Avengers (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

The **Avengers** are a fictional team of superheroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). They are based on the team of the same name from Marvel Comics. They serve as the protagonists in _The Avengers_ (2012), _Avengers: Age of Ultron_ (2015), _Captain America: Civil War_ (2016), _Avengers: Infinity War_ (2018) and _Avengers: Endgame_ (2019). The Avengers are set to return in _Avengers: Doomsday_ (2026) and _Avengers: Secret Wars_ (2027).

In the MCU, the Avengers were created by Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. He created the group to fight the supernatural battles that humanity could not fight normally. The original Avengers were Steve Rogers (Captain America), Tony Stark (Iron Man), Bruce Banner (Hulk), Thor Odinson, Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow), and Clint Barton (Hawkeye). The Avengers officially formed after the murder of Phil Coulson by Loki Laufeyson. They defeated Loki in the Battle of New York. After the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. in 2014, the Avengers were given the job of stopping the remaining groups of HYDRA agents. In 2015, Stark created Ultron to protect the Earth. Ultron turned against humanity The Avengers destroyed him in the Battle of Sokovia. After the Battle of Sokovia, James Rhodes (War Machine), Sam Wilson (Falcon), Vision and Wanda Maximoff (Scarlet Witch) joined the team. In 2016, the team broke up after an incident in Lagos forced the United Nations to pass the Sokovia Accords. The remaining Avengers were defeated by Thanos in the Infinity War. Five years after the Infinity War, the Avengers reassembled to undo the damage Thanos did. In the end, they defeated him in the Battle of Earth.

### Foundations

In 1995, Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. encountered an alien threat to Earth from both the Kree and the Skrulls when Carol Danvers crash landed in a Blockbuster store. The resulting conflict resulted in Danvers and the Skrulls aligning with S.H.I.E.L.D. and agreeing to help Fury in the case of emergencies. Afterwards, Fury created the Protectors Initiative to create a group of heroes to protect Earth from future supernatural threats. He later renamed it to the Avengers Initiative after learning that Danvers' call sign in the United States Air Force had been 'Avenger.'

In 2010, Tony Stark was kidnapped by the Ten Rings. The group attempted to force Stark to build weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) for them. Stark agreed to do so, however didn't and instead built the first Iron Man suit. Stark used the suit to break out of custody and escape, later being saved by Colonel James Rhodes. After the incident, Stark came into conflict with the Ten Rings and was forced to kill his company's spokesperson, who was exposed as a Ten Rings collaborator. S.H.I.E.L.D. cought on to Stark's actions and sent Phil Coulson to provide Stark with a secret identity and an alibi. Stark refused to use and instead admitted himself as Iron Man to the American public. Fury approached Stark afterwards to tell him about the Avengers Initiative, although he initially refused to join.

In 2011, Fury sent Natasha Romanoff to spy on Stark and make a report on his physical and mental wellbeing. Romanoff wrote that Stark was selfish, impulsive, reckless, and not a good fit for the Avengers Initiative. As a result, Fury hired Stark as a consultant for S.H.I.E.L.D., but did not let him onto the Avengers Initiative. Later, a series of incidents in Brazil and the United States involving Thunderbolt Ross and Bruce Banner caught the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D. Ross wanted both himself and Emil Blonsky (Abomination) to join the initiative, leading Coulson to send in Stark to convince Ross to not join. Instead, S.H.I.E.L.D. began to consider Banner. Another series of events involving S.H.I.E.L.D. and Asgardian activities in New Mexico led to Thor Odinson agreeing to join the initiative. Finally, in late 2011, Steve Rogers was found frozen in ice (but alive) by S.H.I.E.L.D. and was added to the Avengers Initiative by Fury.

### First assembly and Battle of New York

In 2012, Loki Laufeyson (working covertly for Thanos) attacked a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility. He injured Fury, used mind control to bring Clint Barton to his side, and stole the Tesseract.

## Team roster

|Character|Alias|Portrayed by|Joined in||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Steve Rogers|Captain America|Chris Evans|rowspan="6"|_The Avengers_|
|Tony Stark|Iron Man|Robert Downey Jr.|||
|Bruce Banner|Hulk|Mark Ruffalo|||
|colspan="2"|Thor Odinson|Chris Hemsworth|||
|Natasha Romanoff|Black Widow|Scarlett Johansson|||
|Clint Barton|Hawkeye|Jeremy Renner|||
|Pietro Maximoff|Quicksilver|Aaron Taylor-Johnson|rowspan="5"|_Avengers: Age of Ultron_|
|Wanda Maximoff|Scarlet Witch|Elizabeth Olsen|||
|colspan="2"|Vision|Paul Bettany|||
|James Rhodes|War Machine|Don Cheadle|||
|Sam Wilson|Falcon|Anthony Mackie|||
|Peter Parker|Spider-Man|Tom Holland|_Avengers: Infinity War_||
|Carol Danvers|Captain Marvel|Brie Larson|rowspan="5"|_Avengers: Endgame_|
|colspan="2"|Nebula|Karen Gillan|||
|colspan="2" rowspan="2"|Rocket Raccoon|Bradley Cooper (voice)|||
|Sean Gunn (motion capture)|||||
|Scott Lang|Ant-Man|Paul Rudd|||

### Movie appearances

|Year|Movie|
| --- | --- |
|2011|_Captain America: The First Avenger_|
|2012|_The Avengers_|
|2014|_Captain America: The Winter Soldier_|
|2015|_Avengers: Age of Ultron_|
|2016|_Captain America: Civil War_|
|2018|_Avengers: Infinity War_|
|2019|_Avengers: Endgame_|
|2026|_Avengers: Doomsday_|
|2027|_Avengers: Secret Wars_|

### Television appearances

|Year|Television series|Seasons|Episodes|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|2021-2024|_What If...?_|3|26|

## Related pages

- Avengers

## Infobox (fictional organization)

- **name**: Avengers
- **image**: Symbol from Marvel's The Avengers logo.svg
- **image size**: 200px
- **alt**: The logo of the Avengers
- **caption**: Logo of the Avengers
- **universe**: Marvel Cinematic Universe
- **first**: _The Avengers (2012 movie), The Avengers_ (2012)
- **type**: Superhero
- **founder**: Nick Fury (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Nick Fury
Phil Coulson
- **founded**: 2012
- **fate**: Disassembled as of 2023
- **location**: Primarily Earth, some actions throughout the galaxy
- **key people**: #Team roster, Team roster
- **purpose**: To defend Earth from imminent global threats.


## Infobox (military conflict)

- **conflict**: Battle of New York
- **place**: New York City, New York (state), New York, United States
- **date**: 2012
- **result**: Avengers victory
- **combatant1**: Children of Thanos
Chitauri (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Chitauri
- **combatant2**: Avengers
S.H.I.E.L.D. (Marvel Cinematic Universe), S.H.I.E.L.D.
World Security Council
- **commander1**: Loki Laufeyson (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Loki Laufeyson (Prisoner of war, POW)
- **commander2**: Steve Rogers (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Steve Rogers
 Tony Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Tony Stark
 Bruce Banner (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Bruce Banner
 Thor Odinson (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Thor Odinson
 Natasha Romanoff (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Natasha Romanoff
 Clint Barton (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Clint Barton
Nick Fury (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Nick Fury
- **casualties1**: Entire Chitauri (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Chitauri army deactivated
- **casualties3**: Many civilians killed, injured, or displaced
- **casualties2**: Tony Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Tony Stark wounded