The Marvel Cinematic Universe has an Avengers problem. July of 2024 saw the beginning of the hype train for Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, with the announcements of the returns of Robert Downey Jr. and the Russo Brothers at San Diego Comic-Con. However, at this point, the one thing that is missing is who the Avengers will be in those movies. Ever since Captain America: Civil War, there’s only been one official Avengers team, the group seen at the beginning of Avengers: Endgame. However, since that movie, there’s been no indication that the Avengers are an extant entity in any of the new MCU movies or shows.
Videos by SocioLayers.com
However, there are plenty of characters who could make up the team in Doomsday and Secret Wars. This list is going to look at the ten MCU characters who would make the best team to deal with whatever multiversal shenanigans that the new Avengers movies will throw at them. They’re the best of the best and would make an amazing Avengers team.
Captain America
Avengers: Endgame finished with Steve Rogers gifting his shield to Sam Wilson, and Falcon and the Winter Soldier showed him finally take up the mantle of his best friend. Sam is finally getting his own Captain America movie with Captain America: Brave New World, and there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be the Captain America of the Avengers either. Sam has had one of the best character arcs of any MCU character, growing as a person and a hero, and he is ready to take up the mantle of leadership that was left to him.
Captain America is the most important member of the Avengers. He represents the best of the team and Sam has shown he’s ready to take up that position. He’s learned from the best and has shown that he can be the leader. It would be amazing to see a fully realized Sam Wilson as Captain America leading the Avengers into battle in the new movies, showing that Steve was right to trust him with the mantle of the world’s greatest hero. Sam has already been confirmed for Doomsday and Secret Wars, so this one is a no-brainer.
Captain Marvel
The Avengers need powerhouses and in the MCU, there are few more powerful than Captain Marvel. Carol Danvers was sold to fans as the most powerful hero in the MCU when she debuted, and was Nick Fury’s secret weapon. Her arrival on Earth saw her play a big role in the death of Thanos in Endgame, and her role in the Avengers post-Snap was to ply the spaceways and keep the peace, something only a powerful hero could have done. When the alternate past Thanos arrived in the present, she showed off her power, ripping through his ship and going one on one with the Mad Titan. Captain Marvel proved that she was exactly what she was billed as.
That said, her second movie, The Marvels, was the first MCU bomb, so there are some who would say she shouldn’t be on the team. However, that’s even more reason for her to join the team. Captain Marvel needs to be redeemed in the eyes of the fandom and the best way to do that is to have her act as the Avengers’ big gun in the battle against evil. Brie Larsen has been coy about Captain Marvel’s Avengers: Doomsday return, but the team is going to need their best powerhouses on the frontline, and that’s Captain Marvel in a nutshell.
Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange proved that he was a perfect Avenger in Avengers: Infinity War. Strange has everything an Avengers needs. He’s powerful, experienced, and smart as a whip. He gave Iron Man hope when he had none, and showed that he could actually battle Thanos on his own if he needed to. Doctor Strange on the Avengers gives the team access to magic, a wild power that has been proven to be one of the most potent in the MCU, and he has experience with the Multiverse, something that is definitely going to come in handy in Doomsday and Secret Wars.
Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange has also proven to be one of the more popular characters in the MCU. Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness was a billion-dollar movie and MCU fans love Strange. Cumberbatch has talked about Avengers: Doomsday, so there’s definitely a buzz around him on the team. Honestly, at this point, it wouldn’t feel like the Avengers without Strange there.
Hulk
Hulk fans aren’t the happiest in the MCU. Hulk’s character arc in Infinity War and Endgame is one of the more controversial, as many fans felt that he was misused in the movies. Many fans didn’t enjoy the Professor Hulk persona and wanted to see the Green Goliath cut loose on the one person who beat him decisively in the MCU — Thanos — and they never got that. Many also didn’t like his place in She-Hulk, feeling that it was just more Hulk slander. Now, obviously, just putting a character in the Avengers because some fans are disappointed isn’t the best reason, but there are definitely other reasons to bring Hulk onto the team in the new movies.
For one thing, it can continue his character arc. Showing an in-control Hulk in battle against powerful enemies is exactly what the doctor ordered and would make all of the fans happy. On top of that, Hulk is still one of the most powerful Avengers. There’s a reason why Hulk is the one that gets jobbed out to new villains — if they can defeat the Hulk, they are a danger to the entire team. However, we’ve reached a point where it’s time to show the Hulk in all smashing glory. The comics found the balance between a smart Hulk and a martial Hulk and the MCU needs to as well. Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars can use this new Hulk — one who is just as useful in the lab and planning attacks as he is smashing enemies — and show that the direction the character has been taken was the right one.
Thor
Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, in many ways, are a chance to redeem a lot of decisions made by Marvel Studios that fans haven’t been happy with. This is why Thor should return in the new Avengers films. Thor starred in one of the most panned movies of the post-Endgame MCU, Thor: Love and Thunder, and it’s about time that MCU fans got to see the Thor that comic fans get to see. The best way to do that is to have him front and center with the Avengers in Doomsday and Secret Wars.
