Avengers

The Avengers are a fictional team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 (cover-dated Sept. 1963), created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby. Labeled "Earth's Mightiest Heroes", the Avengers originally consisted of Iron Man, the Wasp, the Hulk, Thor, and Hank Pym. The original Captain America was discovered trapped in ice in issue #4, and joined the group after they revived him.

The Avengers could be considered as a Lee and Kirby's renovation of a previous superhero team, All-Winners Squad, who appeared in comic books series published by Marvel Comics' predecessor Timely Comics. A rotating roster became a hallmark of the series, although one theme remained consistent: the Avengers fight "the foes no single superhero can withstand." The team, famous for its battle cry of "Avengers Assemble!", has featured humans, superhumans, mutants, Inhumans, deities, androids, aliens, legendary beings, and even former villains.

The Avengers have appeared in a wide variety of media outside of comic books, including several different animated television series and direct-to-video films. The Avengers also play a central role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) being the focus in multiple MCU feature films, beginning with the eponymous 2012 live-action film, The Avengers, and followed by the sequels Age of Ultron (2015), Infinity War (2018), and Endgame (2019), the latter two of which were based on The Infinity Gauntlet storyline. The Avengers also featured in Captain America: Civil War (2016), which drew loosely from the 2006 comics storyline "Civil War". Individual members of the team also have standalone franchises, such as Iron Man, Thor, Captain America or Ant-Man.

Founders
All of these members helped form the team in The Avengers #1 (September 11, 1963).

West Coast Avengers recruits (1984–1987)
Avengers members recruited by Hawkeye as the West Coast Avengers chair.

New Avengers recruits (2005)
The New Avengers were formed due to a mass break-out at the super villain prison The Raft.

Post-Civil War recruits (2007–2009)
The New Avengers became a splinter group that chose not to comply with federal superhuman registration, as opposed to the governmental-sanctioned team presented in Mighty Avengers then Dark Avengers. The Mighty Avengers after the Dark Avengers launch was an international agency sanctioned team.

Heroic Age recruits (2010–2011)
Characters who have officially joined the Avengers after the events of Dark Reign and Siege.

Shattered Heroes recruits (2011–2012)
After the Fear Itself event, the lineup of the Avengers teams was shifted by Captain America during the Shattered Heroes storyline.

Marvel NOW! recruits (2012–2013)
After the Avengers vs. X-Men event, members from both Avengers and X-Men teams were shifted by Captain America during the Marvel NOW! storyline.

Infinity recruits (2013–2014)
Characters that joined the team during the Infinity event.

Iago PUC

 * The Avengers are central characters in Marvel: All New, All Different Chronicles. Founding members consist of Captain America, Captain Marvel, Iron Man, Black Panther, Thor, and Hulk. As time went by, there came expanded members, consisting of Black Widow, Ronin, Aamir the Phantom Tiger, Redhawk and her pet sidekick Maverick, Ant-Man, Rescue, Wasp, and Crystal and her companion Lockjaw.
 * The Avengers are major supporting characters in Marvel's Spider-Man: Webbed Champion.
 * The Avengers appear as playable characters in Marvel's The Avenging Spider-Man. The group consists of Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow, Captain Marvel, Ant-Man, Hawkeye and Hulk, with Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson (as Firestar) joining them as well.