7 Lost Avengers We Want Back

The Avengers have called many of Marvel’s greatest heroes members. There are some characters who have become synonymous with the team – Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Scarlet Witch, Wasp, Hank Pym, Captain Marvel, Black Panther, and the like. Over the years, all kinds of characters from every corner of the Marvel Universe have joined Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Some of them have taken to the team very well, becoming perfect Avengers during their time with the group. They become mainstays that fans love and then, one day, they’re gone, switched out for some other hero who is finally getting a chance to shine with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

Over the years, many characters have joined the team, developed a niche, and then eventually left. They all deserved to become mainstay Avengers, their names joining the pantheon of the team’s greats. These seven lost Avengers need to come back, giving readers some of their lowkey favorites back.

7) Quicksilver

Quicksilver was once a character who was considered a full-time Avenger. He joined the team way back in issue 16 of their first series and was a mainstay of the group for years. He’s been away from them for a while at this point and it’s kind of mystifying why. He’s a character with a long history with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, he plays well off any character out there, and he usually has some kind of cool costume. Speedsters are always good to have around. Quicksilver could be a superstar with very little effort and the best way to get back there is to put back on the team that made him a big name hero in the first place.

6) Sunspot

The New Mutants birthed numerous legends and one of the most unsung is Sunspot. He never really got his major run on the X-Men like Cannonball and Magik, but he did become one of the most valuable Avengers after joining the team in the Hickman run. While Alberto can seem flippant, he’s got a mind like a steel trap and the money to make anything a reality. He used his smarts, his charm, and his billions of dollars to become the corporate maven of the Avengers, taking over AIM by buying it and forging it into his own kind of Avengers group. He was an amazing member of the team for almost six years, and it’s a shame he hasn’t been invited back.

5) Spider-Woman

Spider-Woman first showed up in the ’70s, as part of the company trying to diversify their line as feminism was all the rage. She’d fade away over the ’80s and ’90s, replaced as Spider-Woman by Julia Carpenter, but Jessica Drew would get another chance at stardom in the ’00s. She was a key part of the early Bendis saga on the Avengers, with it eventually being revealed that the version everyone had been reading for a couple of years was a Skrull. This was actually the beginning of the end for her; once the real Jessica came back, she started to spiral downward. An entire generation of readers love her, though, and it’s past time for her to make a return.

4) Mockingbird

I’m going to be honest: your esteem for Mockingbird depends completely upon if you read ’80s Avengers comics, specifically West Coast Avengers. She ended up marrying Hawkeye and became a key part of the team until her death. She stayed dead until Secret Invasion, when it was revealed that it was a Skrull that had died. Her return saw her get some attention for a few years before her fate as generic SHIELD agent hero saw her fall off the map. Bobbi is one of those classic Avengers that deserves a comeback with the team; she’s perfect for a whole new generation to fall in love with.

3) Luke Cage

New Avengers isn’t as perfect as its fans claim, but it did redefine the team for a new generation and created a new superstar: Luke Cage. Cage had been around the Marvel B list for decades, mostly working with Iron Fist, but writer Brian Michael Bendis loved him. He became a part of New Avengers and the rest is history. It basically became his book for years, as he rose to lead the group. However, Bendis leaving was the last hurrah on the team for the hero and since then he’s gotten less and less popular. It’s time to change that; Cage was the biggest Avengers success in decades and they could use some more of his charm.

2) Hyperion

Jonathan Hickman’s time on Avengers was amazing. He pit the team against no less than the death of the multiverse itself and he created the most powerful Avengers roster ever in Avengers (Vol. 5). This team had the heaviest hitters and few were as powerful as Hyperion. Hailing from Earth-13034, he made friends with Thor and became the team muscle, trying to make up for being unable to save his world. He battled the Beyonders alongside the Odinson right before Secret Wars and has been gone since then, but it’s past time for a resurrection. He was the perfect Marvel Superman during his time with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and they could use him again.

1) Havok

Havok is the younger brother of Cyclops. He’s long been in his brother’s shadow, leading both X-Factor and the X-Men but never measuring up to Scott Summers’ example. He’d eventually get recruited by Captain America for the Avengers Unity Squad, leading the team against Red Skull and the Apocalypse Twins. He was handed a team ready to implode and couldn’t stop it, but he still was able to step up and save the day in the end. He was an amazing Avenger; away from being compared to his brother, he shined. Alex needs something new and the Avengers would be a perfect place for him to find his spark again.

What lost Avenger would you like to see with the team? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!

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