The Avengers are Marvel’s marquee team, and have faced off against some of the greatest threats in history. The team has battled the most powerful enemies and has saved the universe many times over. There are many of reasons for that, but in the end one of the most important was the strength of the group’s bond. While they aren’t a family like the Fantastic Four or the X-Men, they’ve created some of the most important relationships in the history of the Marvel Universe. Their unity has helped them win against enemies that should have been able to destroy them.
Videos by ComicBook.com
However, that unity has been tested many times over the years. They’ve often been put into circumstances that have tested their bond and the team has found themselves dealing with events that almost broke them. These seven events almost tore the Avengers apart, testing them almost to breaking.
7) “Operation: Galactic Storm”
“Operation: Galactic Storm” is a forgotten early ’90s story that saw the Avengers pulled into a war between the Kree and Shi’Ar. It was meant to be a homage to “The Kree/Skrull War”, and isn’t that bad of a story, all things told. At the end, the team learns that the Kree Supreme Intelligence engineered the whole war, even letting the Shi’Ar use a Nega-Bomb on the Kree homeworld Hala in an attempt to jumpstart Kree evolution. Part of the team decided to try to kill the Supreme Intelligence, and the rest of the team didn’t. After they killed him, several members of the group quit, and they had to soldier on with a reduced roster.
6) The Battle Against the Apocalypse Twins
Some Avengers rosters have problems, especially the first Avengers Unity Squad. The team was created in the aftermath of Avengers vs. X-Men, and was a powder keg, with everyone clashing over Earth’s Mightiest Heroes treatment of mutants over the years. The Apocalypse Twins were able to take advantage of this. They used the team’s problems to break them further apart, with the group splitting into two teams to try to stop them. However, they ultimately failed, and the Earth was destroyed, forcing them to do some time travel to fix the team’s problems and win the day.
5) Secret Invasion
Secret Invasion has a bad rep nowadays because of the MCU, but the comic event was much better. It also saw the Avengers almost destroyed. Now, at that point in time, the Avengers had split into two teams, and when they discovered the Skrulls had invaded and were replacing people, it caused massive problems on both teams. They’d eventually work together, but the end of the conflict saw Iron Man and his leadership of SHIELD and the Avengers blamed for the whole thing. This led to Norman Osborn taking over the Superhero Initiative, driving the heroes even further underground.
4) The Incursions
Jonathan Hickman’s Avengers run was fantastic and it introduced readers to the Incursions. Basically, the Earths of the multiverse were colliding, destroying entire universes. At first, only the Illuminati knew about them, trying their best to stop them, but eventually, it was revealed to the entire team what was happening and they went after the members of the Illuminati. The Avengers broke into pieces, with Sunspot doing his best to hold the whole thing together. The team was unable to stop the Incursions, but was able to rebuild some of their unity before the end of the multiverse.
3) “Dark Reign”
“Dark Reign” was a spectacular era for Marvel, introducing readers to the Dark Avengers. During this time, the two heroic Avengers teams had to deal with constantly being hunted and it hurt their unity. However, even though the Dark Avengers were in charge, they were also constantly on the verge of shattering. Norman Osborn held them together through fear and sheer force of will, but the villains of the team almost came to blows many times. The villains were in charge for the first time and they proved that unity was never their strong suit.
2) Henry Peter Gyrich as Government Liaison to the Avengers
In the ’70s, the Avengers started to balloon, with the team creating one of their biggest rosters ever. The government decided that having a team like the Avengers without any oversight was bad and so imposed a liaison on the group: the taciturn Henry Peter Gyrich. Gyrich immediately told the group they needed to pare their number down and this caused an uproar among the team’s members. While the Avengers stayed together and followed the rules set for them, there was talk of this event destroying them, as members didn’t trust that they could do what needed to be done with Gyrich around.
1) Civil War
This one is a no-brainer. Civil War saw a superhero-caused disaster make the government vote in the Superhero Registration Act, which had been on the table in one form or another for years. We all know what comes next. Captain America and Iron Man came to blows and the various heroes chose sides. Their war was savage and it tore apart the unity of the superhero community. For years, the grudges caused by Civil War affected the heroes, even after the whole situation had been mended and it remains one of those watershed moments in the history of the Marvel Universe.
What do you think? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
Most Viewed
-
Image Courtesy of Marvel -
Image courtesy of Netflix -
Image Courtesy of Netflix -
Courtesy of Netflix -
Image courtesy of Prime Video
