What would be your initial Avengers line-up? And how about the first bad guy?

[Mister Mets]

If you were starting the Avengers again from scratch, what would the initial line-up be? And who would their first villain be?

For context, here's what they've done in the past...

The original Avengers were Iron Man, Thor, Antman, Wasp and the Hulk, with Captain America joining pretty quickly.

The Heroes Reborn Avengers were (I think?) Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hellcat, Swordsman, Scarlet witch and Vision

The original Ultimates were Nick Fury, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Giant-Man and the Wasp.

The MCU line-up in the first movie was Nick Fury, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hulk and Hawkeye

So, if Marvel started a new superhero universe now what should the original lineup of the Avengers be? And what would be their first villain?

Let's keep the line-up at seven members max.

My choices...
Iron Man, Captain America and Thor are the big three.
The Hulk is iconic, and complicates matters.
Black Panther gets to the popularity of Wakanda, and allows for international complications. He can also be part of Cap's return (if Captain America is in Wakanda.)
Captain Marvel can be used to seed Thanos, and she is the most prominent female Marvel superhero (aside from maybe Storm who doesn't have an association with the Avengers.) Mar-vell can be an early casualty. He can be the one the team avenges.
Wasp can set up a mystery about Henry Pym going missing. But we don't need to start with both of them, since the team has enough scientists and straight white guys.

As for the first villain, I'd go with Doctor Doom. He's an A-lister. He can easily unite disparate heroes by stealing from Wakanda, Asgard, Tony Stark, and the Kree. He's not primarily tied to one Avenger. Doombots and Latverian soldiers would prevent the first story from the Avengers just fighting one guy. And he can have a rematch in a later volume when he creates a supervillain team, and can pose a bigger challenge to a more experienced Avengers.

[chicago_bastard]

The MCU line-up in the first movie was Nick Fury, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hulk and Hawkeye

I don't think Fury is considered an Avenger in the MCU.

[Frontier]

The original line-up from the comics.

[CaptainUniverse]

Well, seeing as the Avengers were originally started in the 60's with characters available at the time I would like to propose a universe where the 90's was the first time we saw the Avengers, although some changes would need to be made to backstories and such. My line up would be:

BIG THREE:
U.S. Agent (Captain America died during World War II, but his remains were found in the Atlantic and his perfectly preserved DNA allowed John Walker to be infused with a perfectly replicated Super Soldier serum thanks to Stark-Oscorp's team of elite scientists)
War Machine (Tony made the Iron Man armor in this universe but did not stay Iron Man, instead he asked his bodyguard James Rhodes to take on the persona and it evolved from there)
Thunderstrike (Donald Blake never finds Mjolnir, instead Erik Masterson finds it years later while Donald and Jane are enjoying the married life with kids)

EVERYONE ELSE:
She-Hulk (Bruce is a mindless monster at this point in time, unable to be an Avenger so Jen took his place)
Sensational Spider-Man (Ben Reilly is given the mantle of Spider-Man after Peter loses his powers, decides to move on and take both Mary Jane and their newborn daughter Mayday to PROJECT PEGASUS where Peter will be working with the Squadron Supreme to help them get home which ultimately results in Peter, Mary Jane and Mayday going to live on Earth-712 with the Squadron Supreme as part of an interdimensional historical exchange program)
Legacy (Genis-Vell) (His father was a hero to Earth, Genis-Vell is hoping he can be the same and live up to his father's name)
X-Man (for that X-Men connection)

BIG BAD:
This is the 90's so we are going X-TREME, brah! The first villain the Avengers face is ONSLAUGHT, the big bad of the late 90's, and his army of Sentinels. The X-Men have been put out of commission almost right away, so it's up to the glorious new 90's superhero team The Avengers to stop him on their own!

[K7P5V]

The original line-up from the comics.

Agreed, especially after The Avengers found Cap...


Pictured above (clockwise): Wasp; Cap; Iron Man; Thor

For the last (3) three spots, my choice would be these yahoos...

• Hawkeye
  
  
• Wonder Man
  
  
• Yellowjacket

As for the villain, my choice would be...

Ultron

[dkrook]

Thor
Black Panther
Spider-Man
Blue Marvel
Captain America
Scarlett Witch
Iron Man
Monica Rambeau

This group would only be tested properly if Kang was the enemy seeking to subjugate earth 616 to make it his own throne world in his aspiration to rule our universe.

Btw, why does everyone seem to forget Black Panther was an old school Avenger?

[Steroid]

Monica Rambeau
Blue Marvel
Hercules
Wasp
Songbird
Hawkeye
Quake

First villain would be Nyx.

