Superheroes love to team up. It's probably because they end up facing a lot of villains they simply can't handle on their own. This definitely comes up a lot in Marvel Comics where Captain America ends up fighting bad guys like Thanos. Cap's great but he's not winning that fight by himself.
While famous teams like the Avengers and the X-Men have taken down some of the toughest villains Marvel has to offer, that doesn't mean that every team is on their level. Some of them couldn't take down a Girl Scout troop let alone the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. These are not the Marvel teams the world wants on call when Annihilus comes calling.
10 Secret Defenders Just Didn't Have The Juice
While the Avengers have long been the focus of the Marvel Universe, there have also been prominent secondary teams like the Defenders. There have been a number of members over the years but the original four were Doctor Strange, Hulk, Namor, and Silver Surfer.
While the first roster of Defenders was extremely powerful, the Secret Defenders were not. The roster rotated too much as did the leadership. The first leader of the team was Doctor Strange but, eventually, both Doctor Druid and Thanos took turns. The team just never got their mojo going.
9 The Deadpool Corps Is Fun But Not Particularly Powerful
Deadpool started off as a secondary character in the pages of the final issues of the New Mutants comics before it transitioned to being X-Force. He would go on to become a fan-favorite character and end up having a few monthly titles at the same time. The character has been a definitive success.
That being said, not everything has gone well for Deadpool. At one point, he had a team called the Deadpool Corps which was made up of alternate reality versions of the Merc with a Mouth. They didn't work well together and they weren't particularly powerful. At least they were funny though.
8 Young Allies Just Didn't Make Sense
Almost as long as there have been superheroes there have been superhero teams as well as superhero sidekicks. All of these tropes were established early, and have continued through most comic book companies. Even in the early days of Marvel Comics, that was certainly true.
One of the first teams they had was the Young Allies which was led by Bucky and was made up of teen heroes and sidekicks. They mainly fought Nazis, so they were usually more powerful than their adversaries. But taking on actual supervillains would have been a much taller order.
7 Rick Jones And The Teen Brigade Was A WTF Moment
When it comes to being a career teen sidekick to superheroes, Rick Jones takes the cake. He started off by riding shotgun with the Incredible Hulk then eventually moved on to working with Captain America. Jones sure likes to stick with the big names whenever possible.
Rick would eventually form the Teen Brigade, a literal group of teenagers who funneled information to heroes like the Avengers. They had a bit of combat training from Cap, but that was about it. Even Batman wouldn't send a child into harm's way with so little training.
6 Cap's Avengers Had Heart But No Power
The Avengers are generally considered to be the preeminent teams of superheroes in the Marvel Universe. It has traditionally been made up by some of the biggest and most powerful heroes around. But that hasn't always been the case.
At one point, Captain America was left to lead an Avengers team that consisted of him, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and Hawkeye. And this was before Scarlet Witch realized how powerful she actually was. They still fought the big fights, but without Thor or Iron Man the team lacked a true powerhouse.
5 The Champions Were Not Particularly Fearsome
If the Avengers are considered the top team in Marvel with the X-Men coming in a close second, the Defenders would likely occupy third or fourth place. Then there are the Champions who should fit in around 20th.
The modern incarnation of the team is better but the original 1975 lineup wasn't exactly dominant. It was made up of Ghost Rider, Hercules, Black Widow, Angel, and Iceman. It had potential but just never seemed to work, probably because it lacked a clear leader.
4 Sandman Kept The Wild Pack In The Mix
Silver Sable is a mercenary from the small country of Symkaria. Her company, Silver Sable International, and its mercenary work represents the vast majority of her homeland's income. Without her, it would have been a terrible place to live.
To accomplish this, Sable maintained a team called the Wild Pack that was made up primarily of fellow soldiers for hire. But they wouldn't have been able to do much without the help of powered individuals like the Sandman who sometimes worked with them.
3 Fantastic Force Was A Misuse Of Power
The Fantastic Four has been referred to as Marvel's first family. This is due to the fact that they were the first team of superheroes in that world to actually be a family. And, not surprisingly, the Fantastic Four spun off more than its fair share of teams.
A future version of Franklin Richards, the son of Reed Richards and Sue Storm, would put his own team of strange heroes together. They were neither powerful nor effective, and they had a silly name. But Franklin's extreme level of power made up for everything. Except for the name, of course.
2 Slingers Was A Bad Name And A Weak Team
Spider-Man has had an interesting effect on the world throughout his career. Some people love him while others, mostly the people named J. Jonah Jameson or Norman Osborn, hate him. But he has also inspired other heroes to take up the fight.
Using alternate costumes and identities that Spider-Man fought under, a group of teens became a superhero team called the Slingers. It did not go well, to say the least. One of them died during training. Another would die later on, leaving only two of them in action.
1 Things Rarely End Well For The Great Lakes Avengers
Few teams inspire the lack of confidence that the Great Lakes Avengers do. They are an unofficial adjunct of the proper Avengers who may or may not be committing copyright infringement with their name. That's for the courts to decide. They've also gone by Great Lakes Champions and Great Lakes X-Men.
In the meantime, they are one of the worst teams Marvel has to offer. Hawkeye and Mockingbird put some time into training them, though it's really not clear if it helped. The only time the GLA is remotely effective is when Squirrel Girl is around as she's the only competent hero out of the group.
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