Avengers Facts You May Not Know

When you think of the Avengers, you probably think of Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor. But it was another superhero who actually gave the team its name—a character that somehow hasn't even appeared in the movies yet. We're talking about Janet van Dyne, the winsome Wasp, who—although she was at least finally mentioned in Ant-Man—still hasn't made her Marvel Cinematic Universe debut. Aside from being a founding member of the Avengers in the comics, Ms. Van Dyne privately funded the team and served as its leader for long stretches, proving a pivotal part of countless classic storyline arcs—all while running a fashion empire.

Ultron is one of the most important Avengers villains. But one nemesis clearly stands out as their all-time biggest threat: Kang the Conqueror, a time-traveling warlord who has menaced the team since 1964. So why hasn't he appeared in an Avengers film yet? Simple: Marvel included the film rights to Kang as part of their Fantastic Four contract with 20th Century Fox. So unless some kind of deal is made, Kang is off the MCU table for good.

Much has rightly been made of the Black Panther, who became the first black superhero in comics when he debuted in Fantastic Four #52 in 1966. Just two months later, though, an equally important story began in Avengers #32, as the Avengers faced off against a thinly veiled Ku Klux Klan analogue called the Sons of the Serpent. Though the story has mostly been overlooked, it's one of the earliest and most powerful stories in mainstream comics history to directly address the issues of the civil rights movement. It's perhaps worth noting that the Sons recently returned as part of a storyline arc in the revamped Captain America, in which Cap's pal Sam Wilson, a.k.a. the Falcon, has taken up the shield—and the group's anti-immigration rhetoric was defended by a real-life panel on Fox News.

Speaking of writer Roy Thomas dredging up forgotten characters to create new ones, let's talk about the Vision. While Vision is of course a synthezoid—or in English, a synthetic man—originally he was supposed to be an alien. That's because Thomas had planned to just use the old Timely Comics hero the Vision, an alien cop from a smoke dimension who comes to Earth to battle mystical crime. Stan Lee wanted a robot, though, so Thomas simply took the name and design for Vision and used it to make a new, robotic version.

DC and Marvel have long had an antagonistic relationship. So when Roy Thomas and DC writer Mike Friedrich wanted to have the Avengers crossover with the Justice League of America, they had to do it on the down low. The result was a secret crossover neither company was aware of until after it was published. In Avengers #85, the team travels to an alternate universe where they meet the Squadron Supreme, a thinly-veiled analogue of the Justice League. The same month, in Justice League of America #87, a team of heroes called The Assemblers appears from an alternate universe and teams up with the Justice League. Smooth, guys, real smooth.

One of the most infamous moments in Avengers history is the deeply misguided story of Ms. Marvel being mind-controlled and impregnated by a time-traveler from another dimension. Naturally, many were outraged by the tale, including former Ms. Marvel writer Chris Claremont. Claremont wrote a rebuttal in Avengers Annual #10, during which the Avengers got their butts kicked and were told off by Ms. Marvel. Claremont needed a new villain to deliver the message appropriately, though, so he created one: the mutant Rogue, who he'd later turn into one of the most famous members of the X-Men.

During his '80s Avengers run, writer Roger Sterncame up with the idea of a second branch of the team: the West Coast Avengers, which would be...well, exactly what it sounds like. Stern wrote a four-issue miniseries, planning to continue the story of both the east and west coast branches in the pages of Avengers. Once sales numbers came in, though, Marvel realized the second series was a hit and they quickly put together a new ongoing title—without Stern's knowledge or involvement. He was forced to completely scrap a year's worth of stories because of the spinoff title he'd accidentally created.

Though it seems like a no-brainer to have Spider-man on the Avengers, he didn't become a full-time member until Brian Michael Bendis added him with the launch of the New Avengers title in 2004. His official inclusion came 40 years after he first crossed paths with the team, and followed numerous unsuccessful attempts by one side or the other to make the membership happen.

Hawkeye didn't really have anything to do in the first Avengers film, what with him being brainwashed by Loki and everything. But concept art reveals that originally, he was slated to have special arrows designed to take out each member of the team, including Iron Man and Hulk. "He's the only one who can really take down the Hulk with his tranq tip arrows," Jeremy Renner told Entertainment Weekly.

Follow along if you can: in the comics, Nick Fury was originally a white World War II vet. When Marvel updated things for their Ultimate Universe, artist Bryan Hitch decided to use Samuel L. Jackson as the model for the new version of the character. Fans loved it, so when they went to make the movies, Marvel decided to just cast Jackson in the role—and once the movies became a hit, they had to retroactively make Fury black in the main Marvel Universe. To explain the change, they gave the original character a previously unknown African-American son named Nick Fury, Jr., and had him take over for his dad. These days, Nick Senior is chained to the moon. Confused yet?