It’s rare that a comic book superhero team maintains a consistent roster throughout its existence — especially one that’s been around since 1963, like The Avengers. Throughout the decades, membership in the club known as Earth’s Mightiest Heroes has fluctuated and changed to the point where it feels like it has — at one point or another — consisted of nearly every member of the Marvel Universe.
The following list is, by no means, meant to be a commentary on the quality of the superheroes listed. These are simply heroes that most don’t really think of when thinking of The Avengers. And obviously we’re all thinking about the Avengers right now.
The Two-Gun Kid
The Two-Gun Kid has a twisty back story. Essentially he’s a kid and he has two guns. OK, that’s not true.
In actuality, he’s a Harvard-educated lawyer from the 19th century named Matt Hawk who decides to become a pistol-shootin’ masked crimefighter in the old west thanks to the tutelage of Ben Dancer. At one point, the Two Gun Kid moves forward in time after fighting alongside the Avengers, who offer him membership. He and Hawkeye also become besties, because of shooting stuff, I guess.
Starfox
Starfox is also known as Eros of Titan and the brother of Thanos (the two really don’t get along — at all). While his powers include flight, strength and the ever popular healing factor, it’s his control over the emotions of others that gets him noticed. Basically, he can force anyone he wants to have the hots for him — or anyone else he chooses. This (among other things) was enough to get him Avengers membership — but it also got him tried on two different planets for sexual assault where his lawyer and the prosecutor was, at seperate times, She-Hulk, who had been wronged by Starfox.
Jack of Hearts
While the Heroes Reborn, er, “experiment” was running its course and all the major non-mutant heroes were sent to a “pocket universe”, someone had to keep an eye on the Avengers mansion. One of those heroes was Jack of Hearts, a half human/half alien dressed as a playing card. He had the ability to shoot blasts of “zero energy” from his hands, which he used as both a weapon and a propellant, allowing him to fly. Sadly, he blew up in outer space about 40 issues later but he was later brought back to life by Scarlet Witch and took out Scott Lang when he blew up on Earth this time. And then he came back again and killed a bunch of zombies.
Also, his real name is Jack Hart. Really.
Namor the Submariner
One of the earliest Marvel heroes (created when the company was still known as Timely Comics), it’s not so much surprising that Namor was a member of their flagship hero team but that it took him so long to join. It wasn’t until 1985 that the “first mutant” joined the team when he was all wrapped up in a case of the sads. It’s understandable that he waited that long, what with the responsibilities that come with being the ruler of Atlantis and all. Prior to joining the Avengers, he was a founding member of the Defenders along with Doctor Strange and The Hulk.
Swordsman
In Marvel lore, Swordsman (aka Jacques Duquesne) is Hawkeye’s former mentor turned adversary (at this point, a newcomer would be forgiven in thinking that the Avengers are made up of, like, 40% old pals of Hawkeye). Like Hawkeye, he’s one of those bad-guys-turned-good-guys that you hear about a lot, though he’s also a bad-guy-turned-good-guy-turned-bad-guy and then a good guy again. Swordsman died a hero when he saved Mantis, who then married a sentient piece of foliage that had taken over Swordsman’s body.
Beast
While there have been plenty of other X-Men to join the ranks of The Avengers (such as Storm and Wolverine, for example), The Beast was the first. One of the original X-Men, Hank McCoy actually joins the Avengers shortly after gaining his blue fur and catlike appearance. Even though The Beast is best remembered as a member of the X-Men, IGN actually named him the 7th best Avenger of all time. Sadly, we’re not likely to see Beast on the big screen beside Captain America and Thor since he is very much a FOX property and X-Men staple. Which is a shame, because the on-screen Avengers could always use a few new recruits.