Sometimes, heroes teaming up can get pretty boring, so to add some spice into things, creators have been known to team up heroes and villains. This has become an institution over at Marvel, as their respected roster of heroes has often teamed up with their dangerous and intimidating foes. In fact, some of the greatest heroes of the Marvel Universe started out as villains, seeing the error of their ways and becoming full-time heroes.
Even when that doesn't happen, there have been plenty of hero and villain team-ups over the years. Some of them are more memorable than others but they all bring something new to the table.
10 Ares & The Sentry Stayed With The Avengers Even After Norman Osborn Stacked The Team With Villains
After Secret Invasion, Norman Osborn was given the keys to the kingdom. Put in charge of the Superhero Initiative, he took over the Avengers and brought his Thunderbolts onto the team, having them take up the mantles of familiar heroes. Two holdovers from Iron Man's Avengers stayed with the team, as the Sentry and Ares added a lot of muscle.
Ares was always ready for Osborn's betrayal but the Sentry actually fell hook, line, and sinker for Osborn's tricks. The Sentry would become Osborn's secret weapon and ended up killing Ares during the Siege of Asgard when Osborn ordered him to.
9 The Thunderbolts & The Returned Avengers Teamed Up Against Baron Zemo
The Thunderbolts was one of Baron Zemo's best plans, having his Masters of Evil pretend to be heroes to take advantage of the power vacuum post-Onslaught's attack. His plan may have worked if most of the members of the team hadn't decided that being a hero was better than being a villain. When the Avengers returned, Zemo put his plans into overdrive.
The former Masters of Evil would team up with their old foes, the Avengers, to stop Zemo's plans. The two teams triumphed and Hawkeye ended up joining the Thunderbolts, the first of many heroes to end up on the team.
8 Doctor Doom, Human Torch, & The Thing All Teamed Up When The Rest Of The FF Was Rebuilding The Multiverse
After 2015's Secret Wars, Doctor Doom tried his hand out at becoming a hero, eventually taking on the name Iron Man. Human Torch and the Thing still didn't trust him but the three would eventually end up working together. They were forced to team up to stop the end of the universe and it was a lively team-up, to say the least.
The three of them constantly squabbled but were able to work together rather well, all things considered. Doom surprised them with how helpful he was and the three of them made a better team than anyone would have imagined.
7 Doctor Strange & Doctor Doom Had A Memorable Battle Against Mephisto
Doctor Doom has teamed up with a lot of heroes in his day and one of the most important of those team-ups came in Doctor Strange/Doctor Doom: Triumph And Torment. The two of them would end up battling against Mephisto for the soul of Doom's mother. The two worked well together and were able to free Doom's mother's soul.
They'd also end up working together again during Secret Wars, as Doctor Strange became Doom's right-hand man, helping him administer BattleWorld. Eventually, Doom showed his true colors with Strange but the two worked rather well together until that point.
6 Thor Has Teamed With His Greatest Asgardian Foes To Stop Ragnarok More Than Once
Ragnarok is Asgard's greatest disaster and Odin has made many sacrifices to make sure that he'd be able to deal with it. None of that is usually of any help, as it usually comes down to a battle against Surtur and his forces and the armies of Asgard. During these moments, Thor has been forced to team up with Loki, Enchantress, and Skurge.
Ragnarok has almost happened more than once and each time, Thor has been forced to team up with some of his greatest foes. Ragnarok waits for no god and only the combined power of Asgard—hero and villain alike—can stop it.
5 Thanos & The Infinity Watch Teamed Up Against The Magus
Thanos is known as one of the greatest villains in the history of the Marvel Universe but after Infinity Gauntlet, he decided to try something different. Thanos was secretly given the Reality Gem by Adam Warlock and when the Magus started to make his attacks on the heroes in Infinity War, Thanos went to investigate. Eventually, he'd team up with Adam Warlock and the Infinity Watch and fight on the side of the living.
Thanos as a good guy—working with arch foes like Adam Warlock, Drax, Moondragon, and Gamora—was novel and more fun than anyone imagined.
4 Mystique Has Teamed Up With X-Men Many Times & It Never Goes Well For The Team
Mystique is one of the most dangerous mutants on the planet. While she's battled the X-Men both as a member of the Freedom Force and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, she's also joined the team on more than one occasion, whether it be disguised as another mutant like when she tried to tempt Gambit as Vixen or as legitimately joining the team as herself.
The problem comes in that just about every time she joins the group, she has an ulterior motive and betrays the group. Now a member of the Quiet Council, the betrayal tables are turned, as Xavier and Magneto are using her with no intention of resurrecting Destiny for her.
3 Magneto Teamed Up With The X-Men To Destroy Human Bigots In X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills
Magneto has straddled both sides of the hero and villain divide. Nowadays, he's been an X-Man for a long time but there was a period when team-ups between him and his foes were few and far between. The most noteworthy time was in X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills when he joined up with the X-Men to battle Reverend Stryker and his Purifiers.
If there's one thing that will get Magneto to team up with the X-Men, it's young mutants in danger and Stryker threatened a lot of mutant lives. This team-up presaged things to come, as eventually, Magneto joined the X-Men more than once.
2 Wolverine & Sabretooth Have Been Partners More Times Than People Would Think
Wolverine and Sabretooth have a complicated relationship. The mutants worked together in Team X back in the day grudgingly, after years of fighting. Later, when both joined the hero/villain game, they battled each other on many occasions but they've also been known to team up as well. One of the more memorable times was when the Shiva Protocol started to get rid of ex-Weapon X members.
Their team-ups never last very long but the fact that these two are able to put their deep enmity aside for any amount of time is quite impressive.
1 No One Ever Expected Apocalypse To Wholeheartedly Join The X-Men
House Of X/Powers Of X brought a lot of changes to the X-Men line but one of them was the most unexpected of all. Xavier and Magneto opened up Krakoa to all mutants, including villains, and one of those villains embraced the new nation in a way no one ever would have thought. Apocalypse became one of Krakoa's biggest supporters, joining the Quiet Council and doing everything he could to strengthen the nation.
He would pay dividends in the battles against the demonic hordes of Amenth and their unwitting servants, the mutants of Krakoa's sister island Arakko. At the end of the battle, Apocalypse would join his family in Amenth, ensuring peace between the two sides.