10 Crazy Marvel Teams You Won’t Believe Existed

To keep comic book stories compelling, the writers have to mix up the status quo from time to time. This sometimes means switching teams around or inserting new characters in established groups.

When the Fantastic Four lost the Human Torch, Spider-Man joined the team. After Magneto learned the error of his ways, he allied with his arch-enemies, The X-Men.

But there are some groups that are so utterly bizarre, it's a struggle to comprehend how they came to be. Have you heard of the Ape-Vengers? Did you know there is a baby version of the X-Men? Would you believe Thanos fought alongside Thor?! Crazy teams like this sound, at best, gimmicky, and at worst, stupid and non-sensical.

But do you know what the craziest part is? A lot of these insane team-ups are really good! Way better than they deserve to be! Superhero groups like X-Statix and The Young Avengers sound silly but, because of the characters' chemistry, witty dialogue, and incredible story arcs, are beloved by readers.

Here are ten crazy Marvel teams you won't believe existed.

The Great Lake Avengers are often perceived as the worst superhero team in Marvel. The group is usually composed of the rodent-controlling Squirrel Girl, the living portal, Doorman, the invincible but suicidal Mr. Immortal, the paper-thin Flat Man, and the flabulous Big Bertha.

The GLA is never taken seriously due to their incompetence and desperation. To boost their profile, they begged every superhero they could find to join their team but were met with nothing but rejection.

If you thought that sounds pathetic, it gets worse. The reason why they call themselves "The Great Lake Avengers" is so people will mistake them for the real Avengers. When the Avengers sent them a cease-and-desist order to stop infringing on their name, they changed their name to the Great Lake X-Men!!

Even though they are seen as a joke in the superhero community, the GLA have successfully saved the universe on at least one occasion. When the Inhuman, Maelstrom, was about to undo all of reality, Mr. Immortal convinced him to enter a suicide pact, knowing he himself cannot die.

When Immortal shot himself "dead", Maelstrom blew his own head off. Immortal then deactivated Maelstrom's doomsday machine, saving reality.