The 7 Best Avengers of All Time

Among the first posts on the Nerds on Earth website were lists of our ideal X-men teams.  You can read about those teams here (Jason’s, Clave’s, Adkins’) and tell us how awesome (or dumb) our teams are.  Recently, we decided to turn our gaze towards Earth’s Mightest Heros and each submit our best 7 person Avengers team. Who are the best Avengers of all time?

 

 

Captain America

So, 7 Avengers?  A tough task.  Just looking up the list of who all have been Avengers and you get a dizzying list of heroes, power sets and formations of teams.  And while I was tempted to just point to the West Coast Avengers, one of my favorite teams from one of my favorite runs, I instead started classic:

Captain America.

While Steve Rogers wasn’t technically around until issue 4 of the Avengers, let’s make no bones about it, Captain America IS the Avengers.  In one sense, he is their moral compass and guide; I can’t think of anyone else who could fulfill that role.  (Even Hawkeye as the leader of the West Coast Avengers was simply playing a game of “What would Steve Rogers Do?”)

He is also a brilliant tactician, trainer and generally the heart and soul of a team.  Proof: the man stood down Thanos in the Infinity Gauntlet, AFTER Thanos had all the power he need to simply THINK Steve Rogers into dust. My team has to have Captain America.

Captain Marvel

Carol Danvers is the total package.  She has history, having been a long time Avenger, going through all kinds of issues, battles, etc.  She has proven herself.

Her skill set is a needed one for a superhero team, as she can be a bruiser with the best of them, with superstrength, endurance, ability to take a punch and flight. But just as important as all of that, she is a leader as well, and would make an amazing second in command to Steve Rogers.

I have no doubt, I want Carol Danvers on my team.

Vision

Vision is probably the second character I would think of when I think of the Avengers.  His origin itself extends from and is found in the Avengers.

His android nature makes him an interesting fit for the team. His power of strength, density manipulation and attack rays make him formidable in battle, and his intellect and gifts make him an excellent leader of the research and development team that a good Avengers team needs to have.

Vision HAS to be on my team.

She-Hulk

I know I need another bruiser. But I don’t want to overpopulate my team with guys and gals who can just smash things. I was tempted to put Hercules in this spot, or even Wonderman and I could make an argument for either of them to be included.  I thought about going more modern and adding Luke Cage or Ares.

But instead, I am going to give this slot to She-Hulk.

She-Hulk is a fantastic character and her skill set meshes nicely with who I already have on the board. And while she can be all “Hulk Smash”, she has proven to be more thoughtful, skilled and trained than that.  And I like having an in-house legal advisor.

Beauty, brawn and brains. Triple threat She-Hulk makes my team.

Doctor Strange

One of the things that I know about the Marvel Universe is that sooner or later, magic comes into play. And for that, I am going to go with Doctor Strange.

I don’t have much to say about him other than he is one of the best wizards in the universe and his skillset comes into play from time to time.  And I would rather have him and not need him than not have him.

Plus, his mansion always comes in handy as a hideout.

Quasar

And just like I know magic is going to show up, I know the Avengers are going to have some cosmic incidents.

While Carol Danvers has done her fair share of space battles, I think the team needs someone with a more substantial cosmic resume, so I am choosing Quasar (Wendell Vaughan).

He has a cosmic background and he began his career as an Agent of SHIELD, which I think gives him a degree of depth and interest, not to mention being more than a dude with powerful armbands.

Beast

Which brings me to my final spot. This one was hard to nail down and pick just one. Easily, you could argue that Iron Man or Thor deserve to be on any roster. You could make a case for the sheer magnitude of power that the Scarlet Witch would bring to the team. You could make the argument that you need another of the original members like Hank Pym  or The Wasp.

But I think at the end, you need a blue, lovable furball who can quip a joke, do serious work in the lab and can  handle himself in battle.  So my final pick would be The Beast.

Obviously, I want blue, furry Hank McCoy which is what he was during his time on the Avengers and I think that is the best fit for this team. Smarts, history and a combat skill set that I think could be useful.  Plus, he and the Vision make for some great buddy science cop stories as well.

So that is my team. Not perfect I think, but mine.  Who do you think I left off? Who should be on the team and who would they replace?  And don’t forget to check out Earth Nerd Clave and Earth Nerd Adkins’s lists!