Every Original Avenger, Ranked By Their Rogues Galleries

by

The Avengers were groundbreaking when they first united, becoming a powerful force thanks to the combined strengths of its members. However, each Avenger is still an individual hero with a distinct set of enemies. Marvel is known for its incredible villains, which raises an interesting question: among the original Avengers, who faces the most compelling group of supervillains?

A hero is often judged by the strength of their enemies, and some villains are definitely more impressive than others. While every Avenger is a great hero, the challenges they face vary quite a bit. Ant-Man’s villains, for example, aren’t on the same level as those fought by Captain America or Thor. Let’s take a look at the original Avengers team and compare the quality of their respective villains.

5. Ant-Man/Wasp

It feels a little odd grouping Hank and Janet together, but since married couples often share things, why not their supervillain foes too? Honestly, of all the original Avengers, these two have faced some pretty weak villains. Sure, Ultron is a fantastic villain, but the rest – Whirlwind, Porcupine, Black Knight, and Egghead – are a bit of a joke. Luckily, being Avengers gives them opportunities to fight truly compelling antagonists.

4. Iron Man

Iron Man, as a brilliant figure in the Marvel Universe, constantly faces enemies. He has a colorful cast of villains – including The Mandarin, Madame Masque, and Justin Hammer – and many others who build their own armored suits to fight him, like the Crimson Dynamo and Titanium Man. While Tony Stark has a lot of interesting foes, they rarely feel like genuinely dangerous threats. They can put up a good fight for a while, but overall, his villains aren’t as powerful as those faced by some other heroes (though they’re still better than many!).

3. Thor

I don’t usually enjoy fantasy, but even I recognize that the Thor movies have some truly great villains. Loki is fantastic, and characters like Hela, Malekith, the Enchantress, and especially Gorr, make for a really strong group of adversaries – arguably one of the best among the original Avengers. While the villains Thor does have are impressive, I think the movies could be even better with just one or two more truly exceptional foes. Still, it’s a very solid collection of villains overall.

2. Captain America

Even though Captain America wasn’t in the very first issue of The Avengers, he joined pretty quickly, so I definitely want to include him. And I have to talk about his enemies! Guys like Red Skull, Arnim Zola, Baron Strucker, Baron Zemo, and Crossbones aren’t just tough – they’re major threats to the entire Marvel Universe, capable of leading armies and causing widespread destruction. While Captain America’s villains might not be the most powerful, a lot of them are incredibly smart and come up with plans that put the whole world at risk.

1. Hulk

I’ve always been a huge Hulk fan, and honestly, I think he has the best villains of any of the original Avengers. Seriously, look at the rogues gallery – The Leader, Abomination, General Ross, Maestro! They’re either geniuses, incredibly powerful, or, even worse, both. People worry about Hulk losing control, but his enemies are genuinely terrifying threats. Whenever one of them appears, you just know things are about to get crazy, and you have no idea what will be left after the dust settles.

https://comicbook.com/comics/list/every-original-avenger-ranked-by-power/embed/#

Read More

2025-12-09 00:11