My top 10 least favorite Avengers

So here we go. There have been nearly 200 avengers, and even an ultra fan boy like me isnt going to like ALL of them. Here are the 10 I like the least....at least on the team. I should note that I actually like 6 of these characters....one of whom (#10) is likely one of my top 10 favorite comic character period....I just dont like them as avengers, they dont fit.

Also a note for the ranking. I have yet to read much of anything past the end of the heroic age, at least for the main titles. So pretty much any members introduced by Jonathan Hickman wont be on this list. Which is probably good for him, since based on what little Ive read so far, I think most of his characters would make this list, as his style and the size of his roster leaves no time for any real character development.

Also on the "side series" I've only read those up to about October of 2014. So again anyone added/re-added since then isnt included.

#10 Storm

So Brian Michael Bendis was the writer of the avengers for 10+ years, and had a habit during his run of bringing characters on to the team, and doing fuck all with them. The most high profile example of this was Storm, who joined the Avengers in issue 119 of vol 4, did basically nothing after issue 21 (ironically the first issue she made the cover) then quit basically between panels in the AvsX crossover to rejoin the X-men. Which was also cause they wanted to put Thor back on the Avengers...and well their powersets are totally redundant. (which of course raises the question as to either why add her in the first place of they already scripted bringing thor back or why bring thor back since she could fill his role)

So yea, thats why she makes this list (for the moment). Storm is the kinda character who should be LEADING the damn team.....not basically an afterthought, which seems to be how she was treated (by both her teammates and the writers) and even how she handled herself during her run (such as it was). A good and proper run on the team, where she shows her actual power and is clearly a full part of the team will likely remove her from this list.  And while she would likely be near the top of a list of my favorite or most important X-men, and even one a list of "coolest replacement members of the Fantastic Four" because she is an awesome character, I did really hate her (or how she was used) as an avengers. I was psyched when they said she was joining the team....and I dont think ive been more disappointed....even included the 9 entries below her, but thats cause shes my favorite character on this list so was hoping to see her really make a name for her self as an Avenger.

#9 Wonder Man

So when the team already features Thor, Vision, Hercules, I think we can safely say the spot for "near indestructible strong guy" is filled. But yet we got Wonder Man anyways.....who really mostly served to have some of the ugliest superhero costumes of all times before getting killed for the second time....then he came back with a better costume before getting killed for the 3rd time....then the 4th and 5th. And oddly his personally totally changes every time he dies.....amoral businessman the first time....hero plagued by cowardice the second, total paladin dedicated to the team the 3rd time, attacks the team to disband them the 4th and finally pacifist who wont fight the 5th.

So yea, an indestructible man who keeps dying...not only is it over done to the point I no longer care if and when he dies.....his power set is also the most redundant of all, and worse of all, no real consistency of character. 

#8 Red Hulk

The second entry by Brian Michael Bendis (BMB) to make this list.

Now as you may have noticed from the above 2 entries, the Avengers seem to have an abundance of guys with really big muscles who can hit shit really freaking hard. its not like they needed another one.

Especially one who was basically a villain or at best a renegade leaning anti hero...who suddenly joins the team cause he got punched through the door (no joke). In fact the Avengers thought he was attacking them, until cap got them to stand down (you know....just in case it wasnt an attack).  At which point he hit shit really hard for a bit, and quit between panels.

 And its not like the Avengers desperately needed a Hulk or anything, She Hulk is a long standing member of the team....and if shes not available their is always the Hulk

Oh and if both of them arnt available, well Rick Jones was considered an honorary member of the team for DECADES, and he also happens to be the civilian guise of A-Bomb...AKA Blue Hulk. So again, its not like the Avengers were ever hard up for Hulks.

 (BTW Red Hulk magically disappeared from the team about the same time Hulk rejoined....just like Storm...because BMB really liked introducing copies of major characters then replacing them for no reason with the originals).

#7 Daisy Johnson/Quake

And in a double header BMB entry #3. There really isnt much to say about Quake....other than she joined the team, did fuck nothing, and randomly quit off panel (noticing a pattern yet?) Honestly she only places lower than Red Hulk cause at least remember he was on the team most of the time.

And its not like the Quake character is horrible, badly thought out, or anything like that. Hell shes arguably the star (or co-star with Coulson) of Agents of Shield. So yea, in the right hands she can be really cool.

Or in BMB hands she can be a fucking waste of space for a few issues then never be mentioned again by anyone ever, as if her membership never actually happened.