[etrumble]

Black Panther
Henry Pym/Ant-Man/Giant-Man
Monica Rambeau
Scarlet Witch
Vision
Wasp
Wonder Man

T'Challa and Henry Pym are experimenting on vibranium, opening an entrance to the Microverse. While they are lost, M'Baku makes a play for Wakanda. The Avengers gradually acquire team members, find their comrades and restore T'Challa to the Wakandan throne. The good guys win and celebrate their victory.

Last page of the first arc has the Grim Reaper appear, saving M'Baku and kidnapping Wonder Man, critically injuring Vision, Grim Reaper's "false brother."

Lethal Legion are the big bads for the next arc, requiring the Avengers to act as a team for the first time(they were a group of loosely allied individuals in the first arc).

[Mister Mets]

Thor
Black Panther
Spider-Man
Blue Marvel
Captain America
Scarlett Witch
Iron Man
Monica Rambeau

This group would only be tested properly if Kang was the enemy seeking to subjugate earth 616 to make it his own throne world in his aspiration to rule our universe.

Btw, why does everyone seem to forget Black Panther was an old school Avenger?

He is on my list and I started the thread.

It does depend on definitions and understanding of old school. I would go with the original Lee/ Kirby team (Hank Pym, Wasp, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk), and Cap's kooky quartet (Captain America, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver.) There's also an argument for Black Widow and Vision, although Black Widow was seeded earlier with her association with Hawkeye, while the Vision was connected to Wonder Man. He also had two of the best Avengers moments in the second half of the first 100 issues, when an android cried and when an android explained that he knew what he was doing with his willingness to kill to save the woman he loved.

Black Panther joined a bit later, and didn't really have iconic moments. The most memorable part of his early membership was the retcon that he joined to spy on American superheroes.

He's a bit like Hercules and Black Knight in that fans would agree that he was on the team relatively early, but that others had more impact.

[AdamFTF]

The Heroes Reborn Avengers were (I think?) Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hellcat, Swordsman, Scarlet witch and Vision.

Actually, Iron Man wasn't a member, but Hawkeye was. But by the end of the run, it was Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Vision, Ant-Man and Wasp. So, it basically ended up being what many people would have expected at the end.

I don't know about a new universe of comics, but I did have a fan concept for an Avengers movie back before it became an actual movie. The lineup was:

Captain America
Giant Man
Wasp
Hawkeye
Scarlet Witch
Quicksilver
Wonder Man

But it would have been sort of an in medias res thing with the team having existed for a while with suggestions that Iron Man and Thor had been members before. The first villains would have been Baron Zemo and the Masters of Evil.

[Mutant God]

World War II Avengers:
Captain America
Bucky
Union Jack
Miss America
Human Torch
Namor
Aarkus

Villain - Red Skull/HYDRA

[Username taken]

Thor (founding member)
Iron Man (founding member)
Captain America (founding member)
Black Panther (still the chairman)
Namor (representing Atlantis)
Sersi (representing the Eternals)
Wolverine (representing the Mutants)
Crystal (representing the Inhumans)

Main villain- Apocalypse.

[Wiccan]

Captain America
Iron Man
Thor
Hulk
Ant-Man
Wasp
Scarlet Witch
Quicksilver
Hawkeye

Aka just do the OGs and the "Kooky Quartet" as the same team. Vision and Captain Marvel (Carol) would be the next two to join.

[SecretWarrior]

In terms of size, power makeup, and iconic looks, the original team after Cap joined is as close to perfect as you can get. If you’re looking for more diversity, you could swap Hank for Bill Foster and Janet for Monica Chang (as Wasp) or some other unnamed spy from the Red Room. You’d still have the super powered, super science spy thing going from the MCU. I think there’s also a Giant-man of Indian origin now. Hulk doesn’t make sense as a team member and is more compelling as a trump card the team uses when they’re desperate. I’d otherwise keep Bruce on the run.



If you’re reforming the Avengers rather than forming them for the first time, you could replace Cap with one of the Bradleys, Thor with one of the Mastersons, and Tony with any number of genius characters in the Marvel universe, but I like the idea of Victor Mancha in the role. Keeps the classic look, iconography, and power balance.

[SecretWarrior]

Alternate ideas from my original post—

Elite Power Levels: Blue Marvel; Iron Man; Thunderstrike; and Phoenix.

Mid Tier and Street Tier Power Levels: Captain America (Steve); Daredevil (Matt); Power Man (Luke); Iron Fist (IDC); and either Black Widow (Natasha) or Black Cat (Felicia).

-----

MCU Alternatives:





Captain America -> Stays the Same

Iron Man -> Replaced by Black Panther

Thor -> Replaced by Star Lord

Black Widow -> Replaced by Wasp

Hulk -> Stays the Same

Hawkeye -> Replaced by Giant-Man