The Avengers team is Marvel’s most iconic roster of superheroes.
Whether you’ve religiously read all of the team’s volumes in the comics, or you’re
a fan of their big screen adaptation in the MCU, We’re specifically looking at characters
who have been on the Avengers roster and alternate versions of them from different universes
within the Marvel multiverse who would make for an interesting addition to the team in
their place.
And in order to keep things parred down, we’re looking at characters from the first two iterations
of the Avengers team in the comics.
So with that in mind, let’s get to it!
10 Super-Soldier We’re starting off our list with a number
that would be an awesome addition to the Avengers roster, but would feasibly never manage to
even be considered for the team in the regular 616 universe.
That’s because he’s an amalgamation of Steve Rogers and Superman.
This is Super Soldier, a product of the combined DC and Marvel Amalgam universe in which various
characters from each publisher were merged together to create new individuals.
It’s a neat concept, and gave us a lot of interesting characters.
Naturally, it makes sense that Captain America and Superman would make a could match for
each other, with the hero gaining his abilities thanks to the super soldier formula which
was created thanks to cellular samples from an alien corpse.
He can do everything Cap and Supes can do, so needless to say, that’s impressive.
But damned if DC would ever let him join a 616 Avengers team, that’s for sure.
9 Hawkeye 2099 A 2099 version of Hawkeye appeared in Secret
Wars, and he’s really dope.
So 2099 is a Marvel Comics imprint that initially began being published in 1992 as one possible
future in the Marvel universe.
It’s meant to take place 100 years in the future (and initially was titled Marvel 2093,
which is clearly less catchy).
Anyway, this Hawkeye shows up in Secret Wars 2099 issue 1 from 2015 as part of Alchemax’s
Avengers team.
Named Max (last name never revealed), he differs from the traditional iterations of Hawkeye
by having had his DNA mixed with a hawk, which gave him real claws and wings.
8 Natasha Stark Here we have an alternate version of Iron
Man hailing for Earth 3490!
And it’s a unique one; this Iron Man is actually Iron Woman, born Natasha Stark rather
than Tony.
She’s exactly like Tony in the sense of having the same abilities as 616 Stark, and
an almost identical suit of armour, except it’s referred to as her Iron Woman armour,
of course.
Here’s where it gets really neat, though.
Because this alternate version of Stark is a woman, Civil War never happens.
They were a deterrent to each others’ more aggressive behaviour.
Instead, Natasha gets involved with Captain America Steve Rogers, the two marry, and the
Civil War event never occurs on Earth 3490.
She first appeared in Dark Reign Fantastic Four issue 2 in 2009 when Reed Richards was
in search of alternate realities in which Civil War had ended differently.
7 Ant-Man Wolverine Secret Wars gave us a slew of alternates of
various characters.
This includes a version of Ant-Man who is Wolverine.
Or rather, a version of Wolverine who operates under the Ant-Man mantle.
First appearing in Secret Wars Battleworld issue 3, this little Logan has the same powers
as those who have operated under the Ant-Man mantle.
And tiny claws to boot!
How fun.
This Ant-Man wolverine was one of the many alternate versions of Wolverine who were brought
together in an attempt to fight a pacifist version of Wolverine, aka Monk, by Mojo.
These other Wolverines involve another alias of Hank Pym’s, Giant Man, who, as you guessed
it, was a Wolverine who could also grow in size.
6 Janet van Dyne of Earth 1610 This version of the Wasp is from the Ultimate
universe of Earth 1610.
While her fate is a pretty brutal one (and her relationship with Pym being textbook domestic
abuse), she possesses something that Van Dyne of 616 does not; the ability to actually transform
into a wasp-human hybrid.
Born a mutant, her mutation gave her insect like traits that also expanded to her behaviour.
She could lay eggs and eat insects, which yes, is kind of gross.
But the benefits at least outweigh the downsides.
When she would reduce in size via the force of her will, she would grow a pair of insect-like
wings from her back.
She retained her normal strength when reducing in size, and could control the exact proportions
of that size, although her body contained a natural neurological reflex preventing her
from shrinking below a specific size.
And, she also had an ability called bio-electrical blasts, in which she produced energy that
she called her Wasp Stings.
She could still use these blasts when at full size, which was essentially the equivalent
of being struck by a lightning bolt.
