5 Marvel Superhero Teams Everyone Has Forgotten About

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Marvel Comics is famous for its many superhero teams. It all began with the Fantastic Four, the first comic published under the Marvel name. The company quickly brought its most popular heroes together to form the Avengers, and soon after, the X-Men debuted. Readers loved these team-based comics, often even more than individual hero stories. Other teams like the Defenders emerged, and today, Marvel has more teams than ever, including many spin-offs of the Avengers and X-Men, and even groups made up entirely of teen heroes.

While many Marvel superhero teams have come and gone, not all of them stuck with fans, and some truly excellent groups have faded into obscurity over time.

5) The Champions of Los Angeles

Many Marvel fans are familiar with the Champions. But the team most people picture – the one with heroes like Ms. Marvel, Miles Morales, Nova, and Ironheart – isn’t the original. The very first Champions team was quite different – a far cry from a group of teenagers.

As a comic book and movie fan, I always find it fascinating to look back at teams that almost made it big. There was this group called The Champions – officially, ‘The Champions of Los Angeles’ – and they were seriously powerful. We’re talking Hercules, a literal god, alongside Ghost Rider, a demon with a motorcycle, Black Widow, who’d already been an Avenger, and Angel, one of the original X-Men. This wasn’t some kid superhero squad; these were established heroes. They even had their own comic series back in 1975, but sadly, it only lasted 17 issues. It felt like they could have been something really unique, a bit like a darker, grittier version of the Defenders, but it just never caught on enough to keep the book going. It’s a shame, really – a lot of potential left on the table.

4) Agents of Atlas

The Agents of Atlas are a team created by the Atlas Foundation, a once-secretive organization originally focused on world domination. The Foundation later shifted its goals to positively influence humanity under new leadership. That leader is Jimmy Woo, a familiar face to many Marvel Cinematic Universe fans from his appearances in WandaVision and the Ant-Man films. Interestingly, in the original comics, Woo wasn’t a super-hero; he was a highly respected FBI agent in the 1950s who later worked with SHIELD before discovering his destiny as the leader of the Agents of Atlas.

The team originally included members like Namora and Gorilla-Man. Years later, Woo was critically injured and nearly died as an older man, but was eventually saved and rejuvenated. He then brought the Agents of Atlas back together, this time with heroes like Brawn, Aero, Shang-Chi, Silk, and a diverse group of other mostly Asian characters.

3) A-Force

A-Force was Marvel’s attempt to create an all-female superhero team for exciting adventures, but the series didn’t continue for long. The team originated from another universe (Earth-16191) thanks to the hero Singularity. After meeting Captain Marvel, Singularity came to Earth-616 and teamed up with She-Hulk to form the group.

The team grew to include characters like Queen Medusa, Nico Minoru, Dazzler, Captain Marvel, and Thor (Jane Foster). Despite this, the comic book only lasted 10 issues, and the team disbanded after six months.

2) Power Pack

Power Pack is a relatively obscure Marvel team with a long history. They tend to reappear for limited-time events, like a 2021 series featuring Wolverine, but rarely connect to the larger Marvel universe. While they had a new series in 2024, most of their appearances are short, self-contained stories.

As a long-time comic fan, I remember when Power Pack showed up in 1984. Marvel was clearly aiming for a younger audience with their own series, and surprisingly, it lasted a good 62 issues – longer than some other teams from that era, like The Champions! But honestly, for a team that’s been around for over 40 years, they’ve mostly played supporting roles, often hanging out with the Fantastic Four and helping Franklin Richards. It’s kind of wild when you look at the numbers: they’ve only been in about 109 comics total, and more than half of those – 62 issues – were from that original run.

1) X-Statix

X-Statix is a famously divisive and often funny team that branched out from the X-Men. What makes them different – and sometimes controversial – is that they weren’t formed to be heroes, but to earn money through sponsorships. The team came together after the world believed X-Force had perished while saving the planet. A businessman named Spike Freeman created X-Statix and hired a leader, known as Coach, to manage the team.

Coach and Freeman weren’t heroes; they were just as ruthless as the bad guys. They even deliberately let their original team fail, hoping to create a more appealing new lineup and boost profits. X-Statix first appeared in X-Force #116 in 2001, but their comic series only lasted 26 issues.

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2026-01-07 19:14