers Trinity”: the Vision, Hawkeye, and Scarlet Witch. These three characters are the ones that truly define what being an Avenger means. Cap, Shellhead, and Thor are all integral to the team’s success, but the archer, the synthezoid, and the witch are the ones who defined what being an Avenger is.

Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, and the Vision Represent the Avengers More Than Cap, Iron Man, and Thor

It’s easy to look at the Avengers and think the team’s leaders are the most important members. All three are legends and have been for ages, each of them an important voice in the superhero community. However, that’s part of the problem – they’re icons on their own and have an entire identity outside of being an Avenger that defines their role in the the team. For the Vision, Hawkeye, and Scarlet Witch, being an Avenger is their life. Each of them stepped off the path they were originally on and then chose to become Avengers, each of them escaping worse fates and (in the Vision’s case) almost certain destruction.

We’ll start with the Vision because his is the easiest argument to make. The Vision was created by Ultron to destroy the team, but a funny thing happened when the ghostly robot made his way to the Avengers Mansion; he decided that the team was actually pretty nice. They accepted him in a way that resonated with the human inside him – his brain was a copy of Wonder Man’s – and he broke through his programming to become a member. Since then, he’s become the team’s most stalwart component. His entire life is about being an Avenger, fighting evil. This has led him to bad conclusions – he once tried to take control of the world’s nuclear arsenal and install himself as supreme dictator in order to save humanity from itself – but it’s showed his devotion.

The team made him human. His love of Scarlet Witch became one of the defining relationships of the team and led him to learn more about the lives of the flesh-covered souls around him. Stories like The Vision showed the depths of the character, showing just how complex his time with the group has made him. He’s everyone’s friend and his dedication to the battle against evil has inspired multiple generations of members. His arc over the course of his time with the team is one of self-discovery, a newborn experiencing the pangs of life for the first time and it made an entire era of Avengers stories pop.

Scarlet Witch came to the team in Avengers (Vol. 1) #16, taking Wasp’s place as the team’s token woman, a role she would keep for the rest of her existence. For a long time, Scarlet Witch was the main women of the Avengers, her stories taking center stage and having huge repercussions for the team. Like all three of the characters here, she started out on the other side of the moral divide, her time with the Avengers showing her devoting her life to another path. She was always a woman on the brink, be it because of her power level or her family, but always out there in the forefront.

Scarlet Witch was battered by her life as an Avenger in a way that few other characters have been. She’s showed the consequences of an Avenger’s life like no one else. She gained a new family with the team, meeting the loves of her life in the Vision and Wonder Man, but also almost lost her soul to the evil around her many times over the decades. She’s since become the most powerful Sorcerer Supreme ever, showing the resilience of an Avenger as well. She’s become one of the most important characters in the Marvel Universe, a road that was only possible because of her time with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

Hawkeye showed the redeeming powers of the Avengers like no other character. He joined the group in Avengers (Vol. 1) #16 as well, and quickly became the wise guy of the team. He was young and brash and mouthy, first in the fight no matter how dangerous they are. He was Cap’s bane, constantly questioning his orders. However, there was no one braver on the team. He might have been the one complaining about everything and everyone, but he was also the most dependable one. The more powerful members didn’t need to save him; he saves them.

Hawkeye was one of the most underrated Avengers, but that would change over the years. His popularity meant that he was the perfect hero to build the West Coast Avengers around. That’s right, Hawkeye was the first leader of the second Avengers team, the one who would do the job that he used to mock. He showed the potential of an Avenger, the way the team facilitates growth for those willing to take the journey. The Avengers not only makes stars, it makes heroes and it transformed Hawkeye into one of the greatest.

These are the reasons we read Avengers comics. Sure, the spectacle is fun and the team’s big three always do awesome stuff, but what grabbed readers was the drama and the characters. If you go through the most important moments in the team’s history, the stories that fans point to when they talk about the best Avengers stories, you’ll always find these three characters somewhere, each of them playing an integral role in the narrative. They grew, they changed, they kept readers coming back to see what they would do next. They were Avengers and their lives were the ones that made the team worth following.

The Avengers Wouldn’t Be the Avengers Without This Trio

Avengers stories have often been the lifeblood of the Marvel Universe. Many of the biggest moments in the publisher’s history have happened in the pages of Avengers, a book that combines the greatest heroes at Marvel. However, the real draws of the book haven’t been the big names like Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor, despite their lofty positions in the team’s hierarchy. The characters who made the books were the ones whose lives unfolded there and of those, Scarlet Witch, the Vision, and Hawkeye stood out. Looking at their history, you’re going to see a lot of things, but there’s one thing that is the same across each life – the Avengers.

Their adventures define what that means. Each of them showed what makes an Avenger, each of them showed what being on the team really meant. They aren’t the perennial leaders or anything like that, but they are the lifeblood of the team. Their trials and tribulations became the basis for other characters brought in the group. They defined what an Avenger’s life could be in a way that Cap, Iron Man, and Thor never could.

Do you think the Avengers Trinity is Cap, Iron Man, and Thor or do you think it’s Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, and the Vision? Or do you think it’s three other characters? Sound off in the comments below.

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