Avengers Hero Team
ANT-MAN (Dr. Henry Pym) |
HULK (Dr. Bruce Banner) |
 IRON MAN (Tony Stark) |
THOR (Siguard Jarlson) |
WASP (Janet van Dyne) |
CAPTAIN AMERICA (Steve Rogers) |
RICK JONES Ally |
EDWIN JARVIS Butler |
Friday Ally |
BUCKY (Rikki Buchanan) |
JOHN JAMESON Pilot, Ally |
SHARON CARTER SHIELD Liaison |
The Avengers are a team of superhuman adventurers who have gathered together in order to combat foes no single hero could handle on their own.
The Avengers first formed when the Norse trickster god, Loki, attempted to draw his adopted brother, Thor, into combat with the Hulk by discrediting the latter. The Hulk's ally, Rick Jones, believing the Hulk to be innocent in this case, sent an email to the Fantastic Four. Loki intercepted the email and sent it to Thor; inadvertently, he also ended up sending it to Iron Man, Ant-Man, and the Wasp. The four adventurers rendezvoused for the first time at Stark Industries' Dallas, Texas, plant with Jones in attendance. Tracking down the Hulk, the group learned of Loki's involvement and cleared the Hulk of any wrong-doing.
Following this incident, Ant-Man suggested that the group stay together as a full-fledged team, and the Wasp suggested the name "Avengers". Not long afterward, Tony Stark (secretly Iron Man) donated his Manhattan mansion and a warehouse compound outside Dodge City, Kansas, to the team, and set up a foundation in his mother's name (the Maria Stark Foundation) to handle expenses so that the team would not be dependent on his own financial situation. The Stark family butler, Edwin Jarvis, has stayed on to tend to the mansion, and Stark's AI assistant Friday has taken over managing the compound. Despite the fact that the individual team members reside in different cities all over the United States, they manage to meet at least weekly at the mansion or compound. The Avengers soon offered membership to Captain America, who resides in New York. The Captain has accepted, and has become the team's unofficial leader.
First Post-Reboot Appearance: AVENGERS #1.
Hulk: Hulk not play well with others.
Thor: Thou are the reason the Avengers first gathered.
Hulk: Don't pin that on me.
– Avengers Assemble #2
Membership Roster
Ant-Man – Founding member.
Hulk – Founding member. While the Hulk is not normally a team player, his alter ego, Bruce Banner, has proven invaluable to the team on many occasions.
Iron Man – Founding member.
Thor – Founding member.
Wasp – Founding member.
Captain America – First recruit. Since joining, Captain America has gravitated towards the leadership position.
Rick Jones – Rick has been an ally of the Avengers since their founding, often monitoring threats and relaying the information to the team.
Edwin Jarvis – Jarvis was the butler of the Stark family mansion in Manhattan, and has stayed on to serve the Avengers in this capacity.
Friday – Friday is Iron Man's AI assistant, and is very enthusiastic about assisting the Avengers however possible.
Bucky - Captain America's trainee and partner, Bucky is not an official member of the team, but has come to their assistance several times.
John Jameson – Captain America's friend and pilot, Jameson has occasionally assisted the Avengers using the team's Quinjets.
Sharon Carter – Originally Captain America's SHIELD liaison, Carter has since served the team in the same albeit unofficial capacity.