#6 Gilgamesh

Hey look another guy whos really fucking strong and can hit shit. But this one wears a bull on his head for some reason.

And that's basically Gilgamesh in a nutshell. He never got much of a personality beyond that, though I will say he's aptly named cause I've basically forgotten everything he ever did, even when I remember the comic books he appeared in.

#5 Ares

Ares is BMB's 4th entry on this list......BUT he actually DID something while on the team. He betrayed them and joined the Dark Avengers. Cause reasons. Never really explained reasons (well other than he was on the team and they needed to clear out the God Slot so Thor could return, in keeping with yet another BMB pattern) but I'm sure he had them.

Which is actually the same thing that can be said about him joining the team. He's opposed them for decades cause of his brother's (Hercules) membership on the team...but after Iron Man offered him enough money, I guess he got over it or something....well at least till he randomly didnt and joined the Dark Avengers.

I guess sometime characterization (or bungling it) and doing shit is worse than doing nothing, cause I like him less on the team then I do others BECAUSE of what he did and didnt explain why.

On the upside while he defected between panels, he didnt quit that way. He actually rejoined the team later after he realized that the Dark Avengers wanted to kill ALL the god (him included)....only to be ripped in half by the Sentry about 2 panels later....but hey at least we saw his exit.

#4 Ronin/Echo

And the current count for BMB is now 5 entries.  Honestly I kinda like the concept of Echo, shes basically the deaf daredevil, and I think, used right she could be a really cool member of the team. But that never happened. Instead she was basically forgotten about for 20 issues after she joined the team. She turns up randomly in Hawkeyes bed, and everyone acts like shes been on the team all along, despite again, not having appeared in nearly two years. She sticks around for about 2 issues and then in typical BMB fashion, is never seen again. I assume she quit the team....but with anyone who apparently can hide for 2 years and not have anyone notice....well who knows?

#3 Protector

The good news for Brian Michael Bendis is this is his last entry. The bad news is, its number 6.

Ok so Protector joins the team because.......I'm not actually sure, he joined the dark avengers by accident, so the real avengers let him on their team. His powers are apparently based on a space spider (though he basically never used them), which not really needed at a time the team already had Spider Man and Spider Woman.

Then he turned traitor and betrayed the team, cause....um I dont know really, since he changed his mind a couple issues later....but got kicked off the team. But hey at least he got to exit on Panel, which was rare for a Bendis creation.



#2 Black Widow

Ok, so heres the entry thats going to shock people who know me the most. Not because Black Widows on this list....but because shes not number 1.

Cause yea, I really hate black widow on the avengers. Now dont get me wrong, shes actually a cool ass character....she just shouldnt be on the team at all.

The Avengers dont kill. Black Widow is the worlds best assassin and spy. So shes a member of a team in which she cant actually USE half her skill set (assassination) and the team doesnt tend to do intel work, for there is no chance to use the other.

I'll be honest, I actually really liked Black Widow during the association with the team during Stan Lee's run....because she wasnt on the team, and therefore was capable of using or threatening to us her "unique skills"without being bound by their rules. And honestly I like her on the SHIELD run Secret Avengers spy team, where she can both spy (being a shield spy team) and kill.

But on the mainstream, avengers, not only does she have no business being on the team, shes the only person on this list, where I cant see WHY the avengers would offer her the slot, shes only good at everything they wont do.


#1 Captain Britain

Chuck Austin was BY FAR the single worst avengers writer ever. Thankfully his run was also mercifully short. In fact he only had the time to introduce one new member to the team....a female Captain Britain.  Now Britain was a bystander who got killed during an avengers battle, only to be resurected with the power of Captain Britain.....but on one condition, she could never see her kids again, and any attempt by her to reveal her identity to them would result in her death and theirs.

So of course the Avengers did the only logical thing....they had the kids move into the mansion with them. Because thats a safe place for children, and and absolutely no risk they ever find out who Captain Britain really was. But then Disassembled happened and she got kicked off the team and moved back to England....with her kids. Cause consistency and logic. (although to be fair the writer responsible for that last bit wasnt Austin it was Bendis)

So there you have it, my top 10 least favorite Avengers....at least until I redo this list in a while after catching up.

And for those wondering the other 5 characters (other than Storm) I like on this list Red Hulk, Quake, Ares, Echo and Black Widow, even if I will only enjoy their non avengers stuff.