The Avengers fight to protect innocent people from the gravest threats in Marvel Comics. Most of the time, they do so with every consideration of life and property. But sometimes, things get out of hand, or the circumstances are such that there is no choice but to stop the threat at all costs.

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Whether it's in the comic books or the various television shows and movies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Avengers sometimes cause some serious damage. That led to the creation of entities like Damage Control, which was first seen in the movies in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

10 Age Of Ultron (Comic Book)

Age Of Ultron

The employees of Damage Control have stayed busy on account of the Avengers, and they certainly had their hands full in the Age Of Ultron comic book storyline. In this story, Ultron finally succeeds in taking over the world, destroying much of the Avengers and their allies. The remaining heroes, broken and battered, team up to stop him at all costs. A lot of property gets destroyed in the process, and an entire reality; Wolverine ultimately succeeds in going back in time to erase the post-apocalyptic future.

9 Infinity Gauntlet

Infinity Gauntlet

Like Age Of Ultron, The Infinity Gauntlet saga in the comics begins with catastrophe. Thanos snaps his fingers and eliminates half of all life in the universe. This immediately erases many Marvel superheroes from existence. The survivors, including Iron Man and Thor, team up to stop Thanos at all costs. They don't really care who gets hurt in the process, even if the battle is largely confined to Thanos' cosmic base of operations. The battle ends with many more people dead and injured.

8 Secret Invasion

Secret Invasion

The massive crossover event Secret Invasion quickly becomes a win at all costs battle for the Avengers once they realize that some of their own have been Skrulls in disguise. The story began with the shocking discovery that Elektra was a Skrull, after her death at the hands of Echo. This then spiraled out of control as the Skrull invasion unleashed a wave of coordinated attacks across the world, resulting in massive casualties and destruction that the Avengers answered in a desperate battle to win the day.

7 Ultimatum

Agent Venom executes a horde of Ultimatum soldiers

Ultimatum is perhaps one of the worst Marvel crossovers of all time. The cataclysmic event in Ultimate Comics is generally regarded as being the downfall of the line, with shocking events and deaths leaving a bad taste in fans' mouths. The death of the Wasp at the hands of the Blob is just one example.

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Magneto's apocalyptic behavior led to the wholesale destruction of New York City and the collective members of the Avengers and X-Men stopped at nothing to prevent any further death and damage on his part.

6 Avengers Vs. X-Men

X-Men vs Avengers

The Avengers and X-Men have often been allies in battle, but occasionally, they're enemies--never more so than in the epic Avengers vs. X-Men event. The massive crossover has aged well in many ways, but it's likely many of the combatants don't look back on it with any fondness. A great deal of destruction was meted out on both sides, as the two teams fought over the life of Hope Summers. One of the most destructive moments came in Namor's attack on the country of Wakanda.

5 Secret Wars

Secret Wars Has Plenty Of Battles In It

The Avengers generally try to avoid doing any battle in civilian areas if they can. In the epic 12-part 1985 mini-series Secret Wars, that wasn't a concern at all. All of Marvel's superheroes and supervillains were transported to Battleworld by The Beyonder. Battleworld was devoid of any civilians, but that didn't stop the gathered heroes from wrecking house in their bid to stop first The Beyonder and then Doctor Doom, who acquired The Beyonder's powers, one of his most evil moments.

4 The Kree-Skrull War

Captain Marvel gets captured in the Skrull War.

The Kree-Skrull War was the true first galactic battle that the Avengers participated in. Earth's Mightiest Heroes intervened in the cosmic battle between the Kree and Skrulls to prevent the war from spreading to Earth. When the Avengers find out the Kree intends to use the people of Earth as cannon fodder in their war against the Skrulls, it leads to a massive battle with the aliens, led by Ronan The Accuser. Much destruction is caused in the process, all in the effort to stop an even worse apocalypse.

3 Age Of Ultron (Movie)

Hulkbuster versus Hulk in Age of Ultron

There are some major differences between the Age Of Ultron comic book event and the 2015 MCU movie. Both are equally destructive when it comes to collateral damage. The entire country of Sokovia is damaged or destroyed, and the battle between Iron Man and the Hulk destroys buildings in Johannesburg, South Africa.

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Tony Stark does his best to keep Hulk away from civilians with his Hulkbuster armor, one of his most powerful armors of all time, but a lot of destruction is handed out before he does.

2 Civil War (Comic Book)

Iron Man fighting Captain America in Civil War Comic

Civil War may have been the defining moment of the Avengers in the 21st century. The team fractures over the Superhero Registration Act, with Iron Man supporting the effort and Captain America leading the charge against it. Among the many terrible things Iron Man's side does in the story is to take part in the wanton destruction of New York City. The two sides battle it out in city streets, causing a great deal of damage. Captain America ultimately surrenders, realizing the destruction that the battle is causing.

1 The Battle Of New York

The Battle of New York in The Avengers with cars exploding in the distance

The Avengers are committed to stopping the Chitauri invasion of New York City in the first Avengers movie in 2012. But in the process, they engage in quite a bit of wholesale destruction. The Hulk in particular damages a number of buildings and cars in his efforts to take down the aliens. The battle becomes so pitched that all of the Avengers participate in generating as much collateral damage as the Chitauri do, though they ultimately succeed in saving the city from any more ruin.

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