7 Best Avengers Teams (Who Aren’t the Originals), Ranked

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The Avengers are incredibly popular, largely due to their success in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While comic book sales haven’t always been strong, the team has always been Earth’s primary defense. They bring together the best heroes to fight the biggest villains. But in a dangerous world like the one depicted in the comics, having multiple Avengers teams is even more effective. Like the X-Men before them, expanding the Avengers beyond a single team has been a smart move. Over the years, several distinct Avengers teams have formed, each with unique missions that the original team wasn’t always suited for.

Over the years, several Avengers teams have formed, often with surprising members – heroes and villains you wouldn’t typically expect alongside Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. While each team has its own unique abilities, some have been more successful than others. Here are seven of the best Avengers teams, excluding the original lineup, that have truly lived up to the team’s legendary reputation.

7) West Coast Avengers/Avengers West Coast

The West Coast Avengers haven’t had much luck in recent years, with two attempts to relaunch the team falling flat. But that doesn’t diminish the quality of their original adventures! Started by Hawkeye and Mockingbird as a way to protect the West Coast, the team eventually included popular heroes like Iron Man, Wonder Man, Wasp, Scarlet Witch, Vision, and Hank Pym. It was actually War Machine’s first experience as an Avenger, and the series delivered many memorable stories. Hopefully Marvel will revive the team successfully someday, but even if they don’t, we’ll always have those fantastic classic runs.

6) Secret Avengers

The Secret Avengers are the X-Force of the Avengers, the secret black ops team that takes on the dirtiest missions. The group was first brought together by Commander Steve Rogers during his tenure as Director of SHIELD and consisted of Nova, Black Widow, War Machine, Beast, Ant-Man III, Valkyrie, and Moon Knight. Down the road, heroes like Hawkeye, Captain Britain, Agent Venom, Thor, Vision, Captain Marvel I, and Carol Danvers as Ms. Marvel would join as well. The group was an interesting subversion on the common Avengers team and it’s a shame that Marvel hasn’t found a way to make it work long term.

2) Dark Avengers

The “Dark Reign” storyline was a thrilling period for Marvel, largely thanks to the compelling Dark Avengers team. Created by Norman Osborn – who became director of SHIELD after defeating the Skrull Empress in Secret Invasion – the team was comprised of villains. Osborn repurposed members of his former Thunderbolts squad – like Bullseye, Venom, and Moonstone – and added new recruits such as Daken and Noh-Varr. They posed as popular heroes like Hawkeye, Spider-Man, Ms. Marvel, Wolverine, and Captain Marvel, alongside the existing members Sentry and Ares. Osborn himself became the Iron Patriot, using advanced Stark technology and stepping into the leadership role previously held by Captain America and Iron Man. Seeing these villains attempt to be heroes – while constantly fighting amongst themselves for power – offered a fresh and exciting experience for Avengers readers, delivering stories unlike anything they’d seen before.

4) New Avengers

After a strong run by Kurt Busiek, the Avengers franchise had lost some momentum, but the ‘New Avengers’ brought excitement back to the series. It’s no secret that the Avengers were originally designed to be Marvel’s version of the Justice League, and assembling a team of its most popular characters was a smart move. This new lineup featured core Avengers like Captain America and Iron Man, alongside fan favorites Spider-Man and Wolverine, rounded out by lesser-known heroes with promise. This combination proved incredibly popular and led to many memorable stories. While not every storyline was a hit – some fans find the Brian Michael Bendis era particularly slow – the core idea behind the team remains strong and has lasting appeal.

3) Avengers Unity Squad

Look, the Avengers have had mutants on the team, but let’s be real – they haven’t exactly been champions of mutant rights. That really blew up in Avengers vs. X-Men, and Captain America realized something needed to change. That’s how we got the Avengers Unity Squad – a genuinely cool idea! It brought together heroes from both sides, like Cap, Thor, Wolverine, Scarlet Witch, and a few others, and they faced off against some serious threats – Red Skull and those crazy Apocalypse Twins. They really built a legend with that first lineup. Honestly, every version since then hasn’t quite lived up to it – I’m looking at you, recent teams written by Duggan – but the concept is still brilliant, and I think with the right team, it could be amazing again.

2) The Illuminati

The Illuminati originally formed after the Kree-Skrull War, when Iron Man brought together Reed Richards, Doctor Strange, Professor X, and Black Bolt. They decided to secretly tackle problems too sensitive to address publicly. When the Incursions began, a new version of the group assembled, with Beast taking Professor X’s place and Captain America and Black Panther joining. They successfully stopped the first Incursion, which required them to destroy the Infinity Gauntlet, and they had to erase Captain America’s memory because he disagreed with their extreme methods and the need for secrecy. This second team struggled to save the universe without causing widespread destruction, and while they didn’t entirely succeed (though they avoided massive genocide), their efforts led to some incredible stories.

1) The Avengers Machine

Jonathan Hickman’s work on the Avengers reimagined the team’s structure. Recognizing the original Avengers needed improvement, Captain America and Iron Man developed the Avengers Machine – a system for assembling the most powerful heroes across the Marvel Universe. This allowed for a massive, incredibly strong Avengers team that could operate as a single unit or break down into smaller, specialized squads. This new approach fundamentally changed how the Avengers functioned, creating a nearly unbeatable superhuman force.

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2026-06-16 16:16