As heroic as theAvengersare known to be, the fan-favorite team has had its fair share of bad apples occupying its ever-changing roster. Some Avengers went about earning their membership status in deceitful ways, from stealing other heroes' identities to rewriting history itself to squeeze their way into the team.
This list features 10 members of the Avengers who infiltrated the team in unexpected ways.Body-snatching villains and heroes-gone-bad alike have been guilty of taking upAvengers membershipunder false pretenses - with some inclusions using particularly shocking strategies - and this is a rundown of how exactly these Marvel characters managed to bypass the watchful eyes of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to hide in plain sight among them. Not every Avenger joins for noble reasons, and these surprising additions to the team’s line-up prove that notion.
10Ravonna Renslayer Stole Nebula’s Identity
The Avengers#291 by Walt Simonson and John Buscema
Ravonna Renslayertricked the Avengers by assuming the guise of Kang-Nebula, which caused her to be mistaken for the daughter of Thanos.The Avengers believed Ravonna to be the true Nebula, and they were successfully convinced to grant her aid when she needed their assistance against Kang.She did so by using her psychic powers to manipulate the heroes and make Doctor Druid - who was under her control - their leader.
Ravonna is just one of many characters who won the Avengers' trust at some point by posing as someone other than herself. Although the heroes did come to their senses eventually, later instances of this same phenomenon occurring throughout Marvel lore suggest that the Avengers didn’t learn their lesson from Kang-Nebula’s deception.
9Loki Fooled the Avengers As Scarlet Witch
The Mighty Avengers#21 by Dan Slott and Khoi Pham
Thetrickster god Lokiis widely known for performing various illusions and mind games, and their invasion of the Avengers was no exception to this trend. InThe Mighty Avengers, they appeared before the heroes in the form of the Scarlet Witch and convinced them to help them battle the Elder God Chthon.This farce managed to fool the Avengers, allowing Loki to join the team for a while as they assumed Wanda Maximoff’s identity.
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Loki’s Scarlet Witch disguiseeven succeeded in earning them the trust of Quicksilver, though Cassie Lang grew increasingly suspicious of “Wanda”. Cassie ended up exposing Loki as a fraud with help from her fellow Young Avengers, and Loki’s time assuming the Scarlet Witch mantle promptly came to an end.
8Anti-Vision Became Vision’s Doppelgänger
Avengers#360 by Bob Harras and Steve Epting
As a synthezoid, Vision may seem immune to body-snatching the way many organic heroes are, but there was a time when he was replaced in the Avengers by a twisted doppelgänger.The Gatherers kidnapped Vision and sent Anti-Vision to infiltrate the Avengers in his place and kill the Swordsman, with the heroes being completely unaware that the Vision they were dealing with wasn’t the real deal.
Anti-Vision was analternate version of Visionfrom another continuity who was able to successfully steal his place in the Avengers. This situation has proven that one of the risks that comes with Vision being a machine rather than a human being is that other machines can easily replicate his programming and pretend to be him, such as Anti-Vision.
7Iron Man Was Brainwashed to Kill The Avengers
Avengers: The Crossing#1 by Bob Harras, Terry Kavanagh, and Mike Deodato Jr.
Most of the entries on this list are villains who disguise themselves to join the Avengers, but in this case, one of their own usual members revealed that he was part of the team for the wrong reasons. In the controversial “The Crossing” story, the Avengers discovered that a teammate was killing off heroes, and this individual turned out to be Iron Man.Tony Stark had apparently been serving Kang for years, and his membership in the Avengers was part of an elaborate plan to betray them.
Iron Man ultimately sacrificed himself to atone for the atrocities he’d committed. These events were later undone afterHeroes Rebornrebooted the universe, and Iron Man is back to being an Avengers hero.
6Ant-Man Got Replaced by Black Ant
Secret Avengers#24 by Rick Remender and Gabriel Hardman
While Hank Pym and Scott Lang are the most iconic characters to enlist in the Avengers under theAnt-Man name, Eric O’Grady was another character who used the title for his own exploits, though his reputation as “The Irredeemable Ant-Man” was far less heroic. After Eric died inSecret Avengers#23,Ant-Man was swiftly replaced in the Avengers with a Life-Model Decoy that had even darker intentions for the team than his real self.
