Marvel’s Avengers and DC’s Justice League are the premiere superhero teams and their team-ups make for rare and sacred occasions among comic-book fans. While this two-party system deservedly invites critique, the squads undeniably hold the apex position in the Big Two comics universes. Typically when the Avengers and the Justice League meet, they fight in pairs, then there’s an obligatory group fight, and then they find some noble reason to work together. It creates quite the crossover quandary: Which Marvel/DC duos form the finest partnerships?
In comics history, the list of official Avengers-Justice League encounters is not long, but it is distinguished. In 1976, Superman vs. The Amazing Spider-Man established Marvel and DC’s first joint superhero publication, followed by similar one-shots in the early 1980s, during which time an Avengers/League crossover was developed, but did not materialize. In the 1990s, DC and Marvel characters met again in various limited series, most notably under the co-published Amalgam Comics banner. Finally, in 2003, the JLA/Avengers mini-series emerged. But in the time since the explosion of the shared-universe feature films, there’s been no major meetup. Considering the ever-evolving nature of our superhero obsession, and the high likelihood that the teams will converge again in the future, here are some proposed team-ups of Avengers and Justice League members which consider retconned iterations, power sets, mission success probabilities, and of course, color coordination.
Black Panther and Batman
A T’Challa/Bruce Wayne duo offers natural analogies and points of tension. Essentially, both are peak-human athletes with expensive gadgetry. Both have globe-hopping capability with a protective bias towards their home turf (Wakanda, Gotham City). And of all the marquee superpeople, the Bat and the Panther wear the most sheerly practical outfits for nocturnal urban crime-fighting, give or take a cape and gold accessories. T’Challa’s is ultimately the more worldly, diplomatic personality. Conceivably, his spiritual orientation and consciousness of racial dynamics could temper Batman’s hardwired worldview.
Superman and Captain Marvel
Classical power rankings place Thor as the Avengers’ closest brute-force equivalent to Superman, but modern analysis argues that Carol Danvers is in fact Marvel’s Mightiest Earth-based character. Without trying too hard to measure immeasurable things, it’s safe to say that the current Captain Marvel and Clark Kent are in the same unquantifiable weight class. For pure splash-page fun, it would be excellent to see the Kree/Krypton tandem taking on a fleet, a planet, an imperialist fleet of planets.
Captain America and Wonder Woman
The film versions particularly highlight the kinship between Steve Rogers and Diana Prince. Both starred in questionable made-for-TV movies in the 1970s. In the modern iterations, Cap and Diana each fought in a World War before being flung into the confusion of the 21st century. Both symbolize a nation-state and carry the burden of fighting for its best principles. For inventive stuntwork, Cap’s shield and Diana’s lasso could be used in ingenious combos.
Black Widow and Black Canary
If this has never happened before, it really ought to. Two women, two martial artists, two animal motifs, color-complementary codenames. Both have white variant costumes, as per the upcoming Black Widow film and Legends of Tomorrow. Obviously, if it’s in a movie, Blonde Redhead should do the soundtrack.
Thor and Black Lightning
A natural pairing based on power set. Black Lighting mostly serves on reserve status for the Justice League, but it’s not hard to imagine a multiverse-spanning event where he’d need to be called in. (Over the years, nearly every Marvel and DC hero has joined up with the two major teams on at least a temp basis.) Besides sharing the common elemental bond, the Thunder God would probably benefit from the perspective of a street-level hero like Jefferson Pierce, who has his own familiarity with super-duos representing thunder and lightning.
Hawkeye and Green Lantern
Seriously, the obvious Hawkeye/Green Arrow bromance has been covered in JLA/Avengers, no one needs to see it again. Tactically, the two hyper-accurate marksmen cancel each other out, since there’s generally only one unhittable target per mission objective. As O’Neil and Adams showed us in the classic Green Lantern/Green Arrow stories of the 1970s, it’s the disparity of their chosen weapons that creates meaningful contrast: The archaic yet reliable bow and arrow matched with the cosmic plasma-manipulating power ring.
Hulk and Martian Manhunter
Who wouldn’t want to hear the telepathic chat linking the Jade Giant and J’onn J’onzz? Hulk’s varying verbal skills, the Martian’s sympathetic outsider perspective, both full of the feelings that go with being green. J’onn’s versatility supplements Hulk’s raw strength, and his shapeshifting power mirrors Hulk’s reluctantly-morphing form.
Scarlet Witch and Flash and Red Tornado
For one thing, they’re all red. Wanda is exceptionally experienced in collaborating with super-speedsters and ultra-androids from her own universe. Inevitably, comparisons to Quicksilver’s sprint times and Vision’s molecular density will provide delightful topics for dialogue, as well as improbable maneuvers for Wanda to hex/manipulate. And as far as this hypothetical goes, there ought to be a trio to break with the binary convention.
Sersi and Supergirl
Sersi may not be a familiar name outside of the Greek mythology from which she borrows her origin. She is an Eternal and sometimes-Avenger to be played by Gemma Chan in the upcoming MCU film. Supergirl, amongst many achievements, top-lines her own TV show. Both are women endowed with umpteen different abilities, often lending a hand when their home team needs especially-overpowered reinforcement.
The precise alchemy for the perfect Justice League of Avengers remains an open question. Up to this point, George Perez’s gloriously busy artwork for JLA/Avengers arguably sets the standard. But the past decade’s expansion of the cinematic universes has reset the stage for the next major crossover. In the best-case scenario, Marvel/DC partnerships represent the possibility of uniting disparate yet analogous forces. In a world where all mashups and convergences are possible, which other pop-cultural super-clubs could assemble in the future? The Yankees and the Lakers? Star Wars and Star Trek? Pirates of the Caribbean and Titanic? Whether in the form of movie, video game, or maxi-series comics event, a time for the ultimate imaginary team of The Avengers and the Justice League will come again.
More: Who Would Win In A Fight: Avengers Or Justice League?
