7 Best Avengers Villain Team-Ups in Marvel History

The Avengers have faced off against the greatest villains in Marvel Comics‘ illustrious history. The group first came together to battle Loki and stayed together to fight the kinds of threats that no one hero could beat on their own. Since then, they’ve earned the name “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes”, which is actually something of a misnomer. They’re the universe’s greatest heroes, saving the day from enemies that could destroy everything. Avengers villains on their own are some of the most dangerous in comics, but much like the heroes, they’ve found that there’s often strength in numbers. This has led to some of the most titanic team-ups ever, with villains joining forces to defeat the team.

Villain team-ups can be extremely difficult to defeat. Sure, the bad guys don’t always work together the best, but joining with multiple other antagonists give them a greater chance of winning. These seven Avengers villain team-ups are the best in Marvel history, leading to some amazing stories.

7) Doctor Doom and Namor

Marvel has some strange alliances, but one of the weirdest, that definitely should not work, is the one between Doctor Doom and Namor. Both of them are united in their hatred of Reed Richards but both of them are egotistical kings who are known for being impossible to work with. Somehow, they make a pretty great team and have faced off against both the Fantastic Four and the Avengers. Even when Namor is being heroic, Doom and Latveria are still his closest ally. They are entertaining and dangerous, a force in the Marvel Universe.

6) Magneto and Scarlet Witch

Scarlet Witch is the current Sorcerer Supreme and an Avenger in good-standing, but she’s also been a villain numerous times over the years. After the dissolution of her marriage to Vision, the truth about their twins being revealed, and the synthezoid Avenger going evil and trying to take over the world she became a bad guy again, joining with her “father” Magneto. Even Quicksilver joined them as bad guys. The three of them smacked around the West Coast Avengers like they were nothing, showing everyone how dangerous they were as a unit.

5) Red Skull and Ahab

Red Skull is the Marvel Universe’s most evil racist, which is saying something, since it seems like the Marvel Universe is like 80% racist. After Avengers vs. X-Men, he decided to destroy mutants. First, he stole the slain Charles Xavier’s brain to gain his powers, then he recruited his S-Men to fight mutants, and he finally ended up teaming with Ahab, a cybernetic racist from the future. The two of them made mutant concentration camps and worked together to unleash the Red Onslaught. They were the Avengers Unity Squad’s greatest foes, challenging this new version of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and trying to end their union of humans and mutants.

4) Kang and the Apocalypse Twins

Speaking of the Uncanny Avengers, here’s their other greatest villain team up. The Apocalypse Twins were the children of Archangel and Final Horseman Pestilence. Kang stole them from their parents after X-Force defeated them and began to raise them. He wanted to transform them into his weapon to destroy the heroes, even leaving them in Red Skull and Ahab’s concentration camp to toughen them up. Of course, they ended up betraying each other, leading to one of the best Avengers stories of the ’10s (Uncanny Avengers (Vol. 1) #7-22). Kang and the Apocalypse Twins were awesome together, each of them using the other to fulfill their goals.

3) The Cabal

The Cabal took a page from the heroes’ playbook. After he killed Veranke, ending the Skrull invasion, Norman Osborn was made into the head of the Superhero Initiative, SHIELD, and the Avengers. He decided to create his own version of the Illuminati, bringing together Namor, Emma Frost, Doom, Loki, and the Hood. The group was the power behind everything he did, with Osborn using the members for his own ends. There was also a second Cabal during the Incursions, consisting of Thanos, Namor, Black Swan, Maximus the Mad, Proxima Midnight, Corvus Glaive, and the Maker, working to save the multiverse in their own terrible way.

2) Dark Avengers

“Dark Reign” changed the Marvel Universe, giving the villains power. After bringing together his Cabal, Norman Osborn knew that he would need a public-facing team to make people believe in him. He recruited former Thunderbolts Moonstone, Bullseye, and Venom and Wolverine’s son Daken and dressed them up as Ms. Marvel, Hawkeye, Spider-Man, and Wolverine. He had Noh-Varr become Captain Marvel and kept Ares and Sentry from the last Avengers team, forming his own dark version of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. The group did save the world several times, but also did Osborn’s terrible bidding, leading to their defeat at Asgard. Osborn would bring together another version of the team, failing to defeat the Avengers again.

1) Masters of Evil

The Masters of Evil were once the most dangerous foes the Avengers had ever faced. The team is known for the many roster changes it’s had over the years, each one of them bringing together numerous lower-level villains to battle the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. The team was founded by Baron Heinrich Zemo, and has since been led by his son Helmut, Ultron, Egghead, Doctor Octopus, and others. There’s even been a Multiversal Masters of Evil. While they aren’t as popular as they once were, they remain the best Avengers villain team-up of them all.

Who’s your favorite Avengers villain team-up? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!

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