Avengers (comics) in other media

The Avengers are a fictional superhero team created by Marvel Comics that appear in comic books. Aside from comics, the Avengers appear in various forms of media such as in novels, television shows, movies, videogames and stage shows.

Novels

• The Avengers Battle the Earth-Wrecker by Otto Binder was published as a mass market paperback novel by Bantam Books (F3569) in June 1967. The cover illustration depicts Captain America, Goliath; Hawkeye; Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch (the latter pair do not actually appear).
• The team also feature in the Pocket Books line of Marvel-based paperback novels of the late 1970s. Jim Shooter's short story "This Evil Undying" (1979) - featuring the robot Ultron as the villain - appeared as part of an anthology entitled The Marvel Superheroes.^[1] The story was later adapted for the ongoing title.^[2]
• The Man Who Stole Tomorrow (1979), a full-length novel by David Michelinie, describes the Avengers team battle with Kang the Conqueror in the 40th century.^[3]
• The Berkeley Boulevard imprint published several Avengers tie-ins, each a team-up with other superhero teams: with the X-Men against the Leader in Greg Cox's Gamma Quest trilogy (1999–2000)^[4] and with the Thunderbolts against Baron Zemo in Pierce Askegren's The Avengers and the Thunderbolts (1999).^[5]
• Pocket Books published two tie-ins with the alternate universe team the Ultimates: Michael Jan Friedman's Tomorrow Men (2006)^[6] and Alex Irvine's Against All Enemies (2007).^[7]
• Marvel Comics published Alisa Kwitney's New Avengers: Break-Out (2013) as a tie-in to the live-action Avengers film. Inspired by both the movie and the New Avengers comic books, it featured Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Spider-Woman, Hawkeye and Black Widow.^[8]
• Marvel Comics published Dan Abnett's Avengers: Everybody Wants To Rule The World (2015) as a tie-in to Avengers: Age of Ultron. The line-up in the book includes Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and Vision.^[9]

Television

Screen capture from The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes episode, "Breakout" (2010).

• Adaptations of Avengers stories appeared in the The Marvel Super Heroes (1966), primarily in the "Captain America" and "The Incredible Hulk" segments. The series ran in syndication five days a week, with "Captain America" featured on Monday's episode; "The Incredible Hulk" on Tuesday; "Iron Man" on Wednesday; "Thor" on Thursday, and the "Sub-Mariner" on Friday.

• The team also made appearances in the 1981 Spider-Man series.

• The Fantastic Four animated series featured non-speaking cameos by The Avengers. In the season two episode "To Battle the Living Planet" the Avengers assist the Fantastic Four in rescuing earthquake victims. The Avengers appear once more in "Doomsday" briefly fighting Dr. Doom. Aside from these, both Thor and The Hulk make guest appearances in episodes in speaking parts.

• In the X-Men animated series, an alternate version of The Avengers appeared in the episode "One Man's Worth". In a timeline in which Charles Xavier was murdered before founding the X-Men, Captain America is the leader of The Avengers, a taskforce of superhuman mutant hunters fighting a war against the Mutant Resistance led by Magneto.

• The Avengers: United They Stand was an animated series consisting of thirteen episodes. It originally aired from October 30, 1999 to February 26, 2000, and was produced by Avi Arad and distributed by 20th Century Fox Television. This series featured a team composed of Ant-Man (leader); the Wasp; Wonder Man; Tigra; Hawkeye and the Scarlet Witch. The Falcon and the Vision were added to the roster in the opening episodes. Captain America and Iron Man only make one appearance while Thor only appears in the opening titles and would've appeared in the proposed season two.

• The Marvel Animation division and the outside studio Film Roman produced an Avengers animated TV series, The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, which began broadcast in 2010.^[10] The show debuted on Disney XD in Fall 2010 starting with a 20 part micro-series.^[11] The series features a team based on the roster for the original Avengers, composed of Ant-Man, Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, and the Wasp, with Captain America, Black Panther, Hawkeye, Ms. Marvel, Vision, and Spider-Man later joining the ranks.^[12]

• A group of heroes assembled in the Iron Man: Armored Adventures season finale, "The Makluan Invasion", appears to be a variation of the Avengers team. It consistes of Iron Man, War Machine, Rescue, Hawkeye, General Nick Fury, Black Widow, Grey Hulk, and the Black Panther.

