Marvel: Villains Who Defeated the Avengers

Key Takeaways

The Avengers have faced defeat by villains like Kang the Conqueror and Thanos, showing they are not invincible.
Space Phantom, Ultron, and more have brought down the team due to miscommunications and grand schemes.
Despite their setbacks, the Avengers always manage to bounce back stronger after facing their adversaries.

As a seasoned comic book enthusiast who has witnessed countless battles between heroes and villains, I must say that the defeats of the Avengers mentioned here are indeed quite significant. Each defeat showcases not only the cunning and power of their adversaries but also the resilience and teamwork of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

The Avengers are equivalent to Marvel’s Justice League within DC Comics. While their members have shifted through time, they’ve consistently featured Marvel’s most prominent superheroes, such as Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, the Hulk, and others. They represent a powerful team that can often match or surpass other groups in the Marvel universe.

Yet, they’re not indestructible; they’ve suffered defeats in various forms. These can range from misunderstandings within their ranks, conflicts between team members, cunning plots by their recurring adversaries, or simply being outmatched. The Avengers may recover, but these villains have managed to secure a win on occasion.

10 Space Phantom

Avengers #2

Marvel: Villains Who Defeated the Avengers

Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby
Inker: Paul Reinman
Colorist: Stan Goldberg

In a twist of events masterminded by Loki, the first group of Avengers was assembled, while an extraterrestrial newcomer almost caused their disintegration. The Phantom from Space, among numerous beings imprisoned in Limbo, underwent transformations due to its influence. Typically, they became servants of Immortus (a form of Kang the Conqueror), but one managed to break free and sought to prepare Earth for an invasion by eliminating the Avengers.

He did this by shapeshifting into the Hulk and irking Iron Man until he started attacking the real Hulk. Then he became a bug to attack Wasp, before becoming Giant Man to fight Iron Man. He was defeated when he tried to copy Thor, only to find out his power didn’t work on Asgardians. Though he ends up back in Limbo, he succeeds in driving a wedge between the Hulk and the other Avengers.

9 Hulk & Namor

Avengers #3

Writers: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Artist: Jack Kirby
Inker: Paul Reinman
Colorist: Stan Goldberg

After the Hulk left the team, the Avengers made efforts to locate him to prevent any mishaps. With Rick Jones’ assistance, they managed to find him and transform him back into Bruce Banner. Yet, the Hulk re-emerged and took flight, leaving the Avengers stranded in an empty train car. Later, he encountered Namor, leading them to form an alliance with the intention of eliminating the Avengers permanently.

They fought on the Rock of Gibraltar, where Namor jammed Iron Man’s joints with dust. The Avengers ultimately won when Wasp cleaned Iron Man off with an oxygen tank, and Hulk’s attempts to lift Thor’s hammer tired him out enough to revert to Banner. But In What If the Avengers Had Never Been, the encounter ended with Hulk and Namor turning on each other, and Iron Man sacrificing himself to keep the team going.

8 Kang the Conqueror

Avengers #8

Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby
Inker: Dick Ayers
Colorist: Stan Goldberg

In a more imaginative Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), fans might have encountered Kang the Conqueror more frequently. This villain from Marvel Comics is known for his adaptability, having assumed various forms such as Rama-Tut, Immortus, the Scarlet Centurion, among others. However, after challenging The Fantastic Four under the guise of Rama-Tut, he unmasked himself in Avengers #8.

He maintained a straightforward approach by overpowering the Avengers, locking them up, and presenting Earth with an ultimatum: surrender within 24 hours or face destruction. Only Rick Jones and the Wasp managed to evade his attack. Realizing they couldn’t match Kang in strength, they opted for a cunning strategy – feigning allegiance to him, waiting until they gained access to his spaceship to free the imprisoned Avengers. Following another clash, Thor ultimately forced Kang to retreat.

7 The Commissar

Avengers #18

Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Don Heck
Inker: Dick Ayers
Colorist: Stan Goldberg

The Avengers receive an urgent message from the Republic of Sin-Cong (representing Vietnam), pleading for help in overthrowing their ruthless leader, the Commissar. However, upon their arrival, they are ambushed by Sin-Cong’s military forces, resulting in the Scarlet Witch being taken prisoner.

The call turned out to be a clever ruse orchestrated by the Commissar, with the intention of demonstrating the superiority of Communism through defeating the Avengers one at a time. His tactic of divide-and-conquer seemed effective enough to subdue them all, until the Scarlet Witch utilized her magical powers. At this point in her development, she wasn’t the formidable weapon of mass destruction that she would later become, but her abilities were sufficient to unmask the Commissar as a robot and eliminate him.

6 Doctor Doom

Avengers #25

Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Don Heck
Inker: Dick Ayer
Colorists: Stan Goldberg

In numerous early tales, the Avengers’ tendency to trust things immediately proved to be their downfall. For instance, when Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver received a letter from their aunt inviting them to Latveria, they accepted without question and went with the Avengers. Little did they know that it was all part of a scheme masterminded by Doctor Doom. He believed that if he could defeat the Avengers, he would lessen the determination of The Fantastic Four.

