10 Worst Sins Of The Avengers Movies After 4 MCU Team-Ups

In four massive crossover projects spanning seven years, Marvel Studios’ Avengers franchise showcased some terrible decisions, confusing plans, and major mistakes for the MCU as a whole. The MCU’s Avengers first came together in 2012’s eponymous The Avengers, formed under the watchful eye of SHIELD and Nick Fury to battle Loki on the streets of New York City. Since then, 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron saw them battle a villain of their own making, 2016’s Captain America: Civil War pitted them against each other, and 2018’s Infinity War and 2019’s Endgame marked their epic feud with the Mad Titan Thanos, marking some of the MCU’s most profitable and ground-breaking projects.

The MCU’s original Avengers team comprised Captain America, Iron Man, the Hulk, Thor, Black Widow, and Hawkeye, though several other heroes have also earned the title of “Avenger”. Infinity War and Endgame are widely regarded as being the pinnacle of the MCU, especially since their impact has been hard to recover from in subsequent projects, which has only raised expectations for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars in Phase 6. Despite being seen as some of the strongest installments of the MCU, Marvel Studios’ Avengers franchise has made mistakes, both in universe and in the real world, including these ten annoying flaws in the MCU’s four Avengers films.

10 Loki’s Plan Didn’t Make Any Sense

Loki was introduced as an MCU villain in 2011’s Thor, and he returned to face the first Avengers team in their big screen debut. 2012’s The Avengers saw Loki journey to Earth with an army of Chitauri and Leviathan, wreaking havoc on New York City. This was all in an effort to rule over Earth since his brother was destined to be King of Asgard, but his convoluted plan made very little sense and never had a clear ending. Loki was, unknowingly, the most powerful being in the universe at this point, being in possession of two Infinity Stones, but wasted his villainous potential on nothing more than a tantrum.

9 Ultron Was Way Scarier In Age Of Ultron Trailers Than The Full Movie

2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron debuted James Spader as the voice of Ultron, an artificial intelligence created by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner who twisted his peacekeeping mission into trying to exterminate humanity. Trailers for Avengers: Age of Ultron teased Ultron as an incredibly sinister and threatening villain, not one with an especially strong sense of humor, but one who could actually have the potential to kill an Avenger or two, devastating the Earth in the process. Unfortunately, this didn’t translate fully into the theatrical release, as Ultron cracked too many jokes in Age of Ultron to be taken fully seriously, though his plan for world destruction was still solid.

8 The New Avengers Didn’t Have A Single Movie Together

Avengers: Age of Ultron ended with the apparent retiring of Tony Stark’s Iron Man and Clint Barton’s Hawkeye, Thor traveling off into space to search for Infinity Stones, and the Hulk disappearing in a Quinjet. This left Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff to piece together the MCU’s New Avengers, yet this team was completely wasted despite consisting of the likes of Vision, Falcon, Scarlet Witch, and War Machine. It would have been great to see a full Avengers film featuring this new team of heroes instead of having them sidelined and disbanded in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, with many of them vanishing until Infinity War.

7 Bruce’s Smart Hulk Transformation Happens Completely Off-Screen

Marvel Studios often came under scrutiny for “nerfing” the Hulk – weakening his power level so that he blends in better with the other heroes of the MCU. The last time audiences saw Bruce Banner’s angry Hulk form was back in Age of Ultron, which saw him devastate the streets of Johannesburg. This nerfing culminated in the Hulk not making an appearance for the majority of Infinity War, perhaps when he was needed most, prompting Banner to combine the brains and the brawn into Smart Hulk. This transformation would have been great to see, perhaps raising popularity for the Hulk again, but it took place entirely off-screen in Avengers: Endgame.

6 Natasha Romanoff’s Black Widow Never Got Enough Development

One of the biggest crimes of the MCU as a whole, not just the Avengers franchise, was that Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a. Black Widow, never got the development and focus she deserved. Romanoff was sidelined as one of the “weaker” members of the Avengers in their early appearances and turned into something of a Captain America supporting character. Romanoff sacrificed her life to ensure the Avengers’ success in Endgame, yet while Tony Stark got a whole funeral, Black Widow had only a few moments of emotion, followed by a retrospective solo film, 2021’s Black Widow, that did very little to explore her as a valued character in the MCU.

5 Thanos Waited Three Years To Collect The Infinity Stones

After making his debut at the end of The Avengers, Thanos was teased throughout the MCU’s Infinity Saga as the big-bad working in the shadows. Avengers: Age of Ultron ended with Josh Brolin’s Mad Titan declaring he’ll embark on his own mission to collect the famed Infinity Stones, yet he didn’t actually start this mission until three years later in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War. What Thanos was doing during that time is unclear, as a cosmic being of his strength and influence should have been able to easily acquire the six stones capable of wiping out half the population of the universe. Nevertheless, Thanos would later succeed in his mission.

4 The World Security Council Was Going To Destroy New York City

One of the most bad decisions in the MCU’s Avengers franchise didn’t actually come from any of the Avengers themselves. Instead, after learning of Loki’s attack on New York City in The Avengers, the enigmatic World Security Council opted to fire a nuclear missile at Manhattan, much to the dismay of Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury. Despite the World Security Council’s attempt to obliterate New York and murder potentially millions of innocent civilians, Stark’s Iron Man managed to redirect the missile through Loki’s portal into space, thankfully ending the alien invasion. The MCU would be a very different place – with fewer heroes – had the World Security Council succeeded.

3 The Avengers Never Faced The Consequences Of Their Actions

Although the Avengers may not have caused damage akin to a nuclear missile detonating in New York, they have seldom cared about what property damage or loss of life is incurred by their heroic actions. Captain America: Civil War teased the Avengers facing the consequences of their actions, but this didn’t really happen, as every hero returned only a few years later and all seemed forgiven. The MCU’s Phase 4 even revealed that the Sokovia Accords – documentation put in place to limit the Avengers’ destructive tendencies – had been repealed, suggesting there are no repercussions once someone becomes a superhero, no matter what damage is caused along the way.

2 Endgame Had Many Glaring Continuity Errors

In a project as monumental as Avengers: Endgame, continuity details are sure to slip through the cracks, and they’re often easy to ignore as the action unfolding on screen is so captivating. However, Avengers: Endgame perhaps included more continuity errors than any previous MCU project. At one point, Ant-Man is fixing the Quantum Tunnel and simultaneously fighting on the battlefield, Captain America’s shield magically mends itself after being destroyed by Thanos, the design of Stark Tower is different to in The Avengers, New Asgard’s vehicles – despite being in Norway – have UK license plates, and the names on the “Vanished” memorials have no order, to name only a few.

1 Peter Quill Punched Thanos

Similarly to the World Security Council bombing New York, another stupid decision in the MCU also didn’t come from an official Avenger but from a Guardian of the Galaxy. The cosmic team helped Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and Spider-Man battle Thanos on Titan in Avengers: Infinity War, and Mantis used her empathic ability to subdue the Mad Titan. However, acting on impulse after learning of the death of his partner, Gamora, Chris Pratt’s Peter Quill punched Thanos in the face, loosening Mantis’ grip on him, making it impossible for Stark and Peter Parker to free the Infinity Gauntlet, and effectively causing the devastation that followed soon after.