• Marvel announced The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes would not be renewed for a third season, but cancelled for a new series Avengers Assemble!. The roster consists of Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow and Falcon. The same iteration of the team guest-starred in the two-part Season 3 premier of Ultimate Spider-Man, where Spider-Man briefly joined the Avengers.

• A Japanese anime series, Marvel Disk Wars: The Avengers, began airing in Japan in Spring 2014. Produced by Toei Animation,^[13] the story revolves around a group of youths that can use special discs to transform into the Avengers, who were sealed in the discs by Loki. Avengers confirmed to appear include Captain America, Iron Man, the Hulk, Thor, Spider-Man, and the Wasp.^[14] Over the course of the series, other Avengers such as Hawkeye, Black Widow, Falcon, and Black Panther also appear in guest-starring roles.

Film

Screenshot from the 2012 Marvel Studios film, The Avengers.

Animated

• Marvel Animation has produced two animated films based upon the Ultimate incarnations of the Avengers; Ultimate Avengers and Ultimate Avengers 2.

• The Children of the Avengers are featured in the animated film; Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow. Aged versions of Tony Stark and the Vision appear as well.

• The team appears in the anime film Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher, with a line-up consisting of Black Widow, Iron Man, Thor, War Machine, Hulk, Hawkeye and Captain Marvel.^[15]

Live action

Marvel Studios released the live-action film The Avengers on May 4, 2012.^[16][17] Joss Whedon wrote and directed the film.^[18] It is part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Cast team members include Robert Downey, Jr. as Iron Man,^[19] Chris Evans as Captain America,^[20] Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner / The Hulk,^[21] Chris Hemsworth as Thor,^[22] Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow,^[23] Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye,^[24] and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury.^[25]

A sequel, Avengers: Age of Ultron,^[26] written and directed by Joss Whedon, was released on May 1, 2015.^[27] The film features all the Avengers returning from the first film,^[28] and introduce new team members Scarlet Witch, portrayed by Elizabeth Olsen,^[29] Quicksilver, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson.^[30] and the Vision played by Paul Bettany. Following the events of that movie, the Avengers team consists of Captain America, Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, Falcon, The Vision, and War Machine.

In October 2014, Avengers: Infinity War was announced, with Part 1 scheduled to be released on May 4, 2018 and Part 2 on May 8, 2019.^[31] Kevin Feige revealed to Buzzfeed in an interview that the third film will have a new line up.^[32] In March 2015, it was confirmed that Anthony and Joe Russo would direct both films.^[33]

Video and computer games

The Avengers feature in the arcade and console game Captain America and the Avengers (1991); Avengers in Galactic Storm (1995); Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (2006), its sequel Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 (2009), and Avengers: Battle for Earth (2012).

The team is also featured heavily in the social network game Marvel: Avengers Alliance (2012) and the mobile app game Avengers Initiative (2012).

Live performance

The Avengers appear as the main characters in the live-action stage show Marvel Universe: LIVE!. The line-up in the show features Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow, the Falcon and Captain Marvel. ^[34][35]

Manga

On November 3, 2014, Marvel announced a special one-shot manga featuring a crossover between the Avengers and the cast of Attack on Titan. The manga will feature the Avengers facing off against the Female Titan after the Titans attack the Marvel Universe.^[36]

Web comics

In 2014, Marvel launched an officially licensed web manhwa for South Korean audiences called Avengers: Electric Rain. Written and illustrated by Yeong-Hoon Goh, the series sees the Avengers teaming up with a new Korean heroine named White Fox.^[37]

See also

• Captain America in other media
• Hulk (comics) in other media
• Iron Man in other media
• Thor (Marvel Comics) in other media

References

External links

• The Avengers at the Internet Movie Database