Thor’s power level and fighting skill make him another no-brainer for the team. Anyone who wants a reason to see why Thor should be in the movies only needs to go back and rewatch Infinity War and Endgame again. He got one of the best character arcs in those two films and was the MVP of every battle sequence he was in. He singlehandedly almost defeated Thanos with all of the Infinity Stones and he’s only gotten more powerful since then. If anyone can be trusted with showing Thor at his best, it’s the Russo Brothers. Thor is a warrior the Avengers need.
RELATED: Fantastic Four: The Big Things Marvel’s First Steps Trailer Needs to Get Right
War Machine
War Machine has had quite an interesting few years in the post-Endgame MCU. He got an appearance in Falcon and the Winter Soldier and was then revealed to have been replaced as a Skrull at some point in Secret Invasion. War Machine was Tony Stark’s righthand man before Endgame and since then has become something of a punching bag. It’s about time to change that and make him the kind of Avenger he’s always been meant to be.
James Rhodes is a military veteran with years of experience in his Stark-built armor. His armor was tailor-made to take advantage of his skills. He’s spent years imprisoned by the Skrulls and should have a huge chip on his shoulder. War Machine has something to prove and the best way to prove that he’s one of the best is by joining the Avengers. War Machine has frankly been disrespected over the last few years and it’s time to change that. On top of that, it wouldn’t be the Avengers without someone in Stark armor on the team.
Star-Lord
Peter Quill’s story in the MCU is one of the best. When fans first met him, he was a loner and something of a joke, trying to get everyone to remember to call him by the grandiose name of Star-Lord. The Guardians of the Galaxy movies were all about him coming to terms with who he is and finally proving that he’s been worthy of the respect he craved all those years. Guardians of the Galaxy Volume Three ended with him on Earth, looking after his grandfather, and teased fans with “Star-Lord will return.” It’s time to pay off that tease and the best way to do so is on the Avengers.
Star-Lord spent years in space, dealing with all kinds of threats with the Guardians and on his own. He has exactly the kind of experience that the Avengers need. Plus, he needs to show the Avengers that he isn’t just the emotionally driven man who handed the Infinity Gauntlet to Thanos. He’s earned his place on the team.
Ms. Marvel
Iman Vellani is easily the biggest Marvel fan among the MCU actors. She brought the perfect fangirl to her role as Ms. Marvel and is charming every time she’s onscreen. She loves Ms. Marvel so much she’s even co-wrote the last several Ms. Marvel series. There’s no other actress or character that deserves to be on the Avengers in Doomsday and Secret Wars more than Vellani’s Ms. Marvel. There are a multitude of reasons to put her on the team.
There’s a lot of story left to tell with Ms. Marvel in the MCU. She’s a mutant, but is she also an Inhuman? Will she get more comic-accurate powers as well as the energy powers she already has? These questions need answers and the new Avengers films are the place to answer them. She also represents something very important for the Avengers — she’s the next generation of superheroes. Ms. Marvel doesn’t have the experience that some of her fellow heroes have, but she has the type of energy the team needs. Her exuberant love of being a superhero is refreshing and makes her the perfect young gun for the Avengers.
Black Widow
If there’s one thing the Avengers need, it’s a Black Widow. Natasha Romanov played a key role in the team and even became its leader in the years following the Snap. While we can talk about how dirty the character was done in the latter days of the MCU, we at least got a great second Black Widow in Yelena Belova. Florence Pugh played the character wonderfully and every MCU appearance she’s made has been beloved by fans. She’s looking to be the linchpin of Thunderbolts*, but she also deserves a spot in the biggest spotlight in the MCU and that means making her an Avenger.
The new Black Widow is the perfect Avenger. She’s as skilled as her predecessor in battle, having spent years in the black ops world, and has shown that she’s willing to do whatever needs to be done to win. She’s even willing to sacrifice herself, showing that she has what it takes to be a hero. The Avengers needs a hero who is willing to go that extra mile, the one who is willing to get their hands dirty. Yelena Bolova is that hero and that’s why she’s perfect for the MCU’s biggest team in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars,
She-Hulk
She-Hulk: Attorney at Law gets a lot of flack it doesn’t deserve. Anyone out there yelling that the show isn’t comic-accurate has never actually read a She-Hulk comic. Anyone who tries to say that the moment she told the Hulk that she could control the Hulk inside her better than him was a big deal never actually watched the show, because the show showed her losing control of herself. She-Hulk learned a tough lesson in her show and that lesson makes her perfect for the Avengers.
She-Hulk is yet another powerhouse on a team full of them, but that’s a good thing. She’s also one of the most entertaining characters in the MCU, and that’s just as important as her power level. She still has a lot to learn about being a hero, and the best place she can learn what she needs to know is with the Avengers. Plus, let’s be real — getting to see her and the Hulk cut loose on the team’s enemies would be an amazing action sequence. She-Hulk has everything the Avengers need — the power, a unique perspective on the superhero world, and the kind of humor that fans expect from the MCU. She’s a perfect Avenger and it’s about time the rest of the world realizes that.
MCU Movies and TV shows can be streamed on Disney+.
