The Avengers began as a business decision. In 1963 Marvel had a stable of heroes with their own comics, and DC's Justice League was selling well. So Stan Lee and Jack Kirby put Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk, Ant-Man and the Wasp in one book and had them fight Loki. The idea that stuck was that these people don't really get along. The team fights, splits, re-forms and argues about who should lead, and that friction has kept it going for six decades.
Most people now know the team from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which built up to The Avengers (2012) over four years of solo films and then told one story across 23 films, ending with Avengers: Endgame (2019). This guide covers both versions: who's on the team, what each member brings, the villains, and who played them. For the wider universe, start at our Marvel characters hub.
- Created by
- Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
- First appearance
- The Avengers #1 (1963)
- Battle cry
- "Avengers Assemble!"
- Base
- Avengers Mansion; Avengers Tower and Compound in the MCU
- First film
- The Avengers (2012)
The comic founders (1963)
The comic team formed when Loki tried to trick the Hulk into a fight with Thor, and the heroes who answered the distress call decided to stick together. The lineup lasted exactly one issue: the Hulk quit in #2.
| Founder | Real name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Iron Man | Tony Stark | Bankrolled the team and gave it a mansion |
| Thor | Thor Odinson (then sharing a body with Donald Blake) | The team's heavy hitter |
| Hulk | Bruce Banner | Left after issue #2 |
| Ant-Man | Hank Pym | Later Giant-Man, Goliath and Yellowjacket |
| The Wasp | Janet van Dyne | Named the team |
| Captain America | Steve Rogers | Found frozen in ice in issue #4 (1964); soon the leader |
In issue #16 (1965) every founder left except Captain America, who led a new team of former villains: Hawkeye, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. Fans call it "Cap's Kooky Quartet", and it set the rule that anyone can become an Avenger.
The MCU's original six
The film team was built from the characters Marvel Studios held the rights to in 2008. Spider-Man was at Sony and the X-Men at Fox, so the core became Iron Man, Cap, Thor, Hulk and two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
Iron Man (Tony Stark)
Inventor · Team bankroller
Tony is a weapons manufacturer who builds a suit of armour to escape captivity in Afghanistan, then turns his company toward protecting people. He's funny, impatient and certain he knows best, and most of the team's major disasters, including Ultron, start with one of his good ideas. His arc across eleven years goes from selfish to self-sacrificing, which is why Endgame ends with him.
- Actor
- Robert Downey Jr.
Captain America (Steve Rogers)
Super-soldier · Team leader
Steve was a skinny, stubborn young man from Brooklyn given a serum during the Second World War. He woke up seventy years later in a world he didn't recognise. He leads because he never cuts corners on what's right, and that makes him clash with Tony over the Sokovia Accords in Civil War. He's the one who finally lifts Thor's hammer.
- Actor
- Chris Evans
Thor
God of Thunder · Prince of Asgard
Thor begins as an arrogant warrior prince exiled to Earth to learn humility. Over the films he loses his hammer, his eye, his parents, his brother and his home, and the films let him be funny and broken about it. He fights Thanos with the axe Stormbreaker and nearly ends the war in Infinity War, except he aims for the chest.
- Actor
- Chris Hemsworth
Hulk (Bruce Banner)
Scientist · Physically strongest
Bruce Banner is a gamma-radiation expert who turns into the Hulk when he loses control. He spends the early films afraid of himself. After years of fighting between the two, Endgame finds them merged into "Smart Hulk", Banner's mind in the big green body, and he's the one who reverses the snap.
- Actor
- Mark Ruffalo (Edward Norton in The Incredible Hulk, 2008)
Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff)
Spy · The team's glue
Natasha was trained as an assassin in the Soviet Red Room and defected to S.H.I.E.L.D. She's the team's best interrogator and the one who keeps everyone talking to each other after the team breaks apart. Her solo film, set after Civil War, introduced her "sister" Yelena Belova.
- Actor
- Scarlett Johansson
Hawkeye (Clint Barton)
Archer · Family man
Clint is a S.H.I.E.L.D. marksman and the most ordinary person on the team, which the films keep joking about until it stops being funny. He's the one with a secret farm, a wife and children. Losing them in the snap turns him into the vigilante Ronin. The 2021 Hawkeye series pairs him with his successor, Kate Bishop.
