As Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers stand tall as the greatest superhero team in the Marvel Universe. Over the many years since their first appearance in 1963's Avengers #1 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the Avengers have welcomed some of the most powerful heroes of the Marvel Universe to their ranks. With a revolving door of members, it can be difficult finding a hero who hasn't been a member of the team at some point.
With so many members, not every hero who walked the hallowed halls of Avengers Mansion or Avengers Tower has stood out. For every Thor, there are a number of heroes who failed to make their mark on the team, or never should have been given membership in the first place. These are the five most important and the five least important members of the Avengers...
10 Most Important: Iron Man
A founding member of the Avengers and their first leader, Iron Man is more than just a super genius in a high-tech suit of armor. As billionaire Tony Stark, Iron Man has funded almost every version of the Avengers. Their two most famous headquarters - the Avengers Mansion and Avengers Tower - both belong to Tony, and the paychecks members of the Avengers pull come from Stark Industries. Without Iron Man, there likely would be no Avengers. No other member has the resources needed to keep Earth's Mightiest Heroes up and running.
9 Least Important: Quicksilver
While Quicksilver's superspeed has come in handy from time to time, this villain turned hero never stood out on the Avengers, at least not for his heroics. Quicksilver's egotistical attitude was the cause of more than one fight between teammates. This silver-haired speedster may have the powers needed to be an Avenger, but not the temperament.
This has been an ongoing problem for Quicksilver. Over the years he has been a member of the Brotherhood of Mutants, the X-Men, the Avengers, and X-Factor, and each time his bossy nature has led to him going back to being a solo hero. Over the years, Quicksilver has calmed down, but he still struggled when it comes to working with a team.
8 Most Important: Hawkeye
Hawkeye joined the Avengers at the same time as Quicksilver, but where the speedster couldn't make it work, Hawkeye found a place that accepted him. This archer started his career as a villain working in a circus before seeing the light and joining the good guys. Since then, Hawkeye has become a mainstay of the Avengers, even leading the West Coast Avengers for years. As one of the few longterm members without actual superpowers, Hawkeye's skills as both a marksman and a strategist have come in handy on more than one occasion.
7 Least Important: Beast
A founding member of the X-Men and the New Defenders, Beast joined the Avengers for a period, but he never quite fit in there. On the X-Men and the Defenders, Beast was the resident super scientist, but the Avengers already had Iron Man and Ant-Man filling that role, leaving the blue-furred mutant with a sense of humor no way to really stand out on the team. After a time, Beast left the Avengers and rejoined the X-Men, but not before forming a longlasting friendship with Wonder Man and becoming a worldwide sex symbol.
6 Most Important: Scarlet Witch
Sometimes being an important member of a team doesn't mean you were a good influence. As a member of the Avengers and the West Coast Avengers, Scarlet Witch tended to cause more harm than good for the teams. While on the West Coast Avengers, Scarlet Witch had two children with the android Vision. Everyone wondered how a robot was able to impregnate a human, and when they found out the answer - that the children were actually two pieces of a demon's soul - Scarlet Witch's memories of her children were erased.
During the 2005 event series House of M by Brian Michael Bendis and Olivier Coipel, Scarlet Witch learned that she once had children, and she blames her fellow Avengers for their deaths. After killing a number of her teammates, Scarlet Witch used her reality-warping powers and muttered the words that would change the Marvel Universe for years; "No more mutants". In the blink of an eye, millions of mutants lost their powers.
5 Least Important: Spider-Man
Spider-Man started his superhero career when he was just a teenager, and for years he was seen as something of a menace by the people of New York City, thanks to J. Jonah Jameson and the Daily Bugle. While he almost always worked alone, the other heroes of the Marvel Universe knew Spider-Man would be there if they needed him.
After many years, Spider-Man joined the Avengers, mainly for the paycheck. While he was well-liked by his fellow teammates, his web-swinging and wall-crawling weren't much help against some of the bigger cosmic threats the Avengers face. After a while, Spider-Man left the team.
4 Most Important: Rick Jones
Often ignored when the founding members of the Avengers are listed, the reality is that there would be no team without Rick Jones. As a teen, Rick Jones was Hulk's sidekick, and when the trickster god Loki planned to use the green behemoth to defeat his brother Thor, it was Rick Jones and his CB radio that put out the word that the world was in danger. Over the years, Rick Jones has acted as a sidekick to a number of Avengers heroes, including the first Captain Marvel and Captain America.
3 Least Important: Darkhawk
When high school student Christopher Powell found a strange amulet at an abandoned amusement park, he didn't realize it was actually a seed from the Tree of Shadows. The amulet gave Christopher superpowers, turning him into Darkhawk. While still early in his career as a hero, Darkhawk joined the West Coast Avengers, but the team broke up shortly after he came on board. While he is quite powerful, Darkhawk has never found a place where he fits in in the Marvel Universe. He formed Excelsior, a support group for teen heroes who are struggling with their powers.
2 Most Important: Captain America
While he may not be a founding member of the team, it's hard to picture a time when Captain America wasn't one of the Avengers. When the World War II hero was thawed out from the ice, he quickly joined the team, and when the founding members decided to leave, Captain America put together a new team of his own.
Captain America is the de facto leader of the Avengers, even when he isn't on the team. Every hero follows his example and listens to his orders, and for good reason. Captain America is the greatest strategist in the Marvel Universe, consistently creating plans that have saved not only Earth but the whole universe.
1 Least Important: Rage
When he was thirteen-years-old, Elvin Daryl Haliday was exposed to toxic waste that aged him into adulthood in a matter of weeks. Not only did Elvin go from a teen to an adult in a month's time, the chemicals also gave him super strength and heightened stamina. Deciding to become a superhero, Elvib took on the name Rage and quickly confronted the Avengers about the lack of diversity on their team. After showing them what he could do, Rage was welcomed to the Avengers, but his time with the team wouldn't last long. During his second mission with the team, the Avengers learned that Rage was just a kid and removed him from the roster.