CollectiblesMay 6, 2026

The Avengers Original Roster vs. Modern Roster

Stay In The Know

Expert advice. Very good deals. The absolute best (and worst) things we've tested lately.

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby put the Avengers together in one issue. Not planned as a long-running franchise. Just a story about Loki using the Hulk as bait. Five heroes showed up. They decided to stay. Full comics history is at the Avengers (comics) Wikipedia page.

Sixty years later the roster has cycled through hundreds of names. The MCU made six of them household names in two hours. Browse the Marvel Toys lineup to own three of the founding six as kits.

What this guide covers

1963 comics founding lineup — who showed up and why
2012 MCU founding six — same idea, different members
Phase 3+ additions — Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Captain Marvel and what they changed
Leadership — who actually ran the team when it counted
Villain escalation — from Loki to Thanos
The Avengers–Transformers question — why people search for both together

The 1963 Comics Lineup

Not the MCU six. Different team entirely. Ant-Man and the Wasp were founding members. Captain America wasn’t — he joined issue four after getting thawed out.

Member	First issue	What they did
Thor	Avengers #1	The target. Loki used him as bait to get at the Hulk. That accident created the team
Iron Man	Avengers #1	Tech and strategy. Drove the team even when he wasn’t officially leading it
Hulk	Avengers #1	Loki’s bait. Left after issue two. Bruce Banner never fit well in a team setting
Ant-Man	Avengers #1	Hank Pym. Created Ultron in later storylines. The decision that haunts every subsequent team roster debate
Wasp	Avengers #1	Janet Van Dyne named the team. Without her there is no “Avengers.”
Captain America	Avengers #4	Joined after thawing. Became the team’s north star for every roster that followed

The MCU Founding Six — 2012

Loki again. Different execution. The Tesseract instead of the Hulk. Background at the The Avengers (2012 film) Wikipedia page.

Member	What they brought	Why they stuck
Iron Man	Tech + ego	Downey made Tony Stark the most interesting person in every room. The team coalesced around his personality whether they liked it or not
Thor	Power ceiling	The only founding member who can match Loki directly. Necessary for the plan to work
Captain America	Field leadership	When Steve gives an order people move. Tony argues first — then also moves
Black Widow	Espionage	The connective tissue. She’s in four solo-universe films before the team even assembles
Hawkeye	No powers	That’s the point. Clint Barton earns his spot with skill alone. The roster needed that
Hulk	The weapon	Ruffalo’s Bruce made the Hulk readable as a character, not just a plot device

Own three of the founding six

The Marvel Champion Class line covers Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor as officially licensed Champion Class kits. Ages 14+. All currently in stock.

Iron Man MK85 — LED arc reactor + LED eyes. $19.99 standard / $27.99 DX. The Iron Man MK85 kit page has the full spec sheet.
Captain America — Endgame suit + shield. $19.99.
Thor — MCU Avengers-era design. $19.99.

Phase 3 Additions — The Roster That Beat Thanos

The full Avengers membership history is at the List of Avengers members page. Phase 3 didn’t just add characters. It added entire categories of power and perspective the founding six didn’t have.

Member	First MCU film	What they actually added
Black Panther	Civil War (2016)	Vibranium. Wakanda. Royal authority. T’Challa gave the team a kingdom’s resources. That changes every calculation
Doctor Strange	Doctor Strange (2016)	Magic breaks strategy. Strange could see 14 million futures. Nobody else on the roster can do that
Spider-Man	Civil War (2016)	Youth. Agility. The emotional heart of Phase 3. Peter Parker’s fear of failure makes every near-miss matter more
Captain Marvel	Captain Marvel (2019)	The top of the power ceiling. She can handle a Thanos-level threat solo. No other Avenger has that range
Scarlet Witch	Age of Ultron (2015)	Reality itself. Her arc is one of the most complicated in the MCU — villain, Avenger, grief, isolation
War Machine	Iron Man 2 (2010)	Military protocol. The institutional Avenger. Rhodey is the one with actual government clearance

Three things that shifted when the roster grew

Power ceiling. Captain Marvel can absorb energy and fly at near-lightspeed. The original six couldn’t match Thanos. She could.
Global reach. T’Challa’s Wakanda gave the team a sovereign base with resources the US government didn’t control.
Emotional weight. Wanda’s grief. Peter’s fear. The Phase 3 additions brought vulnerability that made Endgame’s stakes land harder.

Who Actually Led the Team

The Captain America Champion Class kit exists for a reason. Steve Rogers is the person every MCU Avenger turns to when things go wrong. But the leadership history is messier than that.