- Actor
- Jeremy Renner
Avengers who joined later
The roster grew with every phase of the MCU, just as it did in the comics. Some members got a formal invitation; others just turned up when the fight came.
Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff)
Chaos magic · Joined in Age of Ultron
Wanda starts as Ultron's ally, out for revenge on Tony Stark, and switches sides when she sees what Ultron really wants. In the films her power grows until she can rewrite reality. Her grief after Vision's death drives WandaVision and her turn in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
- Actor
- Elizabeth Olsen
Vision
Synthezoid · Joined in Age of Ultron
Vision is built from Ultron's body, J.A.R.V.I.S.'s personality and the Mind Stone, and proves worthy by lifting Mjolnir on his first day. He's calm and curious, and his romance with Wanda gives the team its gentlest storyline. Thanos tears the stone from his head in Infinity War.
- Actor
- Paul Bettany
War Machine (James Rhodes)
Air Force officer · Tony's best friend
Rhodey is a career military man and Tony's oldest friend, who takes one of his armours and becomes War Machine. He sides with the government in Civil War and pays for it with a spinal injury. He's loyal, practical and the team's link to the military.
- Actor
- Don Cheadle (Terrence Howard in Iron Man)
Falcon / Captain America (Sam Wilson)
Pararescue veteran · Steve's successor
Sam is a veteran who counsels other soldiers and flies with a mechanical wing pack. He becomes Steve's closest friend, and Steve hands him the shield at the end of Endgame. He accepts it in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and leads as Captain America in Brave New World (2025).
- Actor
- Anthony Mackie
Winter Soldier (Bucky Barnes)
Steve's oldest friend
Bucky was Steve's best friend in Brooklyn, presumed dead in the war, and was rebuilt by HYDRA as a brainwashed assassin with a metal arm. Steve's refusal to give up on him is what breaks the team in Civil War. Bucky's later films are about learning to live with what he was made to do.
- Actor
- Sebastian Stan
Spider-Man (Peter Parker)
Teenage hero · Recruited in Civil War
Tony recruits a teenager from Queens as his secret weapon in the airport fight, and Peter spends the next few films trying to prove he's ready. He's the youngest Avenger and the one who most clearly sees Tony as a mentor, which gives Infinity War its most painful scene. Comic fans know him as a New Avenger from 2005.
- Actor
- Tom Holland
Black Panther (T'Challa)
King of Wakanda
T'Challa enters the MCU in Civil War hunting his father's killer and leaves having chosen mercy. As king he opens Wakanda to the world, and Wakanda is where the Avengers make their stand in Infinity War. After Chadwick Boseman's death in 2020, the role of Black Panther passed to Shuri.
- Actor
- Chadwick Boseman
Doctor Strange (Stephen Strange)
Sorcerer Supreme
Strange is an arrogant surgeon turned master of the mystic arts. In Infinity War he looks at 14,000,605 possible futures, finds one where they win, and gives Thanos the Time Stone to reach it. That gamble is the hinge of the whole saga.
- Actor
- Benedict Cumberbatch
Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers)
Cosmic powerhouse
Carol is an Air Force pilot who gets her powers from an explosion involving Kree technology and the Tesseract, and spends years believing she's a Kree soldier. She can fly through space and destroy warships, which is why Nick Fury's pager is the last thing we see in Infinity War.
- Actor
- Brie Larson
Ant-Man and the Wasp (Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne)
Size-changers
Scott is an ex-con with a big heart who stumbles into Hank Pym's suit. Hope is Pym's daughter and a far better fighter. Scott's five years trapped in the Quantum Realm, which pass as five hours for him, give the Avengers the idea that becomes the time heist in Endgame.
- Actors
- Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly
Nebula, Rocket and the Guardians
Allies from space
After the snap, Rocket and Nebula are the only Guardians left, and they work with the remaining Avengers for five years. Nebula, Thanos's abused adopted daughter, ends up being both a key to the heist and the way Thanos learns of it. They're honorary Avengers in all but name.
