Who Are The Real Revengers?

On Thursday night, Marvel Studios released an action-packed TV spot for the upcoming blockbuster, Thor: Ragnarok. Just before the trailer came to a close, Thor tried to impress Valkyrie by telling her he was putting a new team together. When asked what the name of his new team was, Thor fumbled his words before landing on “The Revengers.”

Yeah, the God of Thunder seemed to get a little nervous around his new acquaintance, and he just said the first thing that came to his mind.

While it may have just seemed like a funny spot of dialogue to slide into the movie, die-hard Marvel comic fans will probably recognize The Revengers name. That’s right, The Revengers were a real thing in the source material.

In fact, they have a lot more relevance in the current MCU than you might think.

The Real Team

The Revengers were created back in 2011 during the New Avengers comics. Simon Williams, AKA Wonder Man, started the team when he felt like the real Avengers were doing more harm than good.

While the team was formidable, it wasn’t made up of many characters that casual fans will recognize.

Wonder Man recruited D-Man, Goliath, Century, Anti-Venom, Virtue, Captain Ultra, Atlas, and Devil-Slayer to be a part of the group.

Unfortunately, the Revengers didn’t last very long, as their last appearance was only four months after their first.

How They Tie Into the MCU

While these real Revengers probably won’t appear in the MCU, as none of them have to this point, their story is very similar to what’s happening in the films right now.

Wonder Man informed these heroes of the shortcomings and failings of the Avengers team, and he convinced them to help him bring a stop to it.

This theme is very present in the MCU, as it caused the civil war between Captain America and Iron Man. The government currently believes that the Avengers are actually a threat when uncontrolled. 

The Revengers could represent an answer to the world’s issue with the Avengers, but this joke from the Ragnarok trailer makes it sound like the actual team won’t be appearing any time soon.

Thor: Ragnarok Connections

Thor was never a part of the Revengers team, nor was Hulk, but the name drop made in the trailer could actually be a reference to one of those characters from the comics.

If you recall, Planet Hulk begins with Hulk getting exiled to space by Tony Stark and the Illuminati, where he ends up crashing on Sakaar. Outraged with the people he thought were his friends, Hulk won the tournament, created a team of warriors, conquered the planet, and returned to Earth to face his former allies.

This began “World War Hulk” storyline where Hulk came back to Earth and tried to take it from the Avengers, exacting revenge for what they did to him. 

With Infinity War looming, Thor and Hulk probably won’t go to Earth to fight the Avengers, but this was a nice nod to multiple different Marvel comic arcs.