Other heroes also failed to aid them, since their illegal entry into the nation might lead to a global conflict. In the end, the Avengers broke free from confinement to confront the Doctor head-on. However, neither the Avengers’ collective strength nor the Doctor’s individual efforts resulted in victory. The Doctor cleverly distracted them and slipped away, forcing the Avengers to settle for an impasse.

5 Attuma

Avengers #26-27

Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Don Heck
Inkers: Frank Ray and Frank Giacoia
Colorists: Stan Goldberg

Hank Pym and the Wasp notice Namor making his way towards New York, suspecting he could potentially be harmful. However, as the Wasp sets off to alert the Avengers, she falls into the grasp of Attuma, Namor’s longtime adversary. Despite her sending a distress signal to the Avengers, it proves unsuccessful in soliciting help.

Attuma’s troops split up the Avengers, overpowering them one by one, thereby creating an opportunity for Attuma to unleash his wave generator on the surface world. The Avengers’ last chance resides with Hawkeye. By cracking Tony Stark’s covert communication device, he locates his fellow heroes. Working together with Quicksilver, they overpower Attuma and demolish his wave generator.

4 Magneto & Quicksilver

Avengers #47-49

Writer: Roy Thomas
Artists & Inkers: John Buscema and George Tuska
Colorists: John Buscema

Prior to discovering that Magneto was our father, my sister (Scarlet Witch) and I were members of his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. However, when Magneto was taken by the Stranger, the group disbanded. In an effort to make amends for our past actions, we joined the Avengers.

Initially, Quicksilver seemed to agree with Magneto’s scheme to assault the United Nations, intending later to confront him as an enemy. However, when the factions collided, Scarlet Witch was wounded in the conflict. Enraged by this, Quicksilver abandoned his previous comrades and chose to side fully with Magneto, taking Scarlet Witch along.

3 Ultron & The Masters of Evil

Avengers #54-55

Writer: Roy Thomas
Artist: John Buscema
Inker: George Klein

It’s possible that through deceit or internal struggles, the Avengers might be their own downfall. In “Avengers #54”, this theory is demonstrated when the Crimson Cowl assembles a new group known as the Masters of Evil specifically to counteract the Avengers.

Following their defeat, it was unveiled that the Cowl was none other than Jarvis, Iron Man’s loyal butler. This revelation left them feeling betrayed as they found themselves strapped to rockets. However, the situation quickly changed when the robot duplicate of Jarvis was revealed to be none other than Ultron, the rogue AI created by Hank Pym and Tony Stark. Had it not been for him breaking the hypnosis and Black Knight’s timely intervention, the Avengers might have met their end.

2 M’Baku

Avengers #62

Writer: Roy Thomas
Artist: John Buscema
Inker: George Klein

As an avid fan, I must recount how the Avengers recovered from parting ways with Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch by acquiring Black Panther, who played a pivotal role in thwarting Ultron and the Masters of Evil. Alas, his actions unintentionally resulted in an unwelcoming reception in Wakanda, as its soldiers opened fire on us. M’Baku, the temporary leader, attempted to brush it off as an error and even extended an invitation for dinner, which we later discovered was laced with a potent drug, leaving us captive.

In an attempt to overthrow Black Panther for supposedly betraying Wakanda, M’Baku disguised himself as Man-Ape. After a fierce one-on-one battle, Black Panther almost emerged victorious, but he was ultimately trapped by M’Baku in a deadly contraption. The trap, designed to crush him, left Black Panther pinned under an imminently collapsing statue. It was only when Vision shattered the prison walls that the trap was reversed and turned against M’Baku, freeing Black Panther from his perilous predicament.

1 Thanos

Infinity Gauntlet #4

Writer: Jim Starlin
Artists: George Perez and Ron Lim
Inkers: Josef Rubinstein and Bruce N. Solotoff
Colorists: Max Scheele and Ian Laughlin

The Avengers suffered their most memorable loss at the hands of Thanos, also known as the Mad Titan. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), they failed to prevent him from gathering the Infinity Stones and using them to eliminate half of all existence in the universe with a snap. In the original “Infinity Gauntlet” comic storyline, Thanos was attempting to win over Death by acquiring the gauntlet. However, her rejections fueled his wrath, leading him to carry out his 50/50-based cosmic genocide.

In a seemingly strategic move, the Silver Surfer, Doctor Strange, and Adam Warlock appeared to guide the Avengers, apparently creating a diversion while they aimed to seize the gauntlet. However, Thanos effortlessly wiped out their troops with minimal resistance. The key factor that led to Thanos’ downfall was his overconfidence, as he unwittingly left the gauntlet in Nebula, his ‘granddaughter’, which compelled him to collaborate with Warlock and Strange to reverse his destruction.

2024-10-14 01:34