Following a chaotic series of events that saw the original Avengers disband, an unofficial response team formed known as theNew Avengers.While not officially backed by any government, they have often served as a black-ops team of outlaws and rebels who fight the good fight when the primary band of heroes has failed to protect the peace and the innocent. However, this team would be nothing without their villains.
The New Avengers officially debuted inNew Avengers #3 (2005)after the villain Electro launched a prison break at the Raft, releasing many of Marvel’s most terrifying villains back into the world. With no official Avengers to respond to the disaster, Captain America and Iron Man formed an emergency response team that they would dub the New Avengers. This team of heroes would frequently rebel against dominating, authoritative powers, including many of their old allies. However, what truly makes this team unique are the numerous villains they have fought throughout their tenure.
8The Mighty Avengers
Debuted In:Mighty Avengers #1 (2007)by Brian Michael Bendis and Frank Cho
Unlike the more subversive and street-level qualities of the New Avengers, the Mighty Avengers represented government compliance, order, and authority. The Mighty Avengers’ willingness to conscript supervillains only sullied the good reputations of the team’s heroes,transforming the Mighty Avengers into authoritarian villains themselvesby association. Ultimately, the New Avengers triumphed in the ideological war, but the collateral damage on both sides devastated the entirety of the superhero community.
7The Dark Avengers
Debuted In:Dark Avengers #1 (2009)by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato Jr.
The Dark Avengers are a band of villains and morally gray anti-heroes conscripted by Norman Osborn after theSecret Invasionstoryline. Osborn, now the President of the United States, banned all other superhero work anddisguised his villainous team as America’s official Avengers.Composed of characters like Sentry, Mac Gargan’s Venom, and Osborn himself, the Dark Avengers weaponized propaganda and public trust in the Avengers’ brand to cement their power.
Much like they didduring the Civil War, the New Avengers operated as a resistance network against Osborn’s presidency and the Dark Avengers’ harsh control over the superhero community. After Osborn was deposed and the Dark Avengers were exposed for what they were, many of the New Avengers reformed as the primary Avengers team whilethe street-level heroes carried on the New Avengers’ off-the-books hero work.Another iteration of Norman’s team would return years later but was quickly shut down by the New Avengers once again.
6Hood’s Gang
Debuted In:New Avengers #35 (2007)by Brian Michael Bendis and Leinil Yu
During his reign as the Kingpin of Crime in New York City, the demonically enchanted C-list nobody turned top-tier threat known asthe Hood owned New York’s criminal underground with an iron fist.This loose alliance of supervillains was brought together by the Hood’s vast magical abilities and resilience in the face of adversity. The Hood and his gang frequently exploited the superhero community’s inability to unify, especially during the first Civil War.
The Hood’s Gang continued to operate throughout Norman Osborn’s presidencyand through the Skrull Invasion, where they would consistentlyclash with the New Avengers, while the team continued to face other ongoing major threats. While the Hood is a particularly meager individual, his tenacity, mystical mastery, and charismatic ability to rally large forces made him and his gang a legitimate threat to the New Avengers.
5The Raft Prison Outbreak
Debuted In:New Avengers #1 (2005)by Brian Michael Bendis and David Finch
While this group isn’t necessarily an official team, it is the unifying force that would lead tothe original New Avengers’founding. Months after the Scarlet Witch decimated the Avengers, a massive prison break at the Raft led todozens of incarcerated supervillains pouring out into the streets of New York City.What remained of the Avengers reformed as a new response team, unattached to the bureaucratic tape that bound the original team.
During the initial outbreak, the heroes present were swarmed by villains, all looking to take revenge on the superheroes who put them in prison. The conflict was gruesome and brutal as inmates violently flanked the heroes. Bloody and beaten, the heroes officially formedthe New Avengers and set out to hunt down each of the criminals who had escaped the Raft.This would be the team’s primary mission until the first Civil War event happened years later.