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The Descendants' clone of Ant-Man was given the name Black Ant and operated against the Avengers' interests, biding his time until he betrayed them by waging a battle against them. Eric was already one ofMarvel’s worst heroes, but this sinister duplicate pushed him over the edge as a major liability to the Avengers.
5Doctor Octopus Swapped Bodies with Spider-Man
The Superior Spider-Man#7 by Dan Slott and Humberto Ramos
Spider-Man has long been a trusted member of the Avengers, but in one alternate continuity, he became a dark addition to the roster - with his superhero allies being none the wiser. InThe Superior Spider-Man,Doctor Octopus transferred his mind to Spider-Man’s body, with Peter Parker being forced to watch in horror as the villain stole his identity. Otto Octavius employed much more cruelty against villains, and this led to the Avengers confronting him.
TheAvengers doubted whether he was truly Spider-Manafter they noticed the beatings he dealt to opponents, including his murder of Massacre. Unfortunately, they failed to uncover the truth and simply put him on probation from the team. Thus, Doctor Octopus was able to be an Avenger in Spider-Man’s place.
4Captain America Betrayed The Avengers for Hydra
Secret Empire#1 by Nick Spencer and Andrea Sorrentino
Despite Captain America’s heroic efforts that have aided the Avengers since their conception, he was once allied with them under false pretenses during theSecret Empireevent.The cosmic cube turned Steve Rogers into a sleeper agent for Hydra, causing him to become the face of their fascist takeover.He unleashed Hydra’s forces upon Inhumans and sought to eliminate anyone who opposed his wicked views - even his former Avengers teammates.
In the end, the true Captain America returned, replacing his evil counterpart who had been rewritten as a traitor to the heroes. This alternate Steve - now operating under theFlag Smashermantle - is still running around the Marvel Universe, but he’s no longer hiding among the Avengers as an undercover Hydra operative.
3A Skrull Disguised Herself as Spider-Woman
The New Avengers#40 by Brian Michael Bendis and Jim Cheung
Skrulls are among the most dangerous enemies to have in the Marvel Universe due to their ability to disguise themselves as anyone they choose. While manyMarvel heroes have been replaced by Skrullsover the years during various takeovers, 2008’sSecret Invasionevent saw perhaps the most shocking reveal of a Skrull posing as an Avenger. Readers were shocked as it was confirmed thatSpider-Woman was secretly a Skrull, and she had been one all along inThe New Avengers.
Spider-Woman’s identitywasn’t stolen by just any Skrull, either; Veranke, the Skrull Empress in charge of the entire invasion, had chosen to take the hero’s place in the team’s ranks, and she’d been the one fighting alongside the team since she joined the Avengers.
2Norman Osborn Created His Own Dark Avengers
Dark Avengers#1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato Jr.
Most villains who have snuck their way into the Avengers' ranks have done so through deception, butNorman Osborntook a more unique route to align himself with the super-team.This Spider-Man foe formed a new team known as the Dark Avengers, becoming an Avenger by co-opting the name for his own purposes.He took the mantle of Iron Patriot and led this team - which consisted of some villains - in the wake of theSecret Invasionevent.
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The team’s members each presented as different classic Avengers to win the public’s favor, withNorman’s Iron Patriotmantle being a combination of Iron Man and Captain America. Although Norman’s time in charge of the Avengers eventually came to an end, it remains a shocking landmark in the team’s history.
1Voyager Changed History to Become an Avenger
Avengers#676 by Mark Waid, Al Ewing, Jim Zub, and Pepe Larraz
Of every character who’s snuck into the Avengers, Voyager found the most creative method by far, as she didn’t need to pretend to be someone else. Instead,Voyager rewrote history itself and retconned herself into the Avenger’s founding roster. InAvengers#676, the heroes recalled their memories of her being present for iconic moments from the team’s history - except she wasn’t actually there.
In reality, Voyager was the daughter of the Grandmaster who was tasked with hiding among the Avengers, and she did so by giving them false memories of her so that they wouldn’t suspect her. The fact that Voyager convinced theAvengersthat she was one of them is further proof that even Earth’s Mighiest Heroes aren’t immune to being played like fiddles.
