What team gets more respect in The Marvel Universe as a whole?

[babyblob]

The Fantastic Four is Marvel's first family. They have very publicly saved the world many times over.

The Avengers are Earth's mightiest heroes. Their roster is full of the greatest heroes. Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Black panther.

So which team gets more respect from the Marvel Universe as a whole. I am talking from average citizens, the government, law enforcement, and even other heroes?

[XPac]

Avengers have a higher floor but a lower ceiling.

FF doesn't quite get the same spotlight, but they usually avoid the drama the Avengers often get stuck in.

[DrNewGod]

Assuming we're talking about the in-universe Earth populace of the MU, I'd say that question has had different answers at different times, swinging between the FF and the Avengers. A count of the times would probably go the FF's way based on their very public identities and the nature of what they've fought.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

The Fantastic Four are more loved and respected across the MU on the whole mostly because the FF have generally been consistent to the Big 4 (Reed, Sue, Johnny, Ben). The Avengers though have shuffled and changed their roster multiple times over.

People respect and like the Avengers but at the same time this is a team that has been controversial whether it's Cap's Kooky Kwartet (recruiting former supervillains like Hawkeye, Quicksilver, Wanda), bringing Namor into the team (around the time of UNDER SIEGE, which sparked protests outside Avengers Mansion), the entire Hank-Janet Saga (which went public where people knew that an Avengers founder was a wife-abuser and went to jail, admittedly he was framed for the latter but it did tarnish him). Then you have CIVIL WAR and the spectacle of the Avengers breaking into schisms and publicly fighting each other and also sending people they disagree into Negatize Zone Gulags.

Among the mutants, the Avengers' name is mud: they didn't do anything about Genosha, they didn't do anything against the Sentinels, one of their own (Wanda) decimated and depowered most mutants, and so on and so forth.


To be honest, the Avengers should be disliked far more in the MU than they already are because their history reads like a litany of screwups and that's based on what we can presume the public knows. I haven't brought up stuff like the Illuminati and their shenanigans with the Incursions, most of which didn't play out among the populace.

The FF haven't always been perfect (and they have at times been involved with the Avengers in stuff that goes down above) but collectively, they've been spotless by comparison.

That said, after EMPYRE, I think the reputation of the Avengers and the FF is a bit higher than it was before.

[Will Evans]

Public and media wise. I’d say the Fantastic Four.

Other teams deal with and are looked upon with public political backlash (Avengers, Defenders), racism (X-men, other races), or inexperienced punks (New Warriors, Champions).

[Iron Maiden]

The Fantastic Four are more loved and respected across the MU on the whole mostly because the FF have generally been consistent to the Big 4 (Reed, Sue, Johnny, Ben). The Avengers though have shuffled and changed their roster multiple times over.

People respect and like the Avengers but at the same time this is a team that has been controversial whether it's Cap's Kooky Kwartet (recruiting former supervillains like Hawkeye, Quicksilver, Wanda), bringing Namor into the team (around the time of UNDER SIEGE, which sparked protests outside Avengers Mansion), the entire Hank-Janet Saga (which went public where people knew that an Avengers founder was a wife-abuser and went to jail, admittedly he was framed for the latter but it did tarnish him). Then you have CIVIL WAR and the spectacle of the Avengers breaking into schisms and publicly fighting each other and also sending people they disagree into Negatize Zone Gulags.

Among the mutants, the Avengers' name is mud: they didn't do anything about Genosha, they didn't do anything against the Sentinels, one of their own (Wanda) decimated and depowered most mutants, and so on and so forth.


To be honest, the Avengers should be disliked far more in the MU than they already are because their history reads like a litany of screwups and that's based on what we can presume the public knows. I haven't brought up stuff like the Illuminati and their shenanigans with the Incursions, most of which didn't play out among the populace.

The FF haven't always been perfect (and they have at times been involved with the Avengers in stuff that goes down above) but collectively, they've been spotless by comparison.

That said, after EMPYRE, I think the reputation of the Avengers and the FF is a bit higher than it was before.

Yeah, the Avengers have a consistency problem. But let's not forget that Reed was a big player in the Illuminati at the time of the incursions, even though the public knew nothing about the group. Additionally Reed and Doctor Strange made a big mistake when they decided to shut Doom out during the incursions. Doom tapped into some unorthodox assets like the Mad Thinker, who lead them to the Molecule Man who was the key to it all. Ultimately, Reed and T'Challa (I think he helped there) solution of life rafts with limited capacity didn't cut it.

[Riv86672]

Avengers have a higher floor but a lower ceiling.

FF doesn't quite get the same spotlight, but they usually avoid the drama the Avengers often get stuck in.

