Make a new DEFENDERS team!

[Riv86672]

this is both cute and clever. Val is a super fun character

^^^Oh, thank you, And yeah she is!

[Aarkus]

Since I just listed some random characters I'd like to see together versus direct correlations of the seven classic Defenders characters, figured I'd put together a team directly swapping out those seven for appropriate replacements. With that in mind...

Doctor Voodoo (Doctor Strange) - When you need to replace the Sorcerer Supreme, why not do so with a former Sorcerer Supreme? This is Jericho Drumm's non-team to lead. Thought about Talisman but didn't want to front-load with Alpha Flight members since...

Sasquatch (The Hulk) - Walter Langowski is too good of a character, both in terms of personality and visually, to restrict him to Alpha Flight reboots or cannon fodder for other characters' storylines. Here he takes the role of gentle monster type.

Triton (Namor) - Rather than bring in one of Namor's relatives, I opted for the aquatic Inhuman. Triton and his family have been out of the spotlight for quite a while and this is an opportunity to bring at least him back to the mainstream.

Binary (Silver Surfer) - The new cosmic entity taking on Carol Danvers's previous persona, Binary possesses the same kind of outsider perspective on humanity as the Surfer does, albeit in a different way. Yeah, she's "deceased" right now, but welcome to comics.

Thundra (Valkyrie) - Fierce and powerful warrior woman from another time/place. Aside from a place in any kind of Earth-based mythology, she checks most of the boxes.

Hornet (Nighthawk) - With Nighthawk being one of the more "traditional" superheroes on the team, I wanted someone who fell into that role as well. Enter the former Prowler, who was also part of the "Defenders for a Day" storyline back in the day.

White Tiger (Hellcat) - Marvel has no shortage of cat-based characters, so after ruling out Tigra and even Puma due to already having an orange-furred team member, I opted for White Tiger. Probably put Angela del Toro in the role, versus Ava Ayala.

I just saw this now and I love it. Triton is a great idea and very underused character in general. I even have his action figure from the 90s Fantastic Four cartoon lmao

[Aarkus]

A space based Defenders team…:

THE STRANGER (Dr. Strange)
If the notoriously antisocial cosmic mystery man’s putting a team together, the stakes have got to be pretty high.

GLADIATOR (Namor)
The Shi’ar Empire’s personal super-man may be a pompous windbag, but he’s a POWERFUL pompous windbag.

XEMNU THE TITAN (The Hulk)
The original Hulk can make for a mighty, if volatile, ally.

CAPTAIN UNIVERSE (Silver Surfer)
The latest host of the Enigma Force doesn’t want to be a part of The Stranger’s team, he just knows he has to.

ANGELA (Valkyrie)
The mighty Asgardian warrior is surprisingly at home on space adventures.

DARKHAWK (Nighthawk)
Say what you will about this guy, but he always gives a hundred percent.

HEPZIBAH (Hellcat)
There’s no way the pistol packing pirate was going to involve the rest of The Starjammers in this sketchy scenario.

you already know my feeling on this one from that other thread lol but nice to see it here again. in case anyone missed it, we made some funny observations about how Angela would react to Gladiator and his over-the-top cockiness

[Aarkus]

Old Warriors = New Defenders (modifying/expanding on something I posted earlier)

JUSTICE (Vance Astrovik) not trying to directly parallel the OGs but also keeping them in mind, Vance would be the leader here, swapping in telekinesis for the "magic" slot
NAMORITA (Prentiss) for her cousin, if you must
NOVA (Richard Rider) for the cosmic slot
RAGE (Elvin Haliday) for the angry-brick slot
DARKHAWK (Chris Powell) pretty evocative of Nighthawk
ULTRAGIRL (Tsu-Zana "Susana" Sherman) female brick, evocative of Valkyrie
SCARLET SPIDER (Kaine) not a direct analog but he can hold the Hellcat slot since we are also gender-swapping...
TEMPEST (Angel Salvadore) no direct analog but she can take the Gargoyle slot if someone needs to
HUMMINGBGIRD (she of the long-ass civilian name) evocative of Moondragon
SILHOUETTE (Janelle Chord) just cuz she's a bad-ass. she can have the Devil-Slayer slot
SPEEDBALL (Robert Baldwin) no direct analog, but his hacking + goofy sense of humour are somewhat evocative of Beast
FIRESTAR (Angelica Jones) one more "Old Warrior", holding the Helstrom slot and rounding out this team

(side note: Robbie should have a long-lost brother who's power is slowing things down/stealing their momentum, instead of giving them more momentum... his codename would be WEEDBALL!)

