OMU: Avengers

In devising a speculative final roster for the Avengers in my previous post, I had to decide how many members the superhero team actually had during its 20-year existence in the Original Marvel Universe. And not content with assigning a mere random number, I went on to set forth just who the latter-day members of the Avengers were—those who would have joined after the final canonical issues (Avengers #339 and Avengers West Coast #74) were published. Naturally, some would be familiar faces while others would be newly-minted heroes and heroines never seen before. This proved to be a fun and engaging exercise, and I think it offers a tantalizing glimpse into the post-OMU future. Thus, this post features the compete roster of the mighty Avengers in the world we might call Earth-6111 —the Original Marvel Universe.

The founding members of the Avengers, responsible for the team’s inception in the autumn of 1962, are as follows:

Thor

Iron Man (Tony Stark)

Ant-Man (Henry Pym)

Wasp (Janet Van Dyne)

Hulk (Bruce Banner)

Before the end of that year, the team began recruiting new members:

Captain America (Steve Rogers) – 1st recruit (1962)

Hawkeye (Clint Barton) – 2nd recruit (1963)

Quicksilver (Pietro Maximoff) – 3rd recruit (1963)

Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff) -- 4th recruit (1963)

Swordsman (Jacques Duquesne) -- 5th recruit (1963)

Hercules -- 6th recruit (1964)

Black Panther (T’Challa) -- 7th recruit (1964)

Vision -- 8th recruit (1964)

Black Knight (Dane Whitman) -- 9th recruit (1964)

Black Widow (Natasha Romanova) -- 10th recruit (1966)

Mantis -- 11th recruit (1966)

Moondragon (Heather Douglas) -- 12th recruit (1967)

Beast (Hank McCoy) -- 13th recruit (1968)

Hellcat (Patsy Walker) -- 14th recruit (1968)

Two-Gun Kid (Matt Hawk) -– 15th recruit (1969)

Wonder Man (Simon Williams) -- 16th recruit (1969)

Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers) -- 17th recruit (1969)

Falcon (Sam Wilson) -- 18th recruit (1969)

Tigra (Greer Nelson) -- 19th recruit (1970)

She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters) -- 20th recruit (1971)

Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau) -- 21st recruit (1972)

Starfox (Eros) -- 22nd recruit (1972)

Mockingbird (Bobbi Morse) -- 23rd recruit (1972)

Iron Man (James Rhodes) -- 24th recruit (1972)

Sub-Mariner (Namor) -- 25th recruit (1973)

Thing (Ben Grimm) -- 26th recruit (1973)

Doctor Druid (Anthony Druid) -- 27th recruit (1974)

Espirita (Bonita Juarez) -- 28th recruit (1974)

Moon Knight (Marc Spector) -- 29th recruit (1974)

Demolition Man (Dennis Dunphy) -- 30th recruit (1974)

Gilgamesh -- 31st recruit (1974)

Invisible Woman (Sue Richards) -- 32nd recruit (1974)

Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards) -- 33rd recruit (1974)

USAgent (John Walker) -- 34th recruit (1975)

Quasar (Wendell Vaughn) -- 35th recruit (1975)

Human Torch (Jim Hammond) -- 36th recruit (1975)

Sersi -- 37th recruit (1975)

Spider-Man (Peter Parker) -- 38th recruit (1975)

Stingray (Walter Newell) -- 39th recruit (1975)

Rage (Elvin Haliday) -- 40th recruit (1975)

Sandman (William Baker) -- 41st recruit (1975)

Living Lightning (Miguel Santos) -- 42nd recruit (1975)

Spider-Woman (Julia Carpenter) -- 43rd recruit (1975)

Crystal (Crystalia Amaquelin Maximoff) -- 44th recruit (1975)

Thunderbolt (Terrence Thibodeaux) -- 45th recruit (1976)

American Eagle (Jason Strongbow) -- 46th recruit (1976)

Battlestar (Lemar Hoskins) -- 47th recruit (1976)

Diamondback (Rachel Leighton) -- 48th recruit (1976)

Puma (Thomas Fireheart) -- 49th recruit (1977)

Iron Fist (Danny Rand) -- 50th recruit (1977)

Sea Witch (Bridget O’Hare) -- 51st recruit (1977)

Warbird (Salia Petrie) -- 52nd recruit (1978)

Torch (Johnny Storm) -- 53rd recruit (1978)

Zephyr -- 54th recruit (1978)

N’Kantu the Indestructible -- 55th recruit (1978)

Silver Scorpion (Dina Hurley) -- 56th recruit (1978)

Beta Ray Bill -- 57th recruit (1978)

Texas Twister (Drew Daniels) -- 58th recruit (1979)

Sabra (Ruth Bat-Seraph) -- 59th recruit (1979)

Zero-G (Alex Power) -- 60th recruit (1979)

Nighthawk (Angie Bennett) -- 61st recruit (1979)

Pegasus (Mikos Kontaxis) -- 62nd recruit (1979)

Rocket Man (Sam Guthrie) -- 63rd recruit (1980)

Needless to say, not every recruit went on to become a full-fledged, card-carrying member of the Avengers. Some would decline full membership, some would be rejected after a trial period, some would take only reserve status. Some would serve with the team for many years while others would stay only a short time. Many would serve multiple stints on the active roster, sometimes under different aliases, coming and going as circumstances changed. But they all held it to be the highest honor to stand among Earth’s Mightiest Heroes—The Avengers.

Next Issue: The New Sorcerer Supreme!