Earth’s Mightiest Heroes: The 20 Greatest Avengers

With the Marvel Cinematic Universe dominating the big screen for almost ten years now, the Avengers have become known - no, more than that, beloved - by the mainstream in a way that they never have before. In terms of worldwide recognition and monetary success, the team truly are Earth's Mightiest Heroes at the moment. While everyone's heard of the likes of Captain America, Iron Man and Thor, who are the greatest Avengers ever? That's no easy question to answer. Since their formation back in September 1963, the Avengers has grown from five founding members to encompass pretty much every single hero to ever raise their head in the Marvel universe. Nevertheless, we've whittled down that cosmos of caped crusaders to bring you the very finest Avengers of all-time. One proviso, though: we'll not be including any heroes who are usually associated with the X-Men, to avoid repeating ourselves from our recent 20 Greatest X-Men Members list. The likes of Beast, Wolverine and Storm have severed on the Avengers' roster from time to time, though, so they do deserve a quick mention here. With that out of the way, join us as we take a look back at the best of the best when it comes to Earth's Mightiest Heroes. 20) Sam Wilson First appearing in 1969, Sam Wilson has the honour of being mainstream comics' first African-American superhero. For years, he served as a loyal member of the team in his guise as Falcon, Steve Rogers' best bud. In 2014, however, Rogers was stripped of his powers and appointed Wilson as his successor to the mantle of Captain America. Since then, Wilson has stepped up to the plate to be a leader of the Avengers. Who knows, we might even be about to see something similar happen in the MCU. 19) Fantastic Four Yes, Marvel's First Family are usually their own superhero unit by themselves but over the years, each of the Four have served on the Avengers as well. In Civil War, for instance, Reed and Sue chose different sides - Mr. Fantastic was on Tony's team while Invisible Woman joined Cap's Secret Avengers. The Thing is the most notable Avengers member of the Four though, as he's served on both the New Avengers and West Coast Avengers. Currently, however, Human Torch is part of the Uncanny Avengers. 18) Doctor Strange Traditionally, Marvel's Sorcerer Supreme has been more of an ally to the Avengers rather than an actual member. He was originally a founding member of the Defenders, after all. In recent years, however, his role on the roster has increased. Most notably, he joined Cap's anti-registration Secret Avengers in Civil War and even let them use his Sanctum Sanctorum as their HQ. After that, he was an on-again, off-again New Avenger. Stephen Strange will no doubt become a member of the team in the movies as well, with the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War. 17) Quicksilver As the son of Magneto, Quicksilver has had a chequered past to say the least - he started out on his father's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and later played a key role in the destructive "House of M" saga. Still, Pietro Maximoff has also fought the good fight for a great number of years to make up for his sins. Though he is a mutant (well, most of the time), and has served on the X-Men roster on occasion, he's probably most familiar as one of the Avengers. Not that you'd know it from the movies' depiction of the character, though. 16) Spider-Woman Don't let the name fool you, the private eye known as Jessica Drew is no sidekick to Spider-Man but a kickass hero in her own right. She wasn't initially a big dealm but writer Brian Michael Bendis took the character under his wing and made her a major comics presence, in particular having her join the New Avengers and acting as an agent of S.W.O.R.D. (the alien-busting counterpart to S.H.I.E.L.D.). Currently, she's jugging her superheroism while raising her superpowered son Gerry. 15) She-Hulk Likewise, Jennifer Walters might have been born out of Marvel's attempt to copyright the name 'She-Hulk' before anyone else ripped off the Incredible Hulk, but she's grown into a fan-favourite character in her own right. Unlike her cousin Bruce Banner, Jennifer elects to stay in her green form and retains her human faculties. As well as continuing her career as a lawyer, She-Hulk has been a frequent on-off again member of the Avengers. Plus, she led A-Force, the all-female spinoff team. 14) Luke Cage He might be about to form the Defenders on Netflix, but in the comic book world, Luke Cage AKA Power Man has graduated into a trusty Avengers member in recent years as he's served on various versions of the team. In fact, Cage often takes leadership of the rosters he's part of. For instance, he stepped up and took charge of the New Avengers after the assassination of Captain America and was a founding member of the renewed Mighty Avengers. 13) Ant-Man There've been three heroes to take on the mantle of Ant-Man over the years, but the most significant has to be Hank Pym. With his size-reducing Pym Particle, Ant-Man was one of Marvel's earliest heroes and most notably is one of the founding members of the Avengers. Unfortunately, in later years his heroism has been overshadowed by the controversial storyline that saw him physically abuse his wife, Janet. This is probably why Pym's successor, Scott Lang, is the active Ant-Man used in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 12) Wasp As the only female founding member of the team, Janet Van Dyne's importance to the Avengers cannot be overstated. She's even the one who came up with the group's name! Like her long-term romantic and crime-fighting partner, Wasp can shrink down in size but also has the added ability of flight. She's faced a lot of strife over the years - both in her domestic and superhero life - but you can't keep her down for long. Janet is bound to appear in the upcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp as well, though her daughter Hope will take up her superhero identity there. 