The Avengers are one of Marvel’s most popular and important teams. Even ignoring their meteoric rise in popularity following their debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Avengers have always been one of the backbones of Marvel Comics. Nowadays, everybody knows their names, and most fans of Marvel love to watch the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes duke it out with the worst of them to save the world. However, with that level of popularity, it’s inevitable that people will talk about things they’ve heard about them, and when that happens, things can get muddled. It’s a natural consequence of such a long history. No fan can be expected to read every comic, so they rely on panels they’ve seen and things they’ve been told.
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It might be inevitable, but that doesn’t mean it’s good when misinformation gets spread to the point that fans start to accept it as fact. So today, we’re going to be looking at five things that people think are facts about the Avengers, and breaking down why they’re not actually true. So without further ado, let’s get right into the misinformed takes.
5) Thanos Is Their Archenemy
Thanos’s many battles against the Avengers have made some of their most memorable storylines, but fans who have only seen those stories or the MCU movies believe that the Avengers and Thanos have always been at each other’s throats. This actually isn’t the case. Thanos was originally introduced as an Iron Man villain, but very quickly became Adam Warlock’s archenemy. For the Avengers themselves, their archenemy has always been either Ultron or Kang, though I would personally give the spot to Ultron. Thanos is certainly one of their most dangerous and intimidating foes, but the one with the most personal and storied history with the team is not the Mad Titan.
4) Captain America Was a Founding Member
This is mostly another byproduct of the MCU’s portrayal of the Avengers, but even many comic fans believe this idea. Captain America is the de facto leader of the Avengers, the person everybody turns to when the chips are down, and he has been around since almost the beginning of the team, but that almost is important. Cap didn’t join the team until Avengers (1963) #4, which is very nearly the start of the team, but not quite. While Cap has since become one of the team’s mainstays, he unfortunately just missed that founding member status.
3) They’re At Odds With the X-Men
There’s a popular take amongst certain circles of fans that goes that the X-Men and Avengers are always at each other’s throats. Some even insist that heroes like Captain America are anti-mutant, which clearly isn’t true. While the two teams have fought, most of the time, those disagreements are contrived for the sake of plot convenience. Let’s be honest, nobody acted like themselves or did the smart thing in Avengers vs. X-Men. The reason the Avengers don’t help the X-Men with their problems is the same reason the X-Men don’t help the Avengers. Both teams are always busy, and their books are meant to focus on them. People who read X-Men comics don’t want the Avengers to show up and solve all the problems, and vice versa.
2) Hulk Is a Mainstay Member
Despite popular belief, the Hulk is not a main member of the Avengers. In fact, the Jade Giant has spent significantly more time off the team, and even against them, than as a member. Many see Hulk as a core member of the team because he was a founding member and is present during some of their most beloved runs, not to mention his inclusion in the MCU. While all of this is true, Hulk originally quit the team in Avengers (1963) #2 and didn’t rejoin until issue #100. He literally quit issue #2. His participation in Hickman’s run with the team is one of the Avengers’ most popular incarnations, but runs like his are outliers, rather than the standard.
1) They Have a Standardized Roster
When someone says the Avengers, everyone has a certain team composition come to mind, but to many, it’s a particular group. However, be it movie fans or comic book fans, the fact of the matter is that the Avengers don’t have a set roster. They have some characters who are nearly always present, such as Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man, but even these three have spent significant chunks of time away from the team. The team is constantly shifting members, adding or losing teammates as fluidly as a river. Heck, the original core team that everyone points to as the most classic team broke up in issue #16 of their first run.
The Avengers are not a team built upon specific connections or friendships, but the necessity of the times. They are a group dedicated to saving the world, and so they constantly adjust to include whoever they need to get the job done. While some characters are inseparable from the team, and the roster has become more standardized in recent years, the Avengers have always been open to including characters you’ve never heard of and swapping around like nobody’s business.
So there we have five pieces of information about the Avengers that everyone thinks are facts, but actually aren’t true in the slightest. Which piece of information like this do you resonate with? What do you think? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
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Image courtesy of Paramount+
