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.

Honorary
Heroes that have been granted honorary status during their lifetime or posthumously for acts of great courage and/or sacrifice.

Guardians of the Galaxy (1978)
A group of superheroes from the 31st century, the Guardians of the Galaxy time traveled to the 20th century in vol. 1 #168 (February 1978) and served as honorary members during the Korvac saga.

Young Avengers
A group of teenage heroes modeled after the Avengers, the surviving Young Avengers were awarded honorary membership following the "Children's Crusade" storyline.

Avengers Third Grade
The Avengers promoted several senior Academy students to "Avengers Third Grade", as part of a plan to eventually award them full Avengers membership.

Not officially sanctioned Avengers teams
According to "Empyre Handbook (2020) #1", the following groups, while either affiliated with the Avengers or even using the Avengers name, are not officially sanctioned Avenger franchises and their members do not hold Avengers membership: "Avengers Idea Mechanics", Ultimates (Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers-led), "A-Force", "Occupy Avengers", "U.S.Avengers", West Coast Avengers (Hawkeye/Kate Bishop-led), Savage Avengers".

Avengers Idea Mechanics (2015)
A team created during the Time Runs Out storyline which takes place eight months in the future. Sunspot reveals that he bought A.I.M and used their resources to investigate the incursions.

After the All-New All-Different rebrand, Sunspot took control of A.I.M., and changed the name to Avengers Idea Mechanics.

Ultimates (2015)
An ultimate super team, solving the ultimate problems.

A-Force (2016)
First appearing as part of an alternate universe during "Secret Wars", featuring Marvel's first all-female team of Avengers, but later reemerged in Marvel's primary continuity.

Occupy Avengers (2016)
After Civil War II, Clint Barton (Hawkeye) starts traveling the country and focuses his efforts towards helping the underprivileged with community based problems in an effort to redeem his actions from the event, beginning with the water supply in Santa Rosa. He eventually gains the aid of Red Wolf to help him fight for those who cannot defend themselves

U.S.Avengers (2017)
When Advanced Idea Mechanics merged with the U.S. military to form American Intelligence Mechanics, Sunspot, under the alias of Citizen V, formed the U.S.Avengers, a traditionally patriotic-themed team of unsanctioned Avengers.

New West Coast Avengers (2018)
A team founded by Clint Barton and his successor Kate Bishop that decided to revive the West Coast Avengers following an attack by land sharks in Santa Monica.

Savage Avengers (2019)
A group of antiheroes that must work together when the evil wizards of Conan's world start trading spells with the Hand in Japan.

Fury's Black Ops Initiative (2011)
As revealed in New Avengers #10 (March 2011).

Great Lakes Avengers (1989)
A group of heroes independently formed their own branch of Avengers, as Great Lakes Avengers, in West Coast Avengers vol. 2 #46 (July 1989), with no official status. Later known as the Lightning Rods (after the Thunderbolts during Heroes Reborn), they eventually switched their name back. In the GLA Misassembled miniseries, the team was contacted by the Maria Stark Foundation and forced to change their name. They chose the Great Lakes X-Men. In The Thing #8, they changed their name again to the Great Lakes Champions. Since the Civil War, the team has been known as the Great Lakes Initiative. In the new ongoing Great Lakes Avengers series, the team was made official members of the Avengers due to a legal technicality. A few issues later, their membership was revoked.

Avengers Resistance (2009)
Justice and other former members of the New Warriors eventually left The Initiative to form Counter Force, with the purpose of ensuring that The Initiative stayed true to their goal of training new and undeveloped superhumans. After Camp Hammond was shut down, Tigra and Gauntlet joined the New Warriors who had left the Initiative, and they formed the Avengers Resistance, with the specific purpose of exposing the criminal deeds of Norman Osborn.

