At the embassy, the Avengers found communication attempts from the workers to the hero group Fantastic Four dating back months, but the network seemed not to have sent the help message. They reported seismic tremors and disappearances of people, which made sense since the place seemed abandoned. However, the heroes' presence was detected by a terrible creature: a brutal monster that tried to incapacitate them, the Hulk. 

They managed to contain the creature thanks to the intervention of a mysterious ally: Thor, the God of Thunder. The Hulk was detained and disappeared into the shadows, but S.H.I.E.L.D. recognized him as Dr. Bruce Banner. Thor introduced himself as a diplomat from his kingdom and claimed to have located traces of his missing brother's arcane magic in the vicinity. He was then invited to collaborate with the team. 

The heroes went to the village, where everything seemed... normal? They were well received and spent the night there. However, during the early hours, they were attacked by the local residents, who had turned into wendigos. They defeated them and found Loki performing his final ritual: using the Hulk's strength to awaken the creature Jörmungandr from the center of the Earth and seize its weapon, capable of defeating Odin, seeking to put an end to Midgard. The heroes managed to free the Green Goliath from Loki's enchantment and united to tame Jörmungandr and reverse the summoning ritual, with Thor's help. 

Impressed with their teamwork, Monica stated that the group could meet again with the help of S.H.I.E.L.D., which could offer any and all access for them to work together around the globe. What they did there could save many lives. Stark was the most inclined to refuse the proposal; the Wasp, on the other hand, was the most excited and stated that the superhero group should be called The Avengers. She had always been great at branding.

notable MISSIONS

• When the body of the World War II hero, Captain America, was found in Antarctica, the Avengers were responsible for escorting him to a S.H.I.E.L.D. base that could treat him. But information about the transport was leaked by infiltrated Hydra agents, who altered the course of the route to steal the hero's body. The Avengers realized this too late and had to face hordes of the neonazi organization's soldiers while their newest leader, Baron Zemo, tried to assassinate Captain America to avenge his ancestor who also perished at the hero's hands. The attack came to an end when the Captain awakened and defeated his enemy, still distraught, believing he was in World War II. The Avengers stole a ship and retreated to the original route's base. If they arrived too late, the hero's mind might not resist. 

• While Steve Rogers readjusted to the 20th Century, even without understanding why he had survived, the Avengers took him on an operation in Italy, where they had to intervene in a mass destruction weapon purchase by Count Nefaria. The heroes discovered that the chemical weapons production was being spearheaded by A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics), a private British company that had been working with the government for a few years. 

• Ant-Man and the Wasp led an infiltration mission to A.I.M.'s operations base to understand the motivations behind the organization. There, the Avengers discovered the existence of M.O.D.O.K., an automated humanoid made in a lab who was secretly leading the group to find the key to producing high-power weaponry, seeking to profit from the imminent war between the United States and the Soviet Union. 

• Hulk separated from the team after a failed mission on the coast of North Africa but began to be pursued by the presence of the Leader, who promised to have the key to free him from his transformation. Bruce Banner initially accepted, until he found himself forced to contribute to the villain's Machiavellian plan, who planned to launch a massive Gamma radiation bomb that would take over the entire North African continent. The Avengers managed to intervene, and even though they were momentarily taken over by Gamma Radiation, they fought to suppress their inner monsters. 

• The Leader's arrest led the Wakandan diplomat and king, T'Challa, to spy on the Earth's Mightiest Heroes, studying their movements to invade the Avengers Mansion and access the containment cells, where the Leader was imprisoned until he was transported to The Cube. A select group of Avengers who were in plain clothes managed to intervene, and commanded by Spectrum (Monica Rambeau), they contained the invader. Black Panther explained that the Leader should be judged by Wakanda for funding invasions of the nation in search of resources, but Spectrum argued that Wakanda does not have diplomatic power, as it is a secret nation that has never revealed itself to the world. But she offered the King a place alongside the Avengers so that together they could discover and dismantle the trafficking network that has been invading the legendary African country.

•  Spectrum led a surveillance team under S.W.O.R.D.'s command to discover the nature of UFOs taking over the sky. Thus, the Avengers found Carol Danvers, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who had been missing for a long time and claimed to have come from space. Amnesiac and furious, she believed she was being pursued by the Kree Empire, which wanted her to reclaim her place as an agent of the Empire. The heroes helped her defeat the fleet led by Yon-Rogg, who managed to escape in a space capsule but promised to return. Major Marvel joined the Avengers, as she had nowhere else to go. 

• Baron Zemo spent the last few months studying each member of the super-team, who have been extremely annoying in intercepting several of the businesses operated by Hydra around the world, in order to create his own task force to contain the Avengers. Gathering the greatest enemies of each member, such as Abomination, Enchantress, Egghead, Radiationary, and Titanity, he created the Masters of Evil. As a final weapon, the Hydra leader located and recruited a mutant orphan long isolated in Wundagore, ready to be manipulated and used as a weapon.

Adopting the status of public figures, the Avengers sought new members capable of inspiring a new generation of heroes. The chosen ones were the two newcomers: Goliath and Firestar, who brought a younger flair to the group. 

