The Marvel Cinematic Universe made the House of Idea’s heroes and villains into some of the most popular characters in pop culture. The MCU made the Avengers a household name in the way that the X-Men were, with the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes becoming arguably more popular than the merry mutants. While Marvel Studios’ works weren’t always the best adaptation of Marvel’s comics, they tried to use threats from the books, from villains to evil organization to classic plot elements like the grudge between the Kree and Skrull, and it made the movies that much better. However, the Avengers in the comics have faced off against threats that would blow their MCU counterparts out of the water.
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Avengers comics have always given readers widescreen action, pitting the team against some of Marvel’s greatest villains. The MCU version of the team is quite formidable, but there are some threats from the comics, from villains to alien races to situations, that would be too much for them. These seven Avengers-level threats wouls overwhelm Marvel Studios’ heroes, and shouldn’t be adapted.
7) The Kree/Shi’Ar War
“Operation: Galactic Storm” was an early ’90s Avengers event that ran through Avengers, Avengers West Coast, Captain America, Quasar, Iron Man, Wonder Man, and Thor. The 19-part story saw the Avengers pulled into a war between the Shi’Ar Empire and the Kree, with the Skrulls sniffing around the edges. We’ve gotten several “Avengers versus alien empires” stories in the comics — “The Kree/Skrull War” is one of the greatest Avengers stories ever — but these stories’ scope are much too big for the MCU. “Operation: Galactic Storm” sees the Avengers have to face off against the Shi’Ar Imperial Guard, the Kree Accusers and the Supreme Intelligence, and Skrulls. That’s just way too many threats for the MCU version of the team to deal with.
6) Secret Invasion‘s Skrull Invasion
’00s Marvel was beloved by fans, and one of the biggest events of that decade was Secret Invasion. This story saw a long-planned Skrull invasion finally begin, right when the heroes were at their lowest ebb after Civil War and World War Hulk. This tine, the Skrulls had an ace in the hole they didn’t have in earlier attacks: they were finally able to copy the powers of Earth’s greatest heroes. There were so many of them, and if this kind of Skrull invasion happened on the MCU Earth, the heroes wouldn’t have a chance. There were just too many Skrulls with too many powers, and the MCU Avengers wouldn’t have a prayer against them all.
5) Red Onslaught
Once upon a time, Charles Xavier mindwiped Magneto, and the mutant master of magnetism’s evil took root in the telepathic mutant’s mind. This created Onslaught, who would be defeated by the Avengers and the X-Men. Years later, Red Skull would exhume Xavier’s corpse (it’s a long story, but just know that Professor X was dead for a while) and remove the telepathic portion of the mutant’s brain, grafting it to his own. Eventually, he would become Red Onslaught, with the same godlike power of the original. The only thing that kept the X-Men and the Avengers in the fight against Red Onslaught was the telepathic powers of various mutants, and no one in the MCU has powers like that. Without psi talents protecting their minds, the MCU heroes would have no chance against the all-powerful Nazi villain.
4) The Apocalypse Twins
The ’10s were a great time for Avengers fans, especially the early portion of the decade. Uncanny Avengers brought together members of the X-Men and the Avengers, and pit them against several threats. The most deadly were the Apocalypse Twins. Eimin and Uriel were the children of Archangel and Pestilence. They were raised in the Red Skull’s future mutant concentration camp, placed there by Kang, who wanted to use them to destroy the Avengers. However, they had plans of their own, using their time-based mutant powers, Kang’s arsenal of weapons and technology, and their own cunning to convince the Celestials to destroy the Earth, saving only mutants. The Apocalypse Twins are smarter and better prepared than the heroes of the MCU could ever be, their temporal powers and Kang’s future database giving them the advantage. Add in their near indestructible Celestial armor, and the twins would easily destroy the entire MCU Earth.
3) Ex Nihilo and Abyss
Jonathan Hickman’s run on the Avengers was perfect, and it began with a threat that would trounce the heroes of the MCU. Ex Nihilo and Abyss were servants of the Builders, cosmic gardeners who went to worlds and sped up evolution. The two of them, along with an android Alpeh, went to Mars and used it as a base of operations in their mission to bring the Earth to life. They launched evolutionary missiles at the planets that affected the Earth and the various lifeforms caught in the blasts. Ex Nihilo and Abyss are ridiculously powerful and only the most powerful team of Avengers ever could stop them. The MCU Avengers just don’t have the power level to even scratch Ex Nihilo and Abyss.
2) Michael Korvac
Michael Korvac is a human from the future who became a god. The 30th century Guardians of the Galaxy went to get help from the Avengers to deal with him and the two teams attacked Korvac. However, they might as well been mosquitos trying to sting a rhino. The insane cosmic being was able to kill them all, and the only reason they were able to defeat him was because he decided to resurrect them and give up. The MCU Avengers couldn’t even handle Thanos with a few of the Infinity Stones, so there’s no way they’d be able to muss a hair on Korvac’s head.
1) The Builders
The Builders are the oldest race in the universe. They helped forge life across the cosmos and created an entire system of multiversal travel. They used Gardeners like Ex Nihilo and Abyss to cultivate life, and had Alephs to build or destroy anything they commanded them to. When the Incursions started to destroy their multiversal network, they launched an apocalyptic attack on the empires of the universe, and only were defeated after the Avengers came and helped the surviving fleets of the universe defeat them. The Builders are an entire race of enemies, and there’s no way the MCU Avengers would stand a chance against them. They aren’t powerful enough, don’t have the resources, and don’t have the intelligence to figure out how to win. The Builders would make short work of the MCU.
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