Hi there!
I’m your host Amanda McKnight and today we are going to be counting down our top 10
Dark Avengers.
But who are the Dark Avengers Introducing…
Captain Marvel.
But that’s not actually Captain Marvel.
The Sentry.
Okay, yeah, that’s the Sentry.
Ms Marvel.
Nope, not Ms Marvel.
Ares.
Wolverine.
Nope.
Hawkeye.
Noooo.
And the Amazing Spiderman.
Wait, is that VenomDark Avengers is a series of Marvel comics that explores a world where
the Avengers and SHIELD have disassembled and new team headed off by now-hero Norman
Osborn is created where our heroes’ roles are filled by mostly villains.
You know what they say, desperate times call for badass measures.
The comic series was originally created for DC use by writer Brian Michael Bendis but
ended up as part of the Marvel universe.
Here are your top 10 Dark Avengers. 10
Gorgon.
Gorgon is on the new Dark Avengers as their Wolverine.
Gorgon is a mutant with the ability to turn those he makes direct eye contact with into
stone.
He is also a master samurai and a member of the Hand.
As is typical in most villainous super hero teams, Gorgon actually has his own agenda
as we see in New Avengers issue #19.
He is working in tandem with Madame Hydra assisting the Dark Avengers while biding time.
Their plan is to claim the Dark Avengers as their own when Norman Osborn succumbs to his
own madness.
How do they know this is going to happen?
One, Gorgon is telepathic and two, they just assume it’s bound to happen eventually--honestly
they have a lot of comic book history to back them up.
Gorgon ends up cast as the Dark Avengers’ Wolverine which makes sense considering his
own vendetta against Wolverine.
The two have history where Gorgon kidnapped Wolverine, brain washed him, made him HYDRA’s
puppet while turning him against his fellow X-Men.
9 Toxic Doxie.
Toxic Doxie is Doctor June Covington.
She is a genetic scientist and also is criminally insane.
The type of criminally insane where you murder your own father when you’re 12 by running
him over with a tractor.
When we first meet her in the comic series Osborn, issue #1 she is in prison.
How did she get there?
By killing 18 people with a genetic mod that made their head’s explode during a prayer
meeting for special needs children…
at Christmas time.
… She happens to be in the same prison as Norman Osborn where he is placed after the
siege of Asgaard results in his capture and the temporary end of the Dark Avengers.
Osborn helps her and bunch of inmates escape only to turn himself back in so that she can
become his Doctor in prison (and using her mad science, possibly to help him transform
into a Super-Adaptoid).
Later her knowledge of genetics helps Toxic Doxie become the new Dark Avengers’ Scarlet
Witch. 8
Mac Gargan.
Who is Scorpion.
As Venom.
As Spider-Man?
Norman Osborn recruits his old friend Mac Gargan aka Scorpion, who is currently the
host of Venom to join the Dark Avengers as his Spiderman.
Of course, Venom is thrilled at the opportunity.
The only issue when being recruited is that Venom is kinda huge and out of control and
not super marketable for Osborn’s new team.
So Osborn gifts him a cannister which Venom eats that transforms him into a more under
control Venom.
Granted he still turns pretty monstrous when fighting enemies.
As is to be expected.
This is Mac Gargan as Venom after all.
7 Moonstone.
Standing in as Ms Marvel, Moonstone is one of the first Dark Avengers to be recruited
by Norman Osborn.
Moonstone is an old villain when it comes to the comics.
Also known as Karla Sofen, she is a psychologist & hypnotist whom we were introduced to in
the comic world while she was working alongside the villainous Dr Faustus.
She later manages to get her hands on a Kree moonstone
which she then absorbs.
The stone gives her superhuman powers and she adopts the name Moonstone.
In the comics, Moonstone is basically a villain to anyone who gets in her way.
She mostly looks out for her own selfish interests.
Moonstone as Ms Marvel ends up having to face Carol Danvers, the non-dark Avenger after
Danvers is resurrected in the 2009 Ms Marvel series issue #42.
These two have a bit of a history in the comics of duking it out and it is no less interesting
to see this time around.
Though Moonstone is about to lose to Danvers before Sentry steps in to save her, both Ms
Marvels are very well matched.
Moonstone’s abilities are comparable to Danvers.
The both share superhuman strength, durability, agility; flight; and the ability to produce
photonic blasts.
Although usually perceived as a villain, Moonstone does seem to become invested occasionally
when taking on a more heroic role which also makes her an interesting addition to the Dark
Avengers. 6
Ragnarok as Thor.
Really Ragnarok is Thor.
Sort of.
He is Thor’s clone.
Norman Osborn is able to recruit Ragnarok with some help from his friends at HYDRA after
his escape from prison, when he is rebuilding the Dark Avengers in the New Avengers comic
series.
Ragnarok was created by Reed Richards and Tony Stark and was supposed to have been destroyed.
However HYDRA some how managed to get hold of Ragnarok and give him as a gift to the
new Avengers and Osborn.
When Osborn asks why HYDRA has not made use of Ragnarok, Madame Hydra answers that the
clone is not in great shape and they did not have the funding to fix and awaken him.
