10 Most Interesting Marvel Superhero Teams You've Never Heard Of
The Marvel Universe consists of a lot more teams that just the Avengers and X-Men.
Today, Marvel's superhero teams enjoy a higher profile than ever before. Not only are big name groups like the Avengers and the X-Men known around the world, but even the Guardians of the Galaxy have become a household name and their members include a talking raccoon and a sentient tree.
Despite that, there are still plenty of Marvel teams out there who are relatively unknown. Some were spin-offs from Marvel's best selling teams, others were attempts to start a brand new franchise. They might not have ever had a chance of reaching the big leagues but a lot of these teams might have had big name members and maybe even their own series at some point, but they've now faded into obscurity (some for very good reason).
This is comics though, where even the most unlikely of series is only a reboot away from success so chances are we could end up seeing one or more of these teams brought back somewhere along the line.
From dimension hopping mutants to animal Avengers, here are ten of Marvel teams that most people haven't heard of. They might not all be good, but at least they're interesting.
10. Champions
A lot of people may know the Champions name now (for better or worse), but they probably aren't familiar with the team whose name they took.
Completely unrelated to Ms. Marvel's team of teen activists, the original Champions debuted in 1975. The team was designed to act as a new home for the former X-Men Angel and Iceman, as well as showcase Marvel's new hero Black Goliath. However, when Black Goliath got his own series instead, writer Len Wein was forced to add new characters to the team and chose Black Widow, Hercules and Ghost Rider at random.
The team were brought together to stop the god Pluto from overthrowing Zeus and afterwards decided to work together in California as the Champions of Los Angeles. Later, the Russian superhero Darkstar joined them as well.
Interestingly, the team's eclectic choice of roster actually played a key role in the series. The Champions were defined by their inability to work together and constant bickering. Ghost Rider and Darkstar's status as outsiders and Hercules' refusal to follow orders were the frequent sources of fights and it eventually became too much. The team disbanded after just 17 issues.
The Champions were considered infamous after that and were frequently the butt of jokes in other stories, right up until Ms. Marvel reclaimed the name.