The Avengers became the biggest name in superhero teams again thanks to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Earth’s Mightiest Heroes had first made their name back in the ’60s and ’70s, becoming the premiere Marvel superteam until the X-Men took that spot from the in the ’80s. Since then, the group has had its ups and downs, giving readers some awesome stories (and some not so awesome ones). The MCU was able to show off everything that the group’s stories did so well, making them household names, taking ideas and plots from the source material. The MCU “adapts” stories from the comics – sometimes taking an idea whole cloth and other times using ideas from multiple stories in one movie – but they’ve skipped over some of the best.
That’s actually a good thing in a lot of ways, as the MCU’s way of adapting can often anger fans of the original work. There are lots of amazing Avengers stories that MCU fans should definitely read but also definitely shouldn’t be adapted. They are awesome Avengers stories, but they just wouldn’t work on the big screen for numerous reasons. Movie fans should definitely read these five Avengers classics, but they never need to hit the multiplex.
The Last Avengers Story is a forgotten gem of Marvel’s most maligned era. The story from Peter David and Ariel Olivetti took readers to a future where the Avengers have been gone for years, but the return of Kang and Ultron leads Hank Pym to bringing together a new roster of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to face their challenge. It’s one of those stories that never really got a lot of attention back in the day but is fantastic, Olivetti’s gorgeous painted art and David’s adroit writing giving readers the best Hank Pym story they can imagine.
I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t want to read an Avengers story from the mid ’90s, when Marvel wasn’t doing great in general and making terrible moves with the team. This book came on the heels of Ruins, a story that was known for being entirely too grim even back then. Some fans certainly thought this would be more of the same and skipped it, but that’s not the case. David isn’t trying to shock readers, he’s showing us how great a hero Hank Pym can be, all while paying homage to Marvel’s greatest team and their villains. The MCU couldn’t do this story justice and would have to change so much to make it work that it’s better not to even try.
The ’90s were terrible for the Avengers, but things got light years better in the ’00s. Kurt Busiek’s landmark run was going strong as the new millennium dawned, but the book still wasn’t selling as well as Marvel wanted, so they decided to give superstar creators Brian Michael Bendis and David Finch a chance to reboot the team. “Avengers Disassembled: Chaos” saw the team sneak-attacked out of nowhere by some of their greatest foes, members dying as the real person behind the destruction is revealed.
This story kicked off the Bendis years with bombast (something that we wouldn’t get a lot of during his time on the book), all while redefining one of the team’s most popular members. It’s a great book that is very important to the group’s history that started a new era. However, it’s also the kind of story that the MCU doesn’t do well. It’s a dark story and the MCU hasn’t met a dark plot line it can’t ruin with some humor. Ruining the tone of the story would hurt it, so it’s better for this one to stay a comic.
“The Korvac Saga” comics from that time in late ’70s Avengers history when the team had reached the apex of its popularity. The story by Jim Shooter, David Michelinie, George Perez, and David Wensel is one of the most beloved of its era, even if you don’t hear about it much anymore. In the future, humanity is enslaved by the alien Badoon, but Michael Korvac was able to gain godlike power and escape to the past, with the Guardians of the Galaxy hot on his trail. The Avengers get involved, with the two teams fighting a hopeless battle against an enemy who is vastly more powerful than them.
“The Korvac Saga” is big Avengers action of the highest order, pitting the team against a foe who could destroy them with a thought. It has some amazing ups and downs, taking readers on a journey that an MCU version couldn’t follow. Tone is extremely important to a story like this and Marvel Studios excels at ruining the tone of any story it’s telling. The hopelessness is a feature of the story, not a bug, and it needs that to really connect with readers. It’s a classic that the MCU would never be able to do right.
“Under Siege”, by Roger Stern and John Buscema, is one of the greatest Avengers stories ever, an ’80s classic that has rarely been matched. Baron Zemo has returned and he’s brought together the biggest, most powerful roster of the Masters of Evil together with one thing in mind – revenge for the death of his father. Zemo unleashes the Masters on Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, handing them defeat after defeat and taking Avengers Mansion from them. With the odds against them, the Avengers have to figure out a way to win a battle they’ve seemingly already lost.
Look, we all love MCU Zemo, but can you see him doing this? He’s not the master strategist of the comic, so that’s a problem. The MCU doesn’t have the villains to make this work, either, so they’d have to introduce a load of C-listers for the movie, which would bloat the story tremendously. I know I’m repeating myself about tone a lot, but the MCU just doesn’t do these kinds of stories well. MCU fans should read it because of what it says about the team, but the MCU would never be able to get this classic right.
Avengers: Twilight is a flawless story. The six-issue miniseries from Chip Zdasky and Daniel Acuna takes place in a future where the Avengers died on H-Day, leading to a fascist government taking over the US. The heroes have been forced to retire, with Captain America’s supersoldier serum removed, standing by helplessly as the son of Iron Man and the Wasp uses his father’s technology to help the fascists at the urging or Kyle Jarvis, Jarvis’s brother. However, Cap can’t stand by helplessly and when Luke Cage offers him a way back into the fight, he takes it, leading to the return of the Avengers and the revelation of some terrible truths.
Avengers: Twilight is one of those stories that uses superheroes to talk about the real world, in this case the rise of fascism in the United States. While I would usually say that we need as many stories like this one as possible, Marvel Studios couldn’t do this story well and would almost certainly change everything about it. A lot of people like to pretend that Marvel Studios is woke, but it’s extremely center right, to the extent that they take money from the military and kiss up to the military industrial complex. This story doesn’t even try to hide who it’s really about and Disney does not like to take sides, because they want everyone’s money. It’s not a subtle allegory but a loud warning and Marvel Studios would never allow a story like this to be made without massive changes, which would neuter the tale’s impact and just make this a standard dystopian future story with really good art.
Do you agree or do you think the MCU would make all of these stories better? What stories do you think MCU fans should read but shouldn’t be adapted? Sound off in comments below.
