10 Marvel Franchises That Could Replace The Avengers

Earth's Mightiest Heroes span multiple teams, y'know.

by Ewan Paterson
Marvel/Fox

With news of Disney potentially looking to launch another franchise to replace The Avengers, fans are (somewhat understandably) looking to the comics for guidance of what could come next. The Avengers have, for decades now, represented the pinnacle of Marvel's superhero teams - every superhero has, at some point or another, been a card-carrying member of Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

And though it's true that teams really don't get any bigger than the one pioneered by Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Ant-Man and the Wasp, equally, there have been dozens of heroic ensembles that've emerged to fight the kind of battles no one else could.

We've known for some time now that Phases 4, 5 and beyond will be "distinctly different" too, and in looking to renew the MCU, finding a group to compete alongside The Avengers - or even replace them entirely - actually makes a great deal of sense.

Reinforcements are imminent, and though it's true that Disney have a way to go before making some of these groups possible (the small matter of the 21st Century Fox takeover is still pending review), Infinity War has left their franchise on the precipice of something spectacular - even if that is difficult to reconcile with the film's devastating climax.

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.