However with HAMMER’s finances Ragnarok can finally be put to “good” use.
As we all know from the MCU Thor movie of the same name, Ragnarok is also the name of
the norse god of destruction.
Ragnarok meaning destruction, should give you a pretty good idea of what you can expect
when it comes to fighting Thor’s clone. 5
Skaar.
Son of Hulk.
Dark Avengers’ you know, Hulk.
Skaar is son of Caeira and the Hulk, growing up on Sakaar pretty much orphaned.
His dad had left the planet at that point and his mom was dead.
He is born on a wartorn Sakaar with a power passed on to him from his mom, referred to
as the Old Power.
A lot goes on in Skaar’s story but to summarize, he grows up having to deal with war & violence.
By the time he comes to earth he is strong, intelligent, grown up and seeking vengeance.
He ends up running into his dad and at first thinks he is pretty stupid as Savage Hulk
but then he meets Bruce Banner and they get along more.
Eventually Skaar ends up joining Osborn’s New Avengers but for his own reasons.
It appears he is working as a double agent.
When he finds out that the Dark Avengers are holding Captain America hostage, he shouts
“Avengers Assemble!” and the old Avengers come in to take out the Dark Avengers.
He later stays with the team when the Dark Avengers are passed back to under the control
of Luke Cage and go back to being villians under the control of the government like they
were when they were the Thunderbolts.
Basically Marvel’s version of Suicide Squad. 4
Daken.
Daken is recruited by Osborn soon after he takes control of the Dark Avengers for the
first time.
Daken is lured by the promise of a job.
Norman compliments Daken on beating up Wolverine to which Daken responds “That’s between
me and my father.”
Cut to a frame of Norman and the team looking shocked.
Norman smiles and instead of offering a job, offers him something even better, the opportunity
to piss off his father.
That’s right Daken, also known as Dark Wolverine, is the son of Wolverine and his now-dead wife,
Itsu.
So you guessed it, he stands in as our original Dark Avengers’ Wolverine.
Before the resurrection of the team with Gorgon.
Dakan has similar abilities to his dad, claws and enhanced healing, a similar level of broodiness
but is overall depicted as more charismatic.
He makes a great Dark Wolverine and a great Dark Avenger.
Feel free to check out the Dark Wolverine comics for even more Dakan.
3 Bullseye.
Best marksman in the Marvel universe.
He is also insane.
His father beat him when he was a kid and he grew up working only on his shot.
He’s colour blind and appears back in the 60s comics as a villain to Daredevil, Spiderman,
Elektra & Punisher.
Osborn recruits him straight from the Thunderbolts and makes him his Hawkeye.
Some would even say he is a better Hawkeye.
He’s a better marksmen and Osborn keeps him on meds to keep him a little less maniacal.
Though he still manages to bring a good amount of laughs to the comics in my opinion.
2 Normon Osborn as the Iron Patriot.
Following his televised defeat of the Skrull Queen who was disguised as Spider Woman, Norman
becomes the Nick Fury of the new organization HAMMER and the Iron Man of the new Dark Avengers.
When the team is originally formed Osborn is basically handed the keys to the SHIELD
HQ and manages to get past Tony Stark’s security measures with the assistance of Ghost
to get to all of Stark’s Iron Man suits.
Donning a suit himself, Osborn calls himself the Iron Patriot and is in charge of recruiting
& assembling the Dark Avengers and managing HAMMER—the new version of SHEILD, an acronym
originally created by Osborn without any meaning whatsoever.
He leaves it up to his employees to decide what the letters stand for.
Norman leads HAMMER and the Dark Avengers on many an adventure from defeating Morgan
Le Fay, to destroying Asgaard, to creating his own team of X-Men with Emma Frost as their
leader.
Good choice, Norman.
1 The Sentry.
Robert Renolds.
The strongest hero the world forgot.
The Sentry’s backstory is maybe the saddest and the best of all of our Dark Avengers.
A hero that earth has long forgot, he long ago had to be erased from everyone’s minds
in an effort to protect the world.
In the 2000 Sentry comic’s we discover that The Sentry is a hero who actually influenced
the heroes of today into becoming who they are, from Spiderman to Hulk.
Heck, Reed Richards was the best man at his wedding!
He is refered to as the strongest hero in planet earth multiple times but if you don’t
believe me, just check out the epic battle between the Hulk and Sentry in World War Hulk.
So how does he end up on the Dark Avengers?
The Sentry is a complex character who struggles with his all too epic power and a split personality
disorder.
Norman Osborn offers to help him with that as someone who has wrestled his own demons.
I think you can imagine how well that goes.
And that’s your top 10 Dark Avengers.
Let us know if you approve of this team in the comments below and if you’d like to
maybe seem them in the MCU or if you have another favourite Dark Avenger who you would
have liked to make the cut.
I’m Amanda McKnight, this is Top 10 Nerd and thanks for joining us.
Don’t forget to click that thumbs up & to subscribe, so you never have to miss another
nerdy list.