Hank Pym also decided to leave the team when his marriage to Janet van Dyne began to cause friction in their performance as a team. He was transferred to a secret S.H.I.E.L.D. project, which was not clarified to the Avengers.

notable MISSIONS

• The influence of A.I.M. is growing in the West, just as Roxxon spreads to the East, both offering new avenues for mass energy production. The dispute between the two groups is merely a facade, as both organizations appear to share technologies and discoveries with each other, planning a true global monopoly in the energy industry. Thor leads the group's offensive at a business meeting between the two organizations but is surprised to encounter the presence of the Wrecking Crew, a group of mercenaries created by Roxxon who operate with the aid of Asgardian artifacts. The team is eventually defeated, but the idea that villains are planning contingency plans for the superhero team seems terrible. 

• To keep the Avengers away from their business, M.O.D.O.K. and Dario Agger mastermind a mass breakout from the world's largest super-prisons, with the help of the Wrecking Crew infiltrated inside each one. The Vault, The Cube, and The Raft are the cardinal points of this plan, which causes the disappearance of 74 high-security inmates, now scattered across the globe. The Avengers begin operating in rotating teams to investigate, locate, and contain each of the fugitives. 

• After the imprisonment of Baron Zemo, two other heads take over Hydra: Viper and Baron Von Strucker, who together maximize the group's actions in Eastern Europe. Due to the high demand the Avengers face, Captain America sets out alone to investigate the mission, but is secretly followed by the Scarlet Witch, who believes Hydra may be holding her missing brother captive, just as they did with her. The Captain eventually discovers the young hero's presence and acts as a mentor to keep her safe in the operation. The two also cross paths with Black Widow and Hawkeye, two members of the governmental task force that S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't want the heroes to know about: the Secret Avengers. United, the heroes are indeed capable of ruining Hydra's plans, and Wanda eventually locates her brother, Pietro, who has been acting as a revolutionary against the group. She tries to approach him but is pushed away when she discovers that her brother works for the mutant terrorist Magneto. 

• Iron Man leads the Wasp and Thor on a civilian rescue in the Soviet Union, which catches the attention of the Winter Guard, the country's protective heroes who do not welcome the stateless agents. A feud intensifies when Stark finds part of his private arsenal in the Crimson Dynamo's armor. Investigating the trafficking of Stark Industries products in the country, the heroes locate the culprit: Whiplash, the Soviet smuggler was one of the fugitives from The Vault. 

• Firestar operates alone in New York to capture a low-threat fugitive, Whirlwind, but ends up discovering that he now leads his own team of robbers with advanced technology, such as Blizzard and Ghost. Teaming up with the neighborhood hero to stop the robberies, Spider-Man, and a mutant government agent seeking to locate the origin of the technology, Iceman, the three super-friends manage to put an end to the group's extensive list of robberies. And Angelica Jones manages to convince Bobby Drake to entrust the mission of locating the origin of this technology to the Avengers. 

• While Major Marvel locates the blackouts caused by the monster Zzzax, Goliath searches for the wave of victims of the Griffin, and Black Panther investigates the operations of Klaw, the three heroes are helped by the same winged vigilante, who seeks not to identify himself and who also turns in Red Ghost, captured on his own. Black Panther is able to follow the young hero, even though he moves at jet speed, and discovers his secret identity, S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Sam Wilson, who is invited by T'Challa to work alongside the team. 

• With half of the wanted villains in custody, the Avengers take a break to rest, but even separated, they all receive the same call to battle when an invention by Hank Pym goes out of control and promises to cause the extinction of humanity. The Age of Ultron begins.

•  After managing to deal with Ultron, even alone, the Avengers feel unmotivated, while Wanda leaves the group indefinitely, revealing her pregnancy and willing to take a break from the heroic life to rediscover her past. The team then decides to join forces with the other super-group created to replace them: the Secret Avengers. Now, together, they can find the remaining fugitives more quickly. 

• Iron Man and War Machine discover that the trafficking of Stark technology in Russia and its purchase by offenders in New York are directly linked to Justin Hammer, the old billionaire who leads Stark Industries' main Australian competitor in the country. Upon confronting the elderly man, they end up discovering that the one profiting from the trafficking is actually his daughter, Justine Hammer, who uses her Crimson Cowl armor to fight the armored duo. 

• Hank and Janet find themselves together again, now investigating the energy trail left by Living Laser in Tokyo, while being pursued by Crossfire, a Hungarian assassin responsible for the death of Hank's ex-wife and who wants the information stolen by him. The duo returns to their heroic suits to defeat the mercenary, and after more than ten years, Hank finally gathers the courage to analyze the Hungarian government files that belonged to his ex-father-in-law. There, they find information linking the governor of Hungary to the Red Room and discover that a supposed daughter of Hank and Maria Trovaya is kept there. 

• Major Marvel, Spectrum, Tigra, and Quake find the whereabouts of the Wrecking Crew but are prevented from bringing them to justice thanks to the interference of their new lawyer, Matt Murdock. To deal with the case, the group of heroines seeks legal support from the superhero lawyer: Jennifer Walters (She-Hulk). 

• Captain America grows closer to Falcon, and both secretly decide to detach from the plan to locate the fugitives to discover the whereabouts of the new Hydra leaders, but they are secretly followed by U.S. Agent, who wants to do everything to please his government. The duo manages to locate Baron Von Strucker and are almost able to capture him, if not for the intervention of John Walker, who tried to assassinate the leader of the neo-Nazi group.