11) Vision Created by Ultron, Vision was meant to destroy the Avengers but he soon turned to the good side and joined the team instead. With his laser vision, near-invulnerability, phasing abilities and flight, Vision is among the most powerful of the Avengers and has been integral to the protection of the world on many an occasion. Despite being an android, he is capable of emotions. Most notably, he's part of one of the most tumultuous romances in all of comics with Scarlet Witch. Speaking of whom... 10) Scarlet Witch Forget what we just said about Vision, Scarlet Witch's knack for manipulating probability means she's one of the most powerful Avengers. Despite her long tenure on the team, however, Wanda Maximoff is probably most remembered for the times she's lost control and suffered a mental breakdown. For instance, the "Avengers: Disassembled" storyline - which saw Wanda brutally tear her husband Vision in half - or the "House of M," in which Wanda brought mutantkind to extinction simply by saying the words "no more mutants." 9) Black Panther On the surface, Black Panther might seem like Marvel's version of Batman, but he's actually so much more. Pretty much the first ever black superhero, the character goes all the way back to 1966. He's also one of the few heroes to be badass in both his superhero and everyday identities. Out of costume, Panther is T'Challa, king of the African nation of Wakanda. With enhanced strength, agility and senses though, Black Panther has been a valued member of the Avengers for decades now. He's even about to get his own solo movie in 2018, where he'll be played by Chadwick Boseman. 8) Spider-Man Traditionally, Marvel's jewel in the crown, Spider-Man, has a long history of almost joining the Avengers but never officially becoming a member. In more recent years, however, events have led to Spidey properly signing up for the team's roster. He allied himself with both Tony and Steve's sides in Civil War and later was a founding member of the New Avengers in its wake. Peter has even found himself leading the Avengers on occasion. Not to mention that he's finally allying himself with Earth's Mightiest Heroes on the big screen now in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 7) Black Widow Originally an Iron Man enemy when she first appeared in 1964, Russian spy Natasha Romanoff AKA Black Widow later defected to the USA and joined S.H.I.E.L.D., eventually seeking membership on the team. What makes Natasha such a valuable team member is her incredible espionage abilities and world-class martial arts and gymnastic expertise. Sometimes, she's also been enhanced by biotechnology that decreases her aging and increases her healing rate. Nowadays, the character is one of the biggest Marvel names around, thanks to Scarlet Johansson. 6) Hawkeye Black Widow's criminal henchman - and former lover - Clint Barton AKA Hawkeye also made the switch to the good side and became, as he put it, a "straight shooter." Hawkeye quickly redeemed himself by becoming a valued team player, with his pin-point accuracy and quiver full of trick arrows proving surprisingly useful. On some occasions over the years, Barton has even ditched his bow and arrow and taken on some different superhero identities - most notably, the giant-sized Goliath and the katana-wielding Ronin. 5) Captain Marvel The original Captain Marvel, the Kree hero Mar-Vell, also deserves a mention, but this entry is actually for his successor, Carol Danvers. Once an Air Force pilot, Danvers is infused with Kree genes, which gives her an impressive array of powers - including super-strength, flight and energy blasts. For years, the character was simply known as Ms. Marvel but, in 2012, got a promotion and started going by the moniker Captain. Danvers will be shortly introduced to the movie-going audience in her 2018 solo film, where she'll be played by Brie Larson. 4) The Hulk The Incredible Hulk has the distinction of being the very reason the Avengers originally came together - as he was manipulated by Loki into wreaking havoc. However, he soon joined the other heroes and helped found the team. Despite his co-founder status, though, Hulk separated from the group for a long while after the 1960s and became most associated with the Defenders instead. He only recently joined the Avengers once again, in line with the movie version of the character. In current comics though, Bruce Banner is dead and his old pal Amadeus Cho has become the new Hulk. 3) Thor Most of the heroes on this list have fallen out with the team on occasion, but the God of Thunder has pretty much always been a rock for the Avengers and will pop down to Midgard whenever he's needed - assuming he's not dead at the time, as can happen. With his might and otherworldly wisdom, Thor's one of the Avenger's core Big Three. Like most of the founding Avengers at the moment, the son of Odin isn't in active duty - as he's currently not deemed worthy enough to be Thor due to hearing a tragic secret - but his old lady love Jane Foster has taken up Mjolnir instead. 2) Iron Man Without Tony Stark, the Avengers might not even be the organization they are today, as the billionaire genius has invested a lot into the team over the years, including giving them their mansion and various inventions such as Quinjets. Iron Man has had his slip-ups over the years - let's face it, he was on the wrong side in Civil War and his time as the evil Superior Iron Man was a dark period for the character - but ol' Shellhead is still one of the truest heroes the team has. Right now, Stark is in a coma, but an A.I. version of him is acting as JARVIS to his protege Riri Williams AKA Iron Heart. 1) Captain America Who else could it be at number one? Steve Rogers might not have actually been a founding member of the Avengers - he first joined them in Avengers #4 - but no other hero personifies the team quite as much. The World War II hero who reawakened decades later is the Avengers's one true leader, and that's all there is to it. Currently, Cap might be brainwashed by HYDRA and, er, kind of evil, but you can bet that Steve Rogers' rock-solid core will reassert itself again in the near future.