[Riv86672]

I just saw this now and I love it. Triton is a great idea and very underused character in general. I even have his action figure from the 90s Fantastic Four cartoon lmao

^^^I second the loving it and the Triton appreciation!

Old Warriors = New Defenders (modifying/expanding on something I posted earlier)

JUSTICE (Vance Astrovik) not trying to directly parallel the OGs but also keeping them in mind, Vance would be the leader here, swapping in telekinesis for the "magic" slot
NAMORITA (Prentiss) for her cousin, if you must
NOVA (Richard Rider) for the cosmic slot
RAGE (Elvin Haliday) for the angry-brick slot
DARKHAWK (Chris Powell) pretty evocative of Nighthawk
ULTRAGIRL (Tsu-Zana "Susana" Sherman) female brick, evocative of Valkyrie
SCARLET SPIDER (Kaine) not a direct analog but he can hold the Hellcat slot since we are also gender-swapping...
TEMPEST (Angel Salvadore) no direct analog but she can take the Gargoyle slot if someone needs to
HUMMINGBGIRD (she of the long-ass civilian name) evocative of Moondragon
SILHOUETTE (Janelle Chord) just cuz she's a bad-ass. she can have the Devil-Slayer slot
SPEEDBALL (Robert Baldwin) no direct analog, but his hacking + goofy sense of humour are somewhat evocative of Beast
FIRESTAR (Angelica Jones) one more "Old Warrior", holding the Helstrom slot and rounding out this team

(side note: Robbie should have a long-lost brother who's power is slowing things down/stealing their momentum, instead of giving them more momentum... his codename would be WEEDBALL!)

^^^So cool!
I never thought of having one team step in for another like that.

[Riv86672]

The Defenders of Las Vegas…:

DOCTOR DRUID
The Doc has finally found his calling. In Las Vegas his “magic act” is going over like gangbusters, and he sells out 8-10 shows a week on the Strip, which is totally making him rich. Still, that old superhero itch flares up once in a while.

ARKON
The Warrior King’s finally found a place on Earth where his Royal status (and tons of gold) gets him the respect he deserves. It took some convincing to get him to help out w. the team, but really, a threat to the city is, indirectly, a threat to him, and Arkon does not abide threats.

JOE FIXIT
Joe’s boss Mr. Berengetti also sees Las Vegas getting destroyed as bad business, and directs a reluctant Joe to run w. the team and keep them…honest.

JACK OF HEARTS
Tired of his extended stay in space, Jack returns to Earth, moves to Las Vegas and…hires an agent. With his powers and playing card motif Jack sets up in a very Booster Gold Kind of way, picking up lucrative endorsement deals and selling merchandise hand over fist, capturing the occasional bad guy for the cameras. Imagine his surprise when an actual city level threat rears its head.

THUNDRA
It took some convincing on Thundra’s part, to get her man Arkon to join her on the team. With him on extended vacation (i.e. exiled to Earth) she’s loathe to relocate. She rather likes Las Vegas and so will help protect it.

THE HUMAN FLY
A Las Vegas icon, The Fly’s been putting on shows, performing stunts, and conducting super heroics there since the seventies, how, no one knows. I mean, is it even the original guy under the mask anymore?

JACKPOT
As she constantly plays both sides of the law against eachother, judging the odds is kind of Jackpot’s thing, and odds are these new “super friends” of hers will come in handy down the road.

[CaptCleghorn]

Going back to the basics of characters who didn't have a history of playing well with others and the fact that there were three of them, I've decided to rip off the DC Trinity.