Astonishing Avengers (2014)
During the AXIS storyline, Magneto assembles an unnamed group consisting of Absorbing Man, Carnage, Deadpool, Doctor Doom, Enchantress, Hobgoblin, Jack O'Lantern V, Loki, Mystique and Sabretooth to combat the Red Skull. When the Red Skull was defeated, the villains went their separate ways, but were inverted due to the spell cast by Scarlet Witch and Doctor Doom. The inverted villains were reassembled by Steve Rogers when he noticed something was wrong with the Avengers and X-Men to assemble an effective resistance against the heroes after the other Avengers - with the exception of Spider-Man and Nova - were captured, naming the new team the Astonishing Avengers. During the subsequent fight, Carnage sacrifices himself to prevent the inverted X-Men detonating a 'gene bomb' that would have killed every non-mutant in the blast radius, with the fight concluding with the rest of the 'Astonishing Avengers' - with the exception of Sabretooth, who was protected by a shield generated by Iron Man - being returned to normal. However, the team left a video message claiming responsibility for the heroes' actions while corrupted before they returned to their own villainous ways, identifying themselves as the 'Axis of Evil', allowing the Avengers and X-Men to rebuild their reputations.

Doom's Avengers (2014)
During the AXIS storyline whilst inverted Doctor Doom tasked Valeria Richards with assembling available heroes to fight the inverted Scarlet Witch, this team consisted of Valkyrie, U.S. Agent, 3-D Man, Stingray and Elsa Bloodstone.

Hydra's Avengers (2017)
During the Secret Empire storyline, the Hydra regime has their own Avengers, consisting of Odinson, Deadpool, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Taskmaster, Black Ant and Superior Octopus as their leader. However, Odinson only served on this team because he was psychologically broken due to his current state of unworthiness prompting him to side with Rogers after his old ally still proved capable of lifting his hammer, while Scarlet Witch was possessed by Chthon and the Vision was being controlled by an A.I. Virus placed in him by Arnim Zola. In the final stand, Odinson returned to his old allies as he recognized that Rogers had gone too far, while the Vision's daughter Viv and Brother Voodoo restored the Vision and the Witch to normal respectively. While Deadpool defected, Taskmaster and Black Ant turning against Hydra in exchange for future amnesty.

Avengers of 1,000,000 B.C. (2017)
A group of powerful warriors drawn together to stop a crazy Celestial. Its members included Odin, Agamotto, the first Black Panther, the first Ghost Rider, Fan Fei the first Iron Fist, Vnn the first human Star Brand and Lady Phoenix.

Cosmic Avengers (2018-2019)
The Cosmic Avengers were formed by Loki to stop Gamora from destroying the universe. He chose the members who he thought would be able to uniquely wield an Infinity Stone. Alongside Loki its members include Adam Warlock, Ant-Man, Emma Frost, Hulk, Kang the Conqueror and Ms. Marvel.

War Avengers (2019)
The War Avengers was led by Captain Marvel to protect Earth during the War of the Realms. Its members alongside Captain Marvel include Deadpool, Lady Sif, Weapon H, Winter Soldier, a clone of Black Widow, Captain Britain and Venom.

Avengers World, Blue Marvel-led (2019)
During the blackouts caused by Nyx, this team was in communication with Black Panther, who lead the main Avengers team against a vampire threat. Lead by Blue Marvel, this Avengers team formed by Miss America, Living Lightning, Iron Patriot, Enigma, Wasp, Gomi and his cybernetically enhanced psychic lobster Bill, helped him to be everywhere at once in order to quell global panic, restore power to the world and preventing global tensions from erupting into a Third World War.

Marvel Cinematic Universe
This is a version of the team that exists on Earth-199999 of the Marvel Multiverse. This team is seemingly disbanded as of the in-universe year 2023.

Civil War (2016)
During the events of Civil War, the Avengers were divided into one group favoring and one group opposing the Sokovia Accords, a document which would give the United Nations control over when and how the Avengers operated.

Thor and Hulk do not participate due to being off-world in Thor: Ragnarok during the events of Civil War.

The Anti-Accords team is later arrested and sent to the Raft Prison, with Hawkeye and Ant-Man later receiving house arrest.

Infinity War and Endgame (2018-2023)
The following joined the team during Avengers: Infinity War or Avengers: Endgame.

During Endgame, many unnamed Wakandan Soldiers and Kamar-Taj Mages assisted the Avengers during the final battle, though it is unknown if they officially hold Avenger status.

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, and its follow-up sequel film A Marvel Christmas Carol. The group consists of Captain America, Iron Man, Black Widow, Captain Marvel, Thor, Hulk, Hawkeye, Black Panther, Ant-Man / Scott Lang, and Wasp / Hope Van Dyne. Ms. Marvel (believed to be a official member in "School of Hard Knocks") is revealed in "City of Heroes, Part 4: More Than Human" to be a trainee.
 * 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.