- Actors
- Karen Gillan; Bradley Cooper (voice of Rocket)
Kate Bishop, Kamala Khan and Yelena Belova
The next generation
The MCU's newer heroes are mostly successors: Kate Bishop learned from Clint in Hawkeye, Kamala Khan idolises Captain Marvel in Ms. Marvel and The Marvels, and Yelena is Natasha's sister. In the comics, the Young Avengers (2005) were built around this idea of inheritance.
- Actors
- Hailee Steinfeld, Iman Vellani, Florence Pugh
Avengers villains
A team this powerful needs threats that justify assembling. The best Avengers villains don't just hit harder than the heroes. They exploit the cracks between them.
Thanos
The Mad Titan
Thanos is the shadow over the entire Infinity Saga, a warlord who wants all six Infinity Stones so he can erase half of all life with a snap. He believes it will save the universe from overpopulation. He wins in Infinity War, which is almost unheard of for a superhero film, and is treated as its main character. In the comics his original motive was to court Death herself.
- Actor
- Josh Brolin
Loki
God of Mischief
Loki is the reason the Avengers exist: he's the villain of their first comic and their first film, invading New York with a Chitauri army in 2012. He's a jealous younger brother more than a conqueror, and his slow redemption made him one of the MCU's most popular characters.
- Actor
- Tom Hiddleston
Ultron
Rogue AI
Ultron is the team's own creation turned against them: built by Hank Pym in the comics and by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner in the MCU, as a peacekeeping program that concludes peace means human extinction. He's the clearest example of the team's problems coming from inside.
- Actor
- James Spader
Kang the Conqueror
Time-travelling warlord
Kang has been a major comic villain since 1964: a conqueror from the far future with countless variants of himself across time. Marvel Studios introduced versions of him in Loki and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, then reworked its plans after parting ways with Jonathan Majors in 2023.
Baron Zemo and the Masters of Evil
Villain team
Baron Zemo founded the Masters of Evil as a team built to fight the Avengers. The original Heinrich Zemo was a Nazi scientist; his son Helmut took over the title and the grudge. In the MCU Helmut is a grieving Sokovian who breaks the team apart in Civil War without throwing a single punch.
- Actor
- Daniel Brühl
The Black Order
Thanos's children
Ebony Maw, Proxima Midnight, Corvus Glaive and Cull Obsidian are Thanos's adopted lieutenants, sent to collect the stones in Infinity War. Ebony Maw's polite sermons make him the most memorable of the four.
Doctor Doom
Monarch of Latveria
Doom has fought the Avengers many times in the comics, though he's mainly the Fantastic Four's enemy. Marvel Studios has cast Robert Downey Jr. as Doom for Avengers: Doomsday, announced for December 2026, so he looks set to be the team's next major threat on screen.
Avengers cast at a glance
| Character | Actor | Team films |
|---|---|---|
| Iron Man | Robert Downey Jr. | The Avengers to Endgame |
| Captain America | Chris Evans | The Avengers to Endgame |
| Thor | Chris Hemsworth | The Avengers to Endgame |
| Hulk | Mark Ruffalo | The Avengers to Endgame |
| Black Widow | Scarlett Johansson | The Avengers to Endgame |
| Hawkeye | Jeremy Renner | The Avengers, Age of Ultron, Endgame |
| Scarlet Witch | Elizabeth Olsen | Age of Ultron to Endgame |
| Vision | Paul Bettany | Age of Ultron, Infinity War |
| War Machine | Don Cheadle | Age of Ultron to Endgame |
| Falcon | Anthony Mackie | Age of Ultron to Endgame |
| Nick Fury | Samuel L. Jackson | The Avengers, Age of Ultron |
| Loki | Tom Hiddleston | The Avengers, Infinity War, Endgame |
| Ultron (voice and motion capture) | James Spader | Age of Ultron |
| Thanos | Josh Brolin | Infinity War, Endgame |
The Avengers on screen: a timeline
- 2008 Iron Man ends with Nick Fury mentioning "the Avenger Initiative".
- 2012 The Avengers: the original six stop Loki's invasion of New York.
- 2015 Age of Ultron: Tony's AI turns on them; Wanda and Vision join.