Leader	When	How they led
Iron Man	Avengers (2012) field decisions	Trusts his own read over the playbook. Right more often than not. Infuriating to work with
Captain America	Winter Soldier through Endgame	Clear orders. Goes first. People follow Steve because he never asks anyone to do something he won’t
Nick Fury	Pre-assembly phase	Not a field leader. Makes the pieces available and gets out of the way
Black Panther	Infinity War Wakanda battle	Sovereign authority. Commanded ground forces on his own soil. Everyone deferred

Villain Escalation Across the Roster Eras

Villain	Film	What they forced the team to do
Loki	Avengers (2012)	Exist as a team. The founding six never would have been in the same room without him
Ultron	Age of Ultron (2015)	Ask whether assembling was a mistake. Ultron was their idea. That guilt fractures the team into Civil War
Thanos	Infinity War / Endgame	Lose. Five years of dust and grief before the rematch. No villain before or after hit like that
Hela	Ragnarok (2017)	Showed Thor that Asgard was never a place. It was the people. Reshaped his whole relationship to the team

Why People Search “Avengers Transformers Toys”

Two things, usually.

1. The IDW crossover comics

IDW Publishing produced licensed crossovers where Avengers characters and Cybertronians exist in the same universe. Iron Man’s armor design language and Cybertronian engineering aesthetics share visual DNA in those issues. Real published material, not fan theory.

2. The collector overlap

Same audience. Both are team-based franchises with powerful characters, leadership dynamics, and decades of lore. Fans of one tend to collect the other.

Avengers Infinity Saga Champion Class: Iron Man MK85, Captain America, Thor.
Transformers Classic Class: Optimus Prime, Megatron, Soundwave, Bumblebee.
Same Blokees store. Both lines available together.

The Next Generation — What’s Coming

Who’s incoming	What they change
Fantastic Four	Science-first leadership and cosmic exploration. Reed Richards’ intellect rebalances the team’s strategic layer
X-Men	Mutants change the social architecture of the MCU entirely. The Avengers become one team among many rather than the team
Shang-Chi	Martial arts and Ta Lo mystical access. Different power type. Doesn’t fit any existing role on the roster
Kate Bishop	Next-generation Hawkeye. The team needs one person proving you can earn the spot without powers. She’s that person now

Conclusion

Five heroes in 1963. Six in 2012. Dozens since. Every new Avenger is a response to something the last roster couldn’t handle.

The original six are still the emotional core. Iron Man died for it. Captain America retired into it. Thor is still out there somewhere.

Three of that original six are in the Blokees Champion Class lineup right now. Browse the full Blokees Marvel catalog.

FAQs

Who are the 7 original Avengers in the MCU?

The MCU founding six were Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Hulk. They assembled in The Avengers (2012). Nick Fury organized the whole thing — if you count him as seventh, he’s the closest candidate, though he didn’t fight in New York.

Is there a difference between the Avengers and the New Avengers?

Yes. New Avengers is a specific 2004 Marvel Comics lineup assembled after the original disbanded — Spider-Man, Wolverine, Luke Cage, and others. The MCU hasn’t used that name officially, but what’s assembling in Phase 5 functions like a new generation team.

What is the current Avengers roster?

No formal team has reassembled post-Endgame. Iron Man is gone. Steve Rogers handed off the shield. Active heroes include Thor, Hulk, War Machine, Sam Wilson as Captain America, and incoming Phase 5 characters.

Who are the original 6 Avengers in the MCU?

Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Hulk. Assembled in 2012 to stop Loki’s invasion of New York.

Who is the real leader of the Avengers?

Steve Rogers is the field leader everyone defers to. Tony Stark funds and enables the team. Nick Fury organized the initiative. The answer depends on whether you mean on the battlefield or behind the scenes.

Can the Thunderbolts beat the Avengers?

Depends on the specific lineup. Classic MCU Avengers against the Phase 5 Thunderbolts? Avengers win. Fully coordinated Thunderbolts with Yelena, US Agent, Ghost, and the rest against a post-Endgame roster that hasn’t reassembled? Competitive fight.

How many versions of the Avengers are there?

Dozens in comics. West Coast Avengers, New Avengers, Mighty Avengers, Secret Avengers, Dark Avengers, Uncanny Avengers — the list runs long. The MCU had one core lineup with additions across five phases.

What’s the saddest death in Marvel?

Tony Stark’s snap in Endgame is the most cited. Black Widow on Vormir. Gamora at the hands of Thanos. All three are willing sacrifices rather than defeats — that’s why they hit harder than most villain-caused deaths.

Are Avengers Transformers toys a real thing?

IDW Publishing made licensed crossover comics where both universes intersect. That drives the search traffic. Blokees carries both the Marvel Infinity Saga Champion Class line and the full Transformers Classic Class and Galaxy Version lineup in the same store.

What was the first threat the Avengers ever faced?

Loki. In the comics he used the Hulk as bait to draw out Thor. In the MCU he invaded Earth for the Tesseract. Both times the team formed because nobody could handle Loki alone.