Avengers, Image Source: Marvel Digital Comics
Who, along with the Avengers, are some of Marvel Comics’ toughest teams?
The first teams that usually come to mind when people think Marvel comics are the classic Avengers teams with Thor, Tony Stark, and Steve Rogers leading the way and the X-Men. These are only two of the more dangerous teams in the Marvel Universe. People forget the Fantastic Four.
They may not kill, but they are one of the most dangerous teams in Marvel. Beyond what they can do to you in a fight, Reed Richards has inventions that give Galactus a reason to run for his life. There are also teams like the Defenders that have Dr. Strange, Hulk, Silver Surfer, and Namor. They cover all the threats they may encounter like magic, cosmic, and physical.
Recently, Marvel put together a team called the Savage Avengers (which debuts in May 2019). Their roster consists of Conan the Barbarian, Brother Voodoo, Punisher, Venom, Elektra, and Wolverine. Just from the look of them, this will be one of the scariest teams assembled. But they aren’t close to the first ruthless team to be put together.
Let’s look at some of the teams that get forgotten about when the toughest teams are mentioned.
Dark Avengers
Members: Norman Osborn (Iron Patriot) Bullseye (Hawkeye), Karen Sofen (Ms. Marvel), Ares, Sentry, Venom (Mac Gargan), Wolverine (Daken)
The Dark Avengers were a team of villains masked behind the guise of well-known heroes. With the exception of Ares and Sentry (and Marvel Boy who was there for one mission), this team was full of selfish killers. Despite that, they were a great team. Even more shocking is how well they worked together. Not so much as watching each other’s backs because they cared. Mostly because if they didn’t someone would die and they’d have to pick up the slack.
Norman Osborn kept his sanity together long enough for them to venture on more than a few successful missions like when they defeated Morgan le Fay and The Molecule Man later on. Maybe his crowning achievement found a way to keep Sentry in check and his alter ego the Void happy.
Their eventual downfall only came because, at the end of the day, they’re still selfish villains who went up against Captain America and the Avengers. Before that, they had no problem killing any and everyone in their way. There were more than a few civilians who died due to their carelessness. They worked because they had one goal in mind; staying alive to get all the benefits of being heroes.
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.
Image Source: Marvel Digital Comics
Wolverine’s X-Force
Members: Wolverine, X-23, Archangel, Warpath, Domino, Fantomex, Elixir, Psylocke, Deadpool, Nightcrawler (Age of Apocalypse)
Cyclops came to Wolverine with a mission: kill all threats to mutants before they come after them. The tagline to the comic book was, “The X-Men don’t kill, but these aren’t the X-Men. They’re X-Force.” Wolverine was more than willing to do this. He would rather do the killing rather than the X-Men.
Logan tried to tell Warpath, X-23, and Wolfsbane that this wasn’t a path they should go down, but they didn’t listen. Warpath eventually started to hate it, but he was good at it. He realized that there was a need for what he was doing. Thankfully, he (and Wolfsbane) got out before he became something he hated.
The first incarnation of this team saved the world from Selene when she became a god and then helped save the mutant race during Second Coming. Cyclops disbanded the team, but Wolverine didn’t. He knew the need for the team and kept it going with a new roster. Both X-Force and Uncanny X-Force didn’t mind getting their hands bloody. Eventually, Wolverine disbanded the team after Logan had to kill his son Daken. Thankfully they were around long enough to stop Archangel from becoming the new Apocalypse for good doing whatever it is Apocalypse types do.
Image Source: Marvel Digital Comics
The Exiles
Members: Blink (Age of Apocalypse), Mimic, Morph, Nocturne, Sasquatch, Sunfire, Thunderbird, Namora, Beak (seriously), Sabretooth (Age of Apocalypse)
This team doesn’t look like much. In fact, they look wholesome and non-threatening. Mimic is usually a waste of space in other realities. Nocturne looks like a Nightcrawler reject. Blink never reached potential in the 616 universe. Morph is just a jester who can change his shape. Namora, Sunfire, and Sasquatch may seem like the only major players in this group, but this is a mistake a lot of people made until they were taken out by this powerhouse of a team.
The Exiles were a team of reality-hopping superheroes for different realities who were tricked into repairing the multiverse. Along the way they fought and defeated some of the best names in Marvel Comics. Proteus, The Dark Phoenix, Silver Surfer, and Galactus are just some of the beings they defeated. Despite being thrown together, they fought side by side and eventually became family. They moved like a unit and so smoothly that sometimes they didn’t even have to speak. They knew where their teammates would be and what they would do given the situation.
Their biggest victory came when they defeated King Hyperion — a villain so powerful that he defeated every hero and villain in his reality. The world launched a nuclear attack so massive that it destroyed everyone on the planet except Hyperion. They Exiles fought him twice and beat him twice. That is one of the biggest reasons why the Exiles are the most underrated team in comic books. No matter what the ods looked like, they found a way to win.