The Avengers are the greatest team in the Marvel Universe, a powerful group of heroes who have banded together to protect the Earth. They face down the gravest threats and the most powerful villains, always saving the Earth and sometimes even the universe. Though they always eventually triumph, that doesn't mean they have a perfect win-loss record.
The Avengers have been beaten before but a lot of times, it just seems like a bit of narrative convenience. Some of the villains who have been able to take the team down shouldn't have even gotten close to being able to do so.
10 The King In Black And His Symbiote Invasion Should Not Have Been That Big Of A Deal
Symbiotes have always been formidable and they've become a major factor in the Marvel Universe lately, with Knull, the god of attacking the Earth and almost toppling its heroes, taking control of them with his symbiotes and turning them against each other. However, this whole thing was honestly fairly ridiculous in that the weaknesses of symbiotes are easily exploitable.
Vulnerable to sound and heat, there's pretty much no reason why Knull's symbiote invasion should have gotten so far. It's not even like there wasn't just a big symbiote attack not long before this one or anything. The fact the Avengers even had any problem with Knull is kind of asinine and convenient.
9 Doctor Doom Is Tough But The Avengers Shouldn't Have A Problem With Him
Doctor Doom is one of the greatest villains on the planet and has clashed with the Avengers on several occasions. However, as good as he is, he really shouldn't be able to get even a momentary victory over the Avengers. Sure, he's smarter than everyone else but his arrogance actually makes it pretty easy to outsmart.
On top of that, the sheer amount of diversity the Avengers bring to the table is a lot to deal with, even for someone like Doom. Doom basically beats himself because he doesn't believe anyone is actually a threat to him and is actually pretty easy to take advantage of. The Avengers should have no trouble against him.
8 The Masters Of Evil Have The Numbers Advantage But That Shouldn't Matter
The Masters of Evil handed the Avengers one of their most iconic losses but in all actuality, it really shouldn't have happened. The team consists of many powerful villains but the thing is they've all lost to the Avengers at some point or another. The only reason the Masters were even able to get close to beating the Avengers was because they hit them piecemeal but even that stretches credulity.
The biggest problem with the Masters of Evil is that the team is made up of a bunch of losers. Strength in numbers is nice and when Zemo leads the team at least the planning is good, but these are all villains the Avengers know how to defeat. They shouldn't have had many problems with them.
7 The Hulk Has Given The Avengers More Of A Problem Than He Should Have
The Hulk isn't technically a villain but he's honestly spent more time fighting against the heroes than on their side. The Avengers are usually called in at some point during these battles but the problem comes in that they always do things the nonsensical way.
Instead of having Iron Man and Hank Pym team up to build a device that drains away his gamma radiation or getting help from Bruce Banner- who hates the Hulk and would help them figure out how to defeat the monster- they always just try to punch him out, which is the worst way of fighting a rage monster with a healing factor and potentially infinite strength.
6 The Hood Should Never Have Been Able To Clown The Team Like He Did
The Hood was one of those villains that was positioned to be a big deal but never should have been. The Hood is pretty much just a smarter-than-average criminal with a cloak powered by Dormammu. He's no slouch but there's no way he should have been able to clown the Heroic Age roster of the team the way he did.
The Hood is clever but he's mostly just a guy who teleports and has some pistols. He somehow was able to outsmart and outfight one of the most powerful teams of Avengers, which should have been impossible for a villain of his standing.
5 Norman Osborn Was Able To Slap The Team Around Way More Than He Should Have Been Able To
Norman Osborn took control of the Superhero Initiative for a time and used it to his advantage, populating an Avengers team with villains and making big moves with the total power of the national security apparatus behind him.
While he was eventually defeated, he got over on the Avengers way more than he should have- this is a guy who used to get beat on by a teenager, after all. His second attack on the Avengers was even more nonsensical- he didn't have the power base he had before and there were even traitors on his team and yet he almost beat the team again. He never should have gotten as far as he did.
4 Red Skull Can't Beat Cap On His Own But Has Somehow Got One Over On The Avengers
Red Skull's most significant victory against the Avengers came when he was masquerading as Secretary of Defense and released a virus that killed thousands. To begin with, that the Red Skull was somehow able to fool background checks well enough to become Secretary of Defense is nonsensical enough.
However, the fact he was able to stay ahead of the Avengers for so long when he usually can't even outsmart Cap made no sense either. The Avengers team he fought had Iron Man and Black Panther; no way Red Skull is outsmarting them.
3 The Void Is Powerful But That's All It Has
The Void is the dark side of the Sentry, which makes it pretty powerful but power isn't always the best way to win fights. The Avengers have made a career of facing off against threats that were more powerful than them and they always won because they could figure out a way to beat their foes.
The weird thing with the Void is that they never thought 0f a way to beat it with science, which is one place where the Avengers excel. The Avengers have access to some of the smartest heroes around and there's no way they couldn't put their hears together and figure out a simple way to stop it.
2 Loki Shouldn't Have What It Takes To Beat The Avengers
Loki is the Avengers' first foe and one of the greatest villains around but the fact that he's been able to beat the Avengers at all is kind of amazing. Loki's a god and all but his whole thing is being smart enough to trick anyone and yet he gets beat by Thor, who is not the sharpest knife in the drawer, constantly.
The Avengers, collectively, are smart enough to see through anything Loki throws at them and beat him. His magic is powerful but the Avengers have access to their own powerful magic users and as a group they're easily tougher than he is. Loki shouldn't be able to do much against them at all.
1 The Avengers Should Have Multiple Ways To Beat Ultron
Ultron is one of the most dangerous androids in comics but the fact that he can beat the Avengers at all is kind of laughable. To begin with, he was created by one of them and even if he's modified his programming, there's no way he can change how he works so much to make himself invulnerable to an attack on his programming- again, the Avengers has access to some of the smartest people on Earth.
Beyond that, the Avengers have ways of dealing with his adamantium using weapons made of Antarctic Vibranium. Ultron is tough but the fact that he's ever beat the team has never made any sense.