Assuming we're talking about the in-universe Earth populace of the MU, I'd say that question has had different answers at different times, swinging between the FF and the Avengers. A count of the times would probably go the FF's way based on their very public identities and the nature of what they've fought.

That’s about right.

[Kaitou D. Kid]

The Fantastic Four get more respect but it's mostly due to the Avengers having more than 4 members and not all of them having a great public image. If we compare only Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, and Captain Marvel to the FF, the comparison is more even. I'd say those 4 edge out the FF in terms of respect. They are more than just respected, they are looked at as icons that embody something (to paraphrase Norman from Dark Reign when he was looking for a Captain America and Iron Man replacement). The FF on the other hand are more like very popular celebrities.

[OopsIdiditagain]

No one hates on the Power Pack. F4 have gotten a little bit of disrespect thanks to Reed.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

The Fantastic Four get more respect but it's mostly due to the Avengers having more than 4 members and not all of them having a great public image. If we compare only Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, and Captain Marvel to the FF, the comparison is more even.

Not sure about that. Captain America has at times been controversial (for good and bad reasons). He's "loyal to nothing but the dream" so he has at times done stuff like say expose Richard Nixon as the head of the Secret Invasion and gone "Nomad". He was also the leader of the faction of CIVIL WAR i.e. Team Cap that somehow (and inexplicably) ended with the lower public opinion than Iron Man mostly because newscommenters felt knowing about myspace was more important to fight over than the Constitution. Then he died for a while, and came back later fought another civil war against Avengers during Time Runs Out, and then recently had the "Hydra Cap" thing which still stains his "good name" even if that was Stevil.

In the case of Iron Man, he was an a--hole before he became a superhero, and after becoming a superhero is known for his alcoholic binges, his self-righteousness and so on.

Thor...probably does have the best reputation on 616 Earth mostly because he's not always involved with Midgard. Captain Marvel is still somewhat new.

I'd say those 4 edge out the FF in terms of respect. They are more than just respected, they are looked at as icons that embody something (to paraphrase Norman from Dark Reign when he was looking for a Captain America and Iron Man replacement). The FF on the other hand are more like very popular celebrities.

Reed Richards is acknowledged and celebrated as the greatest scientist of 616. That hasn't changed one bit. Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm are universally beloved figures. Ben Grimm himself might be the most loved hero of 616. Susan Storm is an ex-Shield agent and highly respected as well.

So the FF are just as much icons as they are celebrities.

[Tony Stark]

I’d say FF in universe. They’ve mostly been the same group of people and have had their identities always known so the public trust them.

[PCN24454]

Welp. We know it's not the X-Men.

[Digifiend]

Not sure about that. Captain America has at times been controversial (for good and bad reasons). He's "loyal to nothing but the dream" so he has at times done stuff like say expose Richard Nixon as the head of the Secret Invasion and gone "Nomad". He was also the leader of the faction of CIVIL WAR i.e. Team Cap that somehow (and inexplicably) ended with the lower public opinion than Iron Man mostly because newscommenters felt knowing about myspace was more important to fight over than the Constitution. Then he died for a while, and came back later fought another civil war against Avengers during Time Runs Out, and then recently had the "Hydra Cap" thing which still stains his "good name" even if that was Stevil.

In the case of Iron Man, he was an a--hole before he became a superhero, and after becoming a superhero is known for his alcoholic binges, his self-righteousness and so on.

Thor...probably does have the best reputation on 616 Earth mostly because he's not always involved with Midgard. Captain Marvel is still somewhat new.

People should know that she used to be Ms. Marvel. Unfortunately she has the same problem as Tony, she's a recovered alcoholic. The revelation of her being half-Kree hurt her reputation too, as people thought she'd been hiding it when in reality she'd not long known herself.

[Frontier]

The FF are probably the biggest Superhero celebrities but The Avengers are probably what the populace generally thinks of as the A-list, big tier, Superhero team of the world and the bar to compare everyone else to. You get a strong sense of this during the Busiek run.

[Revolutionary_Jack]

The FF are probably the biggest Superhero celebrities but The Avengers are probably what the populace generally thinks of as the A-list, big tier, Superhero team of the world and the bar to compare everyone else to. You get a strong sense of this during the Busiek run.

It changes from writer to writer I think, and also era to era. The Fantastic Four were unquestionably the apex team in the '60s and 70s. The event which put Marvel Earth on the map of Marvel Cosmic is the Four stopping Galactus from gobbling it up. So across the Marvel Cosmos, Earth is known for being the planet of the Fantastic Four rather than the planet of the Avengers.

I'd say in 616 Marvel -- Fantastic Four and The Avengers -- are on par with equal prestige. The X-Men are the bad boys/all-in-your-face/rebels "who don't play by your rules, man". The Avengers have the title "Earth's Mightiest Heroes" but "mighty" does not mean best/great/most loved.