5 Iron Maniac (Earth 5012) Okay, sure, we’re looking at an Iron Man
here who is technically a little off his rocker.
Anthony Stark of Earth 5012, who calls himself Iron Maniac due to him believing that he is
the, I quote, “sole survivor of a sane world living in a backwards, insane world”, is
from an alternate timeline where most Avengers members had been slain by the alien Titannus.
During this period, Reed Richards became power hungry, turned his back on the remaining heroes,
and Stark ends up being scarred by an attack from the Human Torch.
Essentially, he turns into a Victor Von Doom-esque character, setting up his base in Latveria
in order to take over the world and save it from Richards.
Compared to the original Tony, his body contains additional cybernetic enhancements, and has
developed a technology called power dampeners, which, in his timeline, he used to counter
act the Fantastic Four’s powers.
4 Weapon Hex Weapon Hex is the product of the Infinity
Wars story line in which multiple characters were merged together.
More on that later.
Weapon Hex is an amalgamation of Scarlet Witch and X-23, aka Laura Kinney, Wolverine’s
‘cloned daughter’ of sorts.
Her origin story is an amalgamation of both character’s origins, with the result being
a character who has the reality warping abilities of Wanda Maximoff and the adamantium skeleton
and claws of Laura Kinney.
Essentially, she’s Scarlet Witch with a defensive and melee upgrade, mixed with a
dose of X-23’s inherent trauma from being the literal creation of an experiment.
3 Storm Thor (Earth 904) This alternate version of Thor is one in which
Storm becomes the Goddess of Thunder.
This occurred in an issue of Marvel’s hypothetical series, What If? in volume 2 issue 12 in 1990,
within a story titled What If the X-Men had stayed in Asgard?
The story followed an instance in which the X-Men and New Mutants found themselves in
Asgard (if the title didn’t give it away already), with some of the mutants returning
to Earth and others staying put.
This led to a new age of X-Men on our home planet, and a bunch of different X-Men members
the likes of Rogue, Nightcrawler, Mirage, Sunspot and Cypher adopting an Asgardian way
of life.
Storm ended up becoming the new god of thunder due to Thor being trapped in the form of a
Midgard frog.
When Hela and Karnilla conspired to steal Storm’s soul, Storm bested them, and Thor
released.
Thor renounced the throne, opting to go live on Earth, and gave the throne to Storm, who
became the Queen of Asgard since Odin had died.
She also had her own hammer to wield, called the Stormbringer.
And hey, having a kick ass version of Storm replace Thor on the Avengers?
Count us in.
2 Maestro Hulk Hailing from the dystopian future of Earth
9200, Maestro Hulk is an alternate version of the Hulk who is a horrible tyrant.
He first appeared in the 1992 story The Incredible Hulk Future Imperfect issue 1.
Now despite him being literally insane and a complete obsessive sadist, he is a version
of the Hulk who is more experienced and stronger than the regular 616 version.
The 616 version was ultimate able to best him (and thus implying that Meastro’s demise
was actual the catalyst event that created the Hulk in the first place - there was a
whole time displacement thing that happened).
That being said, let’s play a game of hypotheticals here.
If Maestro was actually a good guy, he would be a massive asset to the Avengers team.
He’s got all the benefits of being the hulk - the super strength, speed, stamina, durability,
the regenerative healing factor, capable of absorbing and resisting radiation, resistance
to mind control, all that fun stuff, WHILE maintaining his genius level intellect in
this form, and is immortal.
He’s like an upgraded, although mad, version of the Hulk.
1 Soldier Supreme Soldier Supreme is one of the more recently
created alternates on our list.
He is an amalgamation of Captain America and Doctor Strange, a product of the infinity
wars story line, in which Gamora, using the infinity gems, folded reality in half and
created something called Warp World.
This merged many characters into one, with Steve Rogers and Stephen Strange becoming
Stephen Rogers.
Their origin stories were merged, their powers were merged, and so were their aesthetics.
This results in a version of Captain America who can do all of the things that Doctor Strange
can do.
In other words, Cap got a serious upgrade.
There we have it friends!
What other alternate versions would you want to see be a part of the 616 Avengers?
Or the MCU avengers?
Play hypothetical with us and comment below!