Avengers: Against All Odds

No matter the stakes or the chances, the Avengers always come out on top...eventually.

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When a team's very first missions pits them against an ancient trickster god—and they win—you just know they're going to face some nearly impossible challenges! Going way back to the Avengers' 1963 debut, the team has always bravely stood up to those who would subjugate or abuse life for their own gain.

Along the way, the team came up against the likes of angry gods, dying realities and more than a few villains intent on domination. However, regardless of the odds stacked against them, the Avengers always find a way to claw their way to victory. Here are five times they proved exactly why they are the Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

In AVENGERS #16, all of the founders left, but Captain America stuck around to work with a trio of former villains: Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, and Hawkeye. Even with the team's power and experience levels at an all-time low, they still managed to fend off attacks from the likes of Enchantress, Kang, and even Doctor Doom.

The ranks began to grow again with AVENGERS #26 when Hank Pym rejoined as Goliath, but it's a testament to Cap's leadership abilities and the others' desire to prove themselves heroes that they succeeded as well as they did during that time. Not bad for a super soldier, a bowman, a hex witch and the most impatient speedster around!

The team faced plenty of insane battles between its debut and AVENGERS #270-277, but in that story, the Masters of Evil nearly obliterated them! While the team found itself distracted with other matters, the villains—led by Baron Zemo—managed to smash through the Mansion's defenses, take full control and capture Edwin Jarvis. The Masters easily took out Black Knight, Monica "Captain Marvel" Rambeau, Hercules, and Captain America. To torture the Star-Spangled Avenger, Zemo destroyed the only mementos from his old life and made him watch Mr. Hyde beat Jarvis nearly to death. With most of her team down and out, The Wasp worked with Scott "Ant-Man" Lang, the recently returned Thor and Doctor Druid to save their friends and finally take back Avengers Mansion by beating the Masters of Evil into submission. Up until that point, the team had never been so close to utter defeat and those who served at that time still have the scars they earned during the siege.

When Thanos finally put together all of the Infinity Stones in INFINITY GAUNTLET, he became the most powerful being in the universe. With a simple snap of his fingers, he did away with half of all life in the cosmos, but that still left the Avengers and their fellow heroes to oppose the Mad Titan. Even up against a being with untold powers, Captain America, the Avengers and their allies fought to bring everyone back and stop Thanos' Death-obsessed plans. Even after seeing their enemy take out individuals far more powerful than him, the Shield-Slinger stood up to Thanos in a gambit to distract him so that the Silver Surfer could get the Gauntlet from him. Though that ploy ultimately failed and Cap died in the process, the Avengers spirit flowed through those who remained and a ragtag group of heroes—including Hulk and Thor—ultimately defeated the wielder of the Stones, returning all those who died to their pre-snap lives.

Over the years, Ultron has launched destructive attacks against humanity, but few proved more ruinous than the one seen in AVENGERS #0, #19-22. In that endeavor, he wiped out the entire population of the country Slorenia, turned the citizens' bodies into zombie soldiers, and kidnapped his "human family" including Hank Pym, Janet Van Dyne, Wonder Man, Vision, and Scarlet Witch. Meanwhile, Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Firestar and Black Panther made a hard-fought march towards their enemy. Hours of fighting the undead left them drained, but that was simply the opening salvo. From there, they faced individual Ultrons only to be swarmed by an army of the metallic monsters. After hours of tortuous treatment to both groups, they finally persevered and managed to put the villain down...until his next untimely upgrade.

The Avengers have faced seemingly insurmountable odds in the past, but not such unimaginable betrayal as they felt when Captain America revealed that he'd been secretly part of Hydra in SECRET EMPIRE. We now know that that individual was actually a rewritten version of Rogers that Red Skull created by way of Kobik, the living Cosmic Cube, but at the time every hero in the Marvel Universe found themselves filled with doubt and anger at the way this man they'd all looked up to fooled them so completely. Making matters worse, he knew exactly where to hit them, commanded an army of humans and super beings, and could wield a tainted version Thor's hammer with ease. And yet, Avengers Sam Wilson, Black Panther, Winter Soldier and Ant-Man worked to save Steve by fixing the broken Cosmic Cube to bring the real Rogers back to life. They managed this just in time to stop HydraCap in a Cube-powered version of Iron Man's suit from completely re-writing history. Back in action, the Mighty Avenger proved his own worth by defeating the copy.