The 5 Most Powerful Avengers Roster, Ranked By Powers

The Avengers brought together Marvel’s Silver Age stars to create a team that would earn the name “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes”. Over the years, a litany of the publisher’s greatest heroes have become members of the team. A big part of the group’s lore over the decades have been the times when the team changed. These roster shake-ups have become some of the most memorable times in the team’s existence, as the members of the group often dictate how the team is going to work. Some Avengers teams are balanced, some of them are weaker, but there are some that are basically power incarnate, groups of heroes that can handle anything thrown at them.

The Avengers battle Marvel’s most powerful villains and deal with threats that any other team on Earth would need assistance with. While the power level of the various teams to wear the big A doesn’t dictate whether their comics are good or not, it does change what kinds of foes they face. These five Avengers teams are the most powerful in the team’s history, facing off against threats that would destroy lesser groups.

5) The Busiek/Perez Team

The ’90s weren’t a great time to be an Avengers fan. The ’90s were the X-Men’s decade, and the Avengers got left in the dust. After the failure of “The Crossing” and Heroes Reborn, Marvel put Kurt Busiek and George Perez on Avengers, and it paid dividends. The creative team gave readers a rather powerful group of Avengers. Captain America, was the leader with Thor and Iron Man making up the core of the group. Mainstays like Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, Wonder Man, Ms. Marvel/Warbird/Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers went by Warbird at the time) and the Vision all joined up, with newbies like Firestar, Justice, and Triathlon rounding the group out. This was a classic power line-up, with a good variety of mega powerful members like Thor, Scarlet Witch, and Wonder Man, the best tech hero in comics in Iron Man, and a bunch of skilled and potent heroes. After reading the Avengers classic “Ultron Unlimited”, you’ll understand just how powerful this team is.

4) The Roger Stern/John Buscema Team

Now, I know what you’re thinking. That picture doesn’t look like one of the most powerful Avengers teams ever, and you’d be right. However, there weren’t many covers with the whole team from this entry. The Roger Stern/John Bucema years on Avengers introduced readers to a massive team and many of the group’s best stories came from their ’80s run. The roster consisted of Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Hercules, Namor, Captain Marvel II, She-Hulk, Black Knight, Wasp, Doctor Druid, Hank Pym, and Hawkeye (I might be forgetting a few). That’s a stacked team. Thor, Hercules, and Namor are three of Marvel’s strongest heroes, and She-Hulk was a member. Iron Man and Pym were perfect for the tech end, and Captain Marvel II had complete control over energy, making her a ridiculously powerful hero. There were few enemies out there who could deal with this team, and it made for some excellent Avengers stories.

3) The Roy Thomas Team

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the Avengers, but it was writer Roy Thomas, along with artists like John Buscema, Sal Buscema, Neal Adams, and others who made them into superstars. Thomas’s Avengers team became the blueprint for every team that came after. The group boasted Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, the Vision, Hank Pym, the Wasp, Hawkeye, Black Panther, Wonder Man and several other Avengers stalwarts at times, like Hercules, Swordsman, and more. It was a team that could handle just about anything, boasting a good mix of dizzying power and great skill. It had everything and the kitchen sink, and is the team that truly defined what the Avengers could be.

2) The Jason Aaron Team

Jason Aaron took over as writer of Avengers in 2018, for a long run that isn’t exactly a favorite of all the fans. However, it’s impossible to deny how powerful his team was. The group was an MCU fan’s dream (it’s a shame none of them actually read the book; it got rounced by the Scott Snyder Justice League reboot it was meant to compete with) with Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Captain Marvel, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Ghost Rider, and She-Hulk all joining up. Namor would join the group after fighting them and Blade would also become a member. Echo gained the power of the Phoenix Force and joined up, as did a new Starbrand, a young girl given the power of Earth’s cosmic defense system. This is a ridiculously powerful line-up of Avengers, with several all-powerful members and numerous powerhouses.

1) The Hickman Team

Writer Jonathan Hickman’s run on the Avengers was perfect, and it introduced readers to the most powerful Avengers team of all time. It was called the “Avengers Machine” and it was created by Captain America and Iron Man to deal with any threat out there. The team consisted of Cap, Iron Man, Thor, Wolverine, Hulk, Black Widow, Captain Marvel, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Cannonball, Sunspot, Hawkeye, Smasher, Manifold, Hyperion, and Captain Universe. This team had it all; it had powerful heroes like Captain Universe, Manifold, Hulk, Thor, Hyperion, and Captain Marvel, mid level heroes like Sunspot, Iron Man, the Spiders, and Smasher, and tough as nails fighters like Cap, Wolverine, Hawkeye, and Black Widow. There was nothing this team couldn’t face, and that’s before we get to members like Nightmask, Starbrand, Ex Nihilo, and Abyss, who would all become back-up members of the team.

What do you think is the most powerful Avengers roster? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!

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