Did The New Avengers Lineup From Age Of Ultron Ever Serve Together In The Comics?

By Nick Tylwalk | May 7, 2015

(Note: This article contains spoilers for Avengers: Age of Ultron, currently only in its second week in theaters. That means you might not have seen it yet, in which case you probably don’t want to find out what happens in the very last scene of the film. Or maybe you do. Either way, be forewarned!)

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Earth’s Mightiest Heroes look a bit different by the end of Avengers: Age of Ultron than they did going into the blockbuster sequel.

With Hulk, Iron Man, Hawkeye and Thor all leaving the team for various reasons, Captain America and Black Widow are left as the only members remaining from the original six. Fortunately, as they work with Nick Fury and his people to build a new home, they get reinforcements in the form of Vision, Scarlet Witch, War Machine and Falcon. Six enter, six leave, so it works out nicely.

All of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Avengers newbies have a history with the team in the comics as well. Scarlet Witch and Vision both served multiple long tours of duty, with Vision even serving as chairperson for a time. Wanda Maximoff was one of the first additions to the Avengers (along with brother Pietro, though he appears … unavailable in movie continuity), signing on 50 years ago in real life time.

Sam Wilson and James Rhodes have done their share of avenging as well. Wilson had multiple, relatively brief stints as Falcon before being front and center over the past six months as Captain America. No one even realized Rhodey was subbing for Tony Stark when he first responded to the call to form the West Coast Avengers, and we’ve seen him as War Machine during the “Time Runs Out” arc that just wrapped up.

But did this particular lineup ever exist on the roster at the same time? After consulting the internets and the incredible infographic from Pop Chart Lab that shows every different roster in history, it doesn’t look like it.

There were plenty of issues that featured three of the six, and a bunch with four, typically Steve Rogers, Wanda, Vision and Natasha or the first three and Sam. The closest I could find was Avengers (vol. 3) #1-4, where everyone but Rhodey is on the team at once. It’s worth noting, though, that those issues featured a sprawling roster that went 30-plus deep caught up in a reality-threatening plot by Morgan le Fay.

What it all boils down to is this: the new Avengers are a blend of the familiar and the new, a group that feels like it could have battled evil together in the comics even if it never actually did. That’s perfect for the team’s status quo coming out of Age of Ultron, and with Captain America: Civil War only a year away, the lineup will probably change again.

Next: Could Black Widow be Avengers leader after Civil War?

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