The Aquarian starts as the Superman stand-in. New age pacificism and such. Cataclysmic Cosmic Cube connections create constant cacophony.
Thundra is a fun Wonder Woman for our group. Multi-dimensional antics galore.
And for the third, the Shroud. As Batman, he'd be the one to try to tie the three together (and THAT alliteration was unintended).

Not quite the Doc, Namor, Hulk combo, but one which provides the same challenges and potential.

[Riv86672]

Going back to the basics of characters who didn't have a history of playing well with others and the fact that there were three of them, I've decided to rip off the DC Trinity.

The Aquarian starts as the Superman stand-in. New age pacificism and such. Cataclysmic Cosmic Cube connections create constant cacophony.
Thundra is a fun Wonder Woman for our group. Multi-dimensional antics galore.
And for the third, the Shroud. As Batman, he'd be the one to try to tie the three together (and THAT alliteration was unintended).

Not quite the Doc, Namor, Hulk combo, but one which provides the same challenges and potential.

^^^I really like this.

[Kaijudo]

I just saw this now and I love it. Triton is a great idea and very underused character in general. I even have his action figure from the 90s Fantastic Four cartoon lmao

Haha...I remember that cartoon. Yeah, Triton has always been my favorite Inhuman, so it was fun to include him. Glad you (and Riv86672) dug it!

[Kaijudo]

Had fun doing the other character-swapping line-up so I figured I'd go one step further and do the same for the line-up of the New Defenders, the team reboot that occurred during the same original run. Not many characters carried over from the previous line-up so this is almost a completely new team. That being said...

Thundra (Valkyrie) - The sole classic carryover. Thundra was my replacement for Valkyrie in the other line-up and, hey, if it ain't broke...

Wolfsbane (Beast) - Since the new line-up consisted of three founding members from another well-known team, I wanted that (almost) same vibe here. The New Mutants worked great and Wolfsbane is a perfect fit for the furry shoes of Hank McCoy.

Cannonball (Angel) - Maybe not quite as lined-up as the others, but Cannonball was the most significant flying hero on the New Mutants so he gets the nod here for Warren Worthington III's spot.

Magma (Iceman) - And finally, the fire and ice dichotomy continues with Magma taking the spot held by Bobby Drake. Not a founding member but definitely a mainstay of the classic New Mutants roster.

Madame Web (Moondragon) - With the line-up already stacked with mutants, I wanted to avoid putting another one in the telepath role. Instead I went with the new Madame Web, Julia Carpenter, who also brings her spider-skills to the show and will soon be seen in something that vaguely resembles a movie.

Gorilla-Man (Gargoyle) - This was the toughest, since Gargoyle was my favorite member of this team (and the heart of it), but rather than go for another demon-ish character I leaned into the idea of a soul being trapped inside a separate immortal body. That brings us to Ken Hale, formerly of the Agents of Atlas, and hey, I finally use my avatar character for one of these lists!

Singularity (Cloud) - Like Cloud, the former member of A-Force is a naturally-occurring object put into human form, in this case a quantum singularity. Her naivete is a decent parallel for Cloud's original amnesic state.

[Riv86672]

Had fun doing the other character-swapping line-up so I figured I'd go one step further and do the same for the line-up of the New Defenders, the team reboot that occurred during the same original run. Not many characters carried over from the previous line-up so this is almost a completely new team. That being said...

Thundra (Valkyrie) - The sole classic carryover. Thundra was my replacement for Valkyrie in the other line-up and, hey, if it ain't broke...

Wolfsbane (Beast) - Since the new line-up consisted of three founding members from another well-known team, I wanted that (almost) same vibe here. The New Mutants worked great and Wolfsbane is a perfect fit for the furry shoes of Hank McCoy.

Cannonball (Angel) - Maybe not quite as lined-up as the others, but Cannonball was the most significant flying hero on the New Mutants so he gets the nod here for Warren Worthington III's spot.

Magma (Iceman) - And finally, the fire and ice dichotomy continues with Magma taking the spot held by Bobby Drake. Not a founding member but definitely a mainstay of the classic New Mutants roster.

