The Avengers are Marvel’s top team, even if they haven’t always been one of the most popular. The team is basically just Marvel’s Justice Society/League, bringing together heroes from across their universe to create the world’s greatest defense force. Over the years, there have been some Avenges rosters that have been made up of lower level heroes (like the ’90s leather jacket team), but for the most part the House of Ideas has packed the group with their most popular heroes. They were able to overcome the X-Men for the top-selling team at Marvel in the ’00s, and the MCU helped make them into the most popular superhero team in the world.
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The Avengers have been able to take characters that weren’t popular and make them into stars, while taking stars and making them superstars. The team’s most popular members are some of the best heroes in comics, the cream rising to the top. These are the ten most popular Avengers, heroes who have helped the team become icons.
10) Captain Marvel
There have been several Captains Marvel over the years in the Avengers, but the most popular (unfairly, in my opinion; Monica is the best Avengers Captain Marvel) is Carol Danvers. She first joined the team as Ms. Marvel back in the late ’70s, becoming one of the team’s most iconic members over the decades. She’s led the group several times over the years and has been a mainstay since she became Captain Marvel. Avengers books are where she shines the brightest.
9) Hawkeye
Hawkeye is one of the most underrated Avengers, but it’s impossible to deny how popular he’s become one of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. He started out as a villain and joined Cap’s Kooky Quartet and was a fixture of the team for decades. He helped found and lead the West Coast Avengers and would later join the Thunderbolts. Like several others Avengers on this list, it was the MCU that allowed him to reach the next level of popularity. He hasn’t been an Avenger in a while but he’s one of the first heroes you think about when you think of the team.
8) Black Widow
Honestly, Black Widow and Hawkeye are on the same level of popularity currently, but there was a while where Natasha was more popular than him. Starting out as a villain, she’d become popular enough to become a hero, joining the Champions and dating Daredevil before joining the Avengers. She’s became more popular than ever, getting several miniseries over the decades, and would lead the team at least once. She had several minis throughout the ’00s and the MCU would make her a household name. Much like Hawkeye, she’s been away from the team for a while, but she’s still an extremely popular Avenger.
7) Scarlet Witch
Scarlet Witch has become the Sorcerer Supreme, but that only happened because of the Avengers. She also started out as a villain, joining Cap’s Kooky Quartet, and since become the chief magic user of the group. She’s played a huge role in the history of the team – and the Marvel Universe – but she owes most of her current popularity to the Avengers’ most insufferable fanbase – Wanda stans (they never talk about stories, just about their head canon and how powerful she is; don’t engage with them), who are only around because of the MCU. Marvel is finally giving her a real push, though, and she’s somewhat thriving, proving that the Avengers can make new stars.
6) Black Panther
Black Panther is yet another Avenger who probably wouldn’t be on this list without the MCU. He joined the team in the late ’70s and had an honestly contentious time with the group, partly because of government liaison Henry Peter Gyrich. He joined them several times after that, but he was usually the problem member of the group, only there because of Wakanda. However, his star turn in the MCU made him into one of the most popular characters and he’s been a member of the last couple of MCU-inspired rosters of the team. He was always popular, but now he’s an Avengers icon.
5) Wolverine
Wolverine has become a Marvel legend, but for years, no one thought he was Avengers material. In fact, many Avengers straight up told him this, including Captain America. However, all of that would change in the mid ’00s, when he was brought into New Avengers. He immediately became the most popular character on the team (he was the first to get a solo main cover of the book) and played a major role in nearly every Avengers story he was in. He hasn’t been on the team since he died in 2014 and is about to rejoin, something that fans have been asking for 12 years now.
4) Spider-Man
Spider-Man was a reserve member of the Avengers for years, but never found time to join the group full-time. However, the whole point of New Avengers was to bring Marvel’s most popular characters to the book to drive sales and Spider-Man was the other part of that equation. He stayed with the team until about 2013, when he was replaced by Doctor Octopus as the Superior Spider-Man, who left the group. Spidey made an amazing Avenger; he was great in fights and played off every member of the group well. His upcoming return to the team is just what fans have been asking for.
3) Iron Man
Iron Man is the most important member of the Avengers. He gave the team its first home and paid them salaries, allowing them to focus on their superheroing. He’s always been one of its spiritual leaders, while also serving as chairman several times. Even when his solo book wasn’t selling well, he was still a fan-favorite Avenger. The MCU finally made him an actual A-lister again and this has helped his popularity with the team a lot. He’s spent most of the 21st century as an Avenger and proving his iconic status with the group, something he had lost in the ’90s.
2) Thor
Thor is the powerhouse of the Avengers and has been since the beginning. He is, in a lot of ways, the perfect Avenger. He’s a warrior of the highest order, having defended Asgard for millennia, bringing that type of dedication to his protection of Earth. He hasn’t really led the team, but he’s always been one of the group’s most important members. The few times he hasn’t been on the team, it was honestly kind of lackluster. In a lot of ways, you can tell if an Avengers team is going to be awesome depending on whether or not the God of Thunder is a member.
1) Captain America
Captain America is the Sentinel of Liberty and an argument can be made that the Avengers didn’t truly become the Avengers until he joined them. He’s become the greatest leader in the team’s history, the one that every member looks up to. He exemplifies the morals and mission of the group perfectly, and has become the greatest Avenger of them all. While all of the characters on this list are linked with the group, Cap is the one that everyone thinks of when they think of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
Who is your favorite Avenger? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
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