Marvel’s Dark Avengers team hasn’t been around for long, but its various iterations have included some of the most powerful villains and antiheroes in the Marvel Universe. First formed by Norman Osborn during his Dark Reign leadership of H.A.M.M.E.R., the Dark Avengers were an intended insult to Earth’s Mightiest Heroes (Avengers), with major villains dressed as their iconic costumes.
Norman Osborn got the public’s attention on his by manufacturing his own version of heroes like Ms. Marvel and Spider-Man, often by recruiting those who hated the original heroes.
While the Dark Avengers may have been fake heroes, they were always intended as an effective strike force against the biggest threats the world had to offer, helping Norman Osborn to retain his power.
From Doctor Doom and Morgan Le Fay to the Molecule Man and the Gods of Asgard, this Supervillains team took on towering threats, rising to the occasion with earth-shaking powers.
Here we have listed the 10 most powerful Dark Avengers- villains that are so powerful, they make the original Avengers look like the weaker team.
10 Gorgon
Joining the Dark Avengers in Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato’s New Avengers#18, Gorgon (aka Tomi Shishido) took on the identity of his hated rival, Wolverine. A mutant Gorgon has the power to turn people into stone multiply by making eye contact, however, he rarely uses it.
This is because Gorgaon is a master combatant, granted enhanced speed, agility, and healing as a former servant of the Hand. After his villain era left him defeated and disgraced, Gorgon was eventually recruited by the X-Men and was made a Great Captain of Krakoa, recognizing his deadly abilities by making him one of the four chief protectors of all the mutants.
9 Iron Patriot (Dark Avengers version of Iron Man)
The director of the Dark Avengers, Norman Osborn used stolen Iron Man Armor to become the Iron Patriot in Bendis and Deodata’s Dark Avengers#1. He was already gifted and intelligent before taking the Goblin Serum, which turned him into Green Goblin.
While his armor wasn’t among the best of Stark’s creations, it still packed a punch, and Osborn used his intelligence to control his Dark Avengers teammates – especially the Sentry, who acted as his personal bodyguard.
Using his arsenal of power and smartness, Norman Osborn as the Iron Patriot went against many of Marvel’s mightiest villains, even defeating Morgan Le Fay and neutralizing the threat of the Molecule Man.
8 Toxie Doxie (Dark Avengers version of Wanda Maximoff)
Toxie Doxie also known as Doctor June Covington was a radical biologist who repeatedly altered her own biology. This gave her a huge range of abilities from heat blasts and pheromone control to being invisible to machinery.
Posing as the Scarlet Witch Bendis and Deodato’s New Avengers #18, Toxie Doxie has other powers that focus on lethal force and controlling others. her breath is so poisonous, while her blood contains a neurotoxin that kills in seconds.
Amazingly, Toxie Doxie even defeated Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Strange in battle. The deadliest thing about June Covington is that she’s constantly adapting her body, making it impossible to guess what she’s capable of.
7 AI Apaec (Dark Avengers version of Spider-man)
A little god masquerading as Spider-Man, AI Apaec also joined the Dark Avengers in New Avengers#18. With an appearance as scary as he is dangerous, AI Apaec has the lower body of a spider, snaky hair, and sharp teeth.
In order to impersonate Spider-Man, Norman Osborn gave him a genetic modification drug. AI Apaec has the immortality and the durability of a god and can draw on a range of spider powers, including organic webbing, a venomous bite, and wall-crawling.
AI Apaec came close to killing Peter Parker when the 2 Spider-Man clashed, but thankfully Captain America was able to save his heroic ally from a ghastly demise.
6 Sueperia
A misandrist who sought total female domination over the Earth, Superia took control of H.A.M.M.M.E.R. and the Dark Avengers after Norman Osborn was defeated. Creating her own power with her mad scientist genius, Superia took the lead of the Dark Avengers Bendis and Deodato’s New Avengers #23.
Superia’s intellect is almost without parallel, and she has made breakthroughs in time travel, power-dampening tech, and even Super-soldier Serum.
In addition to her intelligence, she is able to fly and project energy blasts. Superia was able to go one on one with Captain Marvel and Skaar(the son of the Hulk), thanks to her exceptional abilities and attributes.
5. Moonstone
Portraying Ms. Marvel after she became part of the Dark Avengers#1, Moonstone has a huge range of powers that make her a match for Carol Danvers. Moonstone to get her powers by fusing with a Kree gravity stone.
This gave her superhuman strength, durability, agility, reflexes, and flight along with molecular control, intangibility, photokinesis, and gravity manipulation.
Moonstone is so dangerous because she’s also a genius, an armorial psychologist, manipulating everyone around to follow her command. As part of the training, Moonstone became a world-class hypnotist, who had the power of even mind-controlling the Hulk.
4. Skaar (Son of Hulk)
The Skaar has a double helping of powers from his father Hulk and his mother Caiera the Oldstrong. Skaar joined the Dark Avengers in New Avengers#18. In addition to these inherited gamma powers, Skaar also possesses Old Power, which allows him to interface with the planet itself.
This pseudo-mystic ability can manipulate lava and rock, but can also be used to ‘speak’ to Earth in surprising ways, such as communicating across long distances or intuiting past events.
Skaar joined the Dark Avengers as a double agent for Steve Rogers and was able to take down the team at Captain America’s request, later returning to watch over them once the former members fell under Luke Cage’s purview.
Other than having Hulk-level strength and Old Power, Skaar also grew up on the desolate planet Skaar, becoming a master of armed combat.
3 Ragnarok (Dark Avengers version of Thor)
Ragnarok is best known in Civil War, Ragnarok is a cyborg clone of Thor, created by Tony Stark and Reed Richards, and Criti Noll. Ragnarok joined the team in New Avengers #18, but one thing that Ragnarok lacks is Thor’s morality but can summon lightning and has godly durability and strength.
He is a deeply evil being who murdered the hero, Goliath, possessing godly arrogance without the balance of Thor’s love towards humanity. Thankfully Ragnarok is not worthy to wield Mjolnir, so he uses an alternate version of Mjolnir.
2 Ares
Ares (the literal God of War), started as a supervillain, who went one on one with Thor, Hercules, and the Avengers. Later, his character became an antihero who joined any battle for the sake of being able to fight, and he even served on Tony’s Stark Mighty Avengers for taking down Ultron.
Sadly Ares doesn’t care for Human Morales, and so when Norman Osborn took over, he simply remained an Avenger, joining Osborn’s team in Dark Avengers#1.
Ares has the great abilities of many powerful Marvel Olympian Gods and is physically a match for Thor. However, Ares is also the powerhouse in all things warfare and can be considered the greatest tactician, and master of all weapons.
He even has the ability to manipulate combat between others, and even to spread war and chaos by using his godly will on mortals.
1 Sentry
Torn between his heroic Sentry side and his villainous Void persona, the Sentry has demonstrated his power time and again. Gaining his powers from a dark version of the Super Soldier Serum, the Sentry was granted powers that were equal to “a million exploding suns”. It is even hinted that Sentry has a connection to divine power, and can manipulate the world on a molecular level.
First joining the team in Dark Avengers #1, Sentry was manipulated into acting as Norman Osborn’s ultimate weapon and was finally unleashed in Bendis and Copiel’s Siege. Their Sentry destroyed Asgard and tore Ares in two.
Sentry has remained an unpredictable force ever since, helping to push a Celestial off Earth and fighting the Hulk to a standstill in the conclusion of World War Hulk. While the Dark Avengers rosted has hosted mutants, super-scientists, and even gods. Sentry remains Marvel’s most powerful mortal.