Madame Web (Moondragon) - With the line-up already stacked with mutants, I wanted to avoid putting another one in the telepath role. Instead I went with the new Madame Web, Julia Carpenter, who also brings her spider-skills to the show and will soon be seen in something that vaguely resembles a movie.

Gorilla-Man (Gargoyle) - This was the toughest, since Gargoyle was my favorite member of this team (and the heart of it), but rather than go for another demon-ish character I leaned into the idea of a soul being trapped inside a separate immortal body. That brings us to Ken Hale, formerly of the Agents of Atlas, and hey, I finally use my avatar character for one of these lists!

Singularity (Cloud) - Like Cloud, the former member of A-Force is a naturally-occurring object put into human form, in this case a quantum singularity. Her naivete is a decent parallel for Cloud's original amnesic state.

^^^Interesting; nice use of gender flipping!

[Aarkus]

Had fun doing the other character-swapping line-up so I figured I'd go one step further and do the same for the line-up of the New Defenders, the team reboot that occurred during the same original run. Not many characters carried over from the previous line-up so this is almost a completely new team. That being said...

Thundra (Valkyrie) - The sole classic carryover. Thundra was my replacement for Valkyrie in the other line-up and, hey, if it ain't broke...

Wolfsbane (Beast) - Since the new line-up consisted of three founding members from another well-known team, I wanted that (almost) same vibe here. The New Mutants worked great and Wolfsbane is a perfect fit for the furry shoes of Hank McCoy.

Cannonball (Angel) - Maybe not quite as lined-up as the others, but Cannonball was the most significant flying hero on the New Mutants so he gets the nod here for Warren Worthington III's spot.

Magma (Iceman) - And finally, the fire and ice dichotomy continues with Magma taking the spot held by Bobby Drake. Not a founding member but definitely a mainstay of the classic New Mutants roster.

Madame Web (Moondragon) - With the line-up already stacked with mutants, I wanted to avoid putting another one in the telepath role. Instead I went with the new Madame Web, Julia Carpenter, who also brings her spider-skills to the show and will soon be seen in something that vaguely resembles a movie.

Gorilla-Man (Gargoyle) - This was the toughest, since Gargoyle was my favorite member of this team (and the heart of it), but rather than go for another demon-ish character I leaned into the idea of a soul being trapped inside a separate immortal body. That brings us to Ken Hale, formerly of the Agents of Atlas, and hey, I finally use my avatar character for one of these lists!

Singularity (Cloud) - Like Cloud, the former member of A-Force is a naturally-occurring object put into human form, in this case a quantum singularity. Her naivete is a decent parallel for Cloud's original amnesic state.

I dig this as well! just wanted to point out, you could use Sunspot for the Angel slot if you wanted to - they both came from money, as I recall

[kcekada]

I wouldn't mind Thundra as a Defender. I would love to see her as an Avenger, but unless we see a new WCA, don't think she has much chance of joining. Jack of Hearts would be a good addition.

[Brian Adkins]

Nico Minoru -magic
Rocket Raccoon- tech
The Invisible Woman- stealth
The Incredible Hulk- muscle

[Aarkus]

These guys would end up jokingly refering to themselves as "The B Team" lol

BLUE MARVEL leader, who spends as much time "moderating" the team as he does finding missions for them

BLACK BOLT the powerful monarch who would rather be at home with his queen and subjects, here begrudgingly out of respect for Brashear

BEN GRIMM another heavy hitter who would also prefer to be with his family, but likewise respects Brashear too much to turn him down

BROTHER VOODOO sorcerer with his own priorities, again taking time out his busy life to participate here out of respect for Brashear

BEAST constantly pre-occupied with his own experiments and his duties as a member of the Mutant community, Hank is once again here reluctantly, unable to say no to one of the most highly respected heroes around

they wouldn't necessarily be at odds with each other by default, but all of them being vocal about their other priorities should still cause plenty of that "non-team" style tension. Black Bolt in particular would likely get pretty tired of Ben constantly joking that he needs to "speak up more often", as an example of the team starting to butt heads over time