The Savage Avengers aren’t the first tough and scary team
By Mark Lynch
Image Source: Marvel Digital Comics
Red Hulk’s Thunderbolts
Members: Red Hulk, Deadpool, Punisher, Elektra, Punisher, Venom (Flash Thompson), Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze)
General Thaddeus E. “Thunderbolt” Ross (the Red Hulk) needed a team to do the dirty jobs that were too nasty for the Avengers to handle. Ross is a military veteran who knows what it means to sacrifice for the greater good. Unfortunately, not everyone is built for these kinds of missions. So Ross recruited Deadpool, Punisher, Elektra, and Venom (Ghost Rider came later) to take care of the stealthy and dangerous missions so the Avengers wouldn’t have to “get their hands dirty.”
You’d assume a team full of loaners wouldn’t work out, but they did. Mostly because, despite their differences, they’re professionals.
Even though Deadpool is a bit of a wild card, he always comes through in the clutch. He even came up with more than a couple of plans that worked well. Yes, he may or may not have tried to kill the Punisher and did threaten him for sleeping with Elektra, but it all worked out. If not for The Leader (who was red at the time) causing this team to fall apart, they could have gone on to be one of the greats. Instead, they were a short lived team that saved the world from threats even the Avengers didn’t know were an issue.