You mean more than just guys with their own books?
I love that various Avengers show up in that picture multiple times. Iron Man's there in like four different suits. Hawkeye is there as both Hawkeye and Clint Barton. Pym as Ant-Man, Yellowjacket and Giant-Man, twice! And the Wasp just showed up three times in different outfits, 'cause she's like that.
I'd kill for an Avengers team with some solid B-tier and C-tier Avengers like USAgent, Yellowjacket 2/Rita DeMara, Living Lightning, Jocasta, Stingray, Ant-Man 2/Scott Lang, Black Knight, Swordsman, etc. One where the 'big names' are people like Pym, Wasp, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Wonder Man. No Cap, no Tony, no Thor. Nobody who can carry their own regular monthly.
But I've always been a Lower Decks kind of guy. I want the same for a secondary Justice League title (no trinity, but folks like Booster Gold, Vixen, Black Lightning, Aztek, Hawkwoman, Black Canary, Icemaiden/Ice, Green Fury/Fire, Arsenal/Red Arrow, etc.)
Tbh, I'm not a fan of some of the lesser known ones. Some of them have generic abilities, personalities or designs (Wonder Man IMO). But I agree with your general sentiment. At least there could be one Avengers team with lesser known characters. Maybe replace Iron Man, Captain America and Thor with War machine, US Agent and Beta Ray Bill, and fill out the rest with guys like Scott Lang, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Quicksilver, Wasp, etc.
Who are some of the surprisingly long-tenured avengers? I'm thinking about the fact that Blade has technically has more appearances as an Avenger (between Aaron's Avengers and Ewing's Mighty Avengers) than as a member of the Midnight Sons or of the Nightstalkers. Any other characters that have had long runs with the team but aren't really associated with it?
I'm with Sutekh on this one. Stingray, Jocasta, Swordsman, and others like Jack of Hearts are some of my favorite Avengers, and I'd love to see them again, along with Vision, Hank Pym and the other B listers. And you're not a fan of generic abilities, but you want to replace the big three with guys that are direct knock-offs of them? No thanks.
I should've been more clear. By generic, I means guys like Wonder Man, Hercules, Nova, Jack of Hearts, Swordsman, etc., who don't have unique or distinct power combos but aren't based on previous heroes. I tend to like the ones with derivative abilities who are based on previous ones, like Iron Man and War Machine, or Spider-Man and Spider-Woman.