- 2016 Captain America: Civil War: the Sokovia Accords split the team in two.
- 2018 Infinity War: Thanos collects all six stones and wins.
- 2019 Endgame: the time heist, the final battle and two farewells. It was briefly the highest-grossing film ever, until Avatar's 2021 re-release.
- 2025 Thunderbolts* sets up a new team carrying the Avengers name.
- 2026–27 Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars are Marvel Studios' announced next team films.
Why the team works
The Avengers are a textbook ensemble cast: each member brings one clear quality (Tony's ego, Steve's principle, Natasha's secrets, Thor's grandeur, Bruce's fear) and the stories come from those qualities colliding. A few patterns recur in both comics and films:
- Arguments over authority. Who gets to decide when the Avengers act? Tony and Steve's split in Civil War is a version of a fight the comics have staged many times.
- The team's own creations. Ultron, Vision and Wanda's breakdown all come from inside the group. The Avengers are often their own worst enemy.
- Legacy. The shield, the bow and even the name keep being handed down. The team is less a fixed lineup than an idea people volunteer for.
- Sacrifice. The Infinity Saga ends with two members giving their lives, a choice our guide to character deaths looks at in more detail.
If you like the Avengers, the obvious next stops are DC's Justice League, the Avengers' longtime rival in the comic shops, and Spider-Man's own sprawling cast.
All Avengers character names A–Z
A–B
- Ant-Man — Hank Pym / Scott Lang
- Baron Zemo — Villain
- Black Panther — T'Challa
- Black Widow — Natasha Romanoff
- Bucky Barnes — Winter Soldier
C–D
- Captain America — Steve Rogers / Sam Wilson
- Captain Marvel — Carol Danvers
- Doctor Doom — Villain
- Doctor Strange — Stephen Strange
F–K
- Falcon — Sam Wilson
- Hawkeye — Clint Barton / Kate Bishop
- Hulk — Bruce Banner
- Iron Man — Tony Stark
- Kang the Conqueror — Villain
L–Q
- Loki — Villain / antihero
- Ms. Marvel — Kamala Khan
- Nebula — Ally
- Quicksilver — Pietro Maximoff
R–T
- Rocket — Ally
- Scarlet Witch — Wanda Maximoff
- Spider-Man — Peter Parker
- Thanos — Villain
- Thor Odinson
U–Y
- Ultron — Villain
- Vision
- War Machine — James Rhodes
- Wasp — Janet van Dyne / Hope van Dyne
- Yelena Belova
Frequently asked questions
Who are the original six Avengers?
In the films, the original six are Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye, who first assembled in The Avengers (2012). In the comics, the founders in 1963 were Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk, Ant-Man and the Wasp; Captain America joined in issue #4.
Is Spider-Man an Avenger?
Yes, in both. In the comics he joined the New Avengers in 2005 after decades as a part-time ally. In the MCU, Tony Stark recruits him in Captain America: Civil War, offers him membership at the end of Spider-Man: Homecoming (he turns it down), and he fights alongside the team in Infinity War and Endgame. See our Spider-Man characters page.
Who is the strongest Avenger?
It depends on the version. In the MCU the strongest are usually ranked as Scarlet Witch, Captain Marvel and Thor, with the Hulk the strongest physically. In the comics, Thor, the Sentry, Captain Marvel and Scarlet Witch all have a claim. Our power scaling guide explains why these arguments never quite end.
Which Avengers die in Endgame?
Spoiler: Tony Stark dies after using the Infinity Stones to wipe out Thanos and his army, and Natasha Romanoff dies on Vormir so that Clint can get the Soul Stone. Vision died in Infinity War and stays dead in Endgame. Steve Rogers survives but retires to live a life with Peggy Carter.
Who created the Avengers?
Writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, in The Avengers #1, cover-dated September 1963. Most of the founding members had been created by Lee and Kirby with collaborators such as Larry Lieber and Don Heck.
What order should I watch the Avengers movies in?
The four main team films are The Avengers (2012), Age of Ultron (2015), Infinity War (2018) and Endgame (2019). Ideally watch Captain America: Civil War (2016) between the second and third. Our watch order guide covers the full MCU.