4W.H.I.S.P.E.R.
Debuted In:Avengers #0 (2015)by Al Ewing and Gerardo Sandoval
Sometime after Robert Da Costa, aka Sunspot, purchased AIM and chased the morally corrupt scientists to flee the organization, many of the now-jobless evil scientists were hired by the Maker. Meanwhile, Janos Trovaya’s WHISPER sought to manipulate the Maker and temporarilysigned over WHISPER to the evil Reed Richards variant.However, the Maker was already aware of these manipulations and fully took over the technocratic organization under the pretense of building a better, more unified world.
When the Maker’s true plans were revealed, Da Costa’s Avengers Idea Mechanics sent forth the recently reformed New Avengers to disrupt the villain’s plans to harness the souls of the dead to forge a superpowered army of drone soldiers. In response, the Maker designed his own team called the New Revengers, battling their heroic alternatives with the combined power of physical might and intellectual warfare. Ultimately, withEarth-616’s Reed Richard’s help, the New Avengers defeated the New Revengers, and the Maker was placed in prison.
3The Hand
Debuted In:Daredevil #174 (1981)by Frank Miller
One of Marvel’s most notorious villain groups, the Hand is an ancient ninja clan that worships a vile demon known as The Beast. While the Hand is more often associated withDaredevil or the Punisher, the villainous organization crossed paths with the New Avengers following the first Civil War. During a mission in Japan,one of the New Avengers’ newest recruits, Echo, infiltrated the Handto investigate a potential alliance forming between the Hand, Madame Hydra’s forces, and the Clan Yashida.
While Echo, currently posing as the Ronin, directly engaged the Hand, Spider-Woman held a secret meeting with Madame Hydra. Meanwhile, the New Avengers were swarmed by a horde of Hand ninjas asa greater conspiracy surfaced regarding SHIELD’s involvement with Hydra, creating a growing sense of distrust within the team until Spider-Woman revealed herself to be a triple agent working for Nick Fury. Soon after, the New Avengers emerged as a formal superhero team for the first time.
2Hydra
Debuted In:Strange Tales #135 (1965)by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Like the Hand, Hydra is a staple organization of villains to the Marvel universe that needs little-to-no introduction. The conclave of Nazi offshoots, obsessed with controlling the world through advanced technological and mystical means, has repeatedly faced hundreds of Marvel’s mightiest heroes and villains alike. WhileHydra was always a growing presence throughout the first two New Avengers series, the team of heroes officially crossed paths with Hydra when investigating a potential villainous coalition between the Nazi scientists and the Hand.
Years later, after theDark Reignevent, Hydra once again teamed up with the Hand, AIM, and HAMMER to form a new collectivewith Norman Osbornas one of its prime figures. With Hydra’s backing, Osborn was able to create a second, more villainous iteration of the Dark Avengers, who became fast enemies of the New Avengers. While the band of rebel heroes hasn’t fought Hydra head-on often, Hydra’s corruptive influence hasinfected many of the other supervillain teams that the New Avengers did directly confront.
1The Skrull Empire
Debuted In:Fantastic Four #2 (1961)by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
More than any other threat featured on this list,the Skrull Empireproved to be one of the greatest enemies Earth has ever seen. Heroes and villains alike were shocked to discover that many of their allies and enemies were secretly members of the alien race, prepared to launch an invasion when the full Skrull armada finally arrived. By theSecret Invasionevent,the New Avengers were still considered an outlaw team following the first Civil Warand unofficially served as a black-ops response team.
It was later revealed that Spider-Woman, who had been a staple of the New Avengers, was actually Queen Veranke, the mastermind behind the Skrulls’ invasion of Earth. Now united under a common enemy,the official Avengers and the New Avengers set aside their quarrels and joined forcesto defeat the threat. However, as the threat of the invasion was finally ended, Norman Osborn would soon take control of the United States and once again outlaw the New Avengers, branding them as enemies of the state.
