The Dark Avengers
The Dark Avengers were formed by Norman Osborn after becoming a public hero by being seen killing the Skrull Queen during the events of Secret Invasion. With Iron Man gone, the government gave Osborn leadership of S.H.I.E.L.D. who changed the name to H.A.M.M.E.R. and created a new team of his own handpicked Avengers.
Using Tony Stark's tech to make himself the "Iron Patriot," he also recruited from his team of Thunderbolts and manipulated the team's appearance to mimic true members of the Avengers.With Mac Gargan's Venom as Spider-Man, Moonstone as Ms. Marvel, and Bullseye as Hawkeye, Osborn also went and recruited Ares, manipulated the Sentry into joining, got Daken to join as Wolverine to anger his father, and lied to Noh Varr to obtain his own Captain Marvel.
Each member of the team had considerable flaws. Venom had an unsatiable taste for human flesh when not controlled by drugs that made him depressed and unmotivated. The Sentry had uncontrollable psychosis, creating the Void, his arch-nemesis that was actually conjured by his mind. Daken was only in it to anger his father, the real Wolverine. Bullseye just wanted to have fun, murdering several people and crashing a news helicopter on live TV.
Although the public initially embraced the new team as the "true" Avengers, the Dark Avengers were eventually scorned for their part in the Siege of Asgard, a massive assault led by a crazed Osborn on the home of the Gods, without the sanction of the U.S. President.
Osborn recently also had a short lived team of Dark New Avengers alligned with H.A.M.M.E.R., A.I.M., and HYDRA loyalists, only to be defeated once again by Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
Members of the Dark Avengers
- Iron Patriot (Norman Osborn)
- Venom (Mac Gargan)
- Bullseye
- The Sentry
- Ares
- Moonstone
- Noh Varr
- Daken
