Who Was the First Avenger?
The answer differs between comics and MCU. Here is the definitive breakdown of the founding Avengers, why Captain America holds the title and what the comics actually say.It depends on whether you mean the comics or the MCU. In the comics, the founding Avengers were Iron Man, Thor, the Hulk, Ant-Man and the Wasp — assembling in The Avengers #1 in 1963. Captain America was not a founding member but joined in issue #4 and was later retroactively given founding member status. In the MCU, "the First Avenger" is Captain America's official designation — it is even the subtitle of his first solo film — though the broader Avengers Initiative predates his involvement.
The Founding Avengers: Comics vs MCU
| Character | Founding Member (Comics)? | MCU Original Six? | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iron Man | Yes | Yes | Present from Avengers #1 (1963) and the first MCU film (2008) |
| Thor | Yes | Yes | Present from Avengers #1; Loki's scheme prompted the original team to form |
| Hulk | Yes | Yes | Founding member in comics; left in issue #2. Present in MCU Avengers (2012) |
| Ant-Man (Hank Pym) | Yes | No | Comics founding member; MCU's Ant-Man is Scott Lang, a later character |
| Wasp (Janet Van Dyne) | Yes | No | Comics founding member who named the team; not in MCU original six |
| Captain America | Retroactive | Yes | Joined comics in issue #4; given retroactive founding status. MCU original six. |
| Black Widow | No | Yes | Not a comics founding member; part of the MCU original six |
| Hawkeye | No | Yes | Joined comics team in Avengers #16; part of the MCU original six |
The Comics Origin: Avengers #1 (1963)
The Avengers were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and first assembled in The Avengers #1, cover-dated September 1963. The original team — Iron Man, Thor, Ant-Man, the Wasp and the Hulk — did not form through a planned initiative. They came together because Loki, seeking revenge against Thor, framed the Hulk for a train attack. Rick Jones (a young human ally of the Hulk) broadcast a distress call that reached the four other heroes simultaneously. Once Loki was defeated, Ant-Man and the Wasp proposed the group remain together. Janet Van Dyne — the Wasp — came up with the name "the Avengers."
Captain America was not part of this original team. He was discovered frozen in Arctic ice in The Avengers #4 (March 1964), thawed out by the team and immediately became their leader — a role his World War II experience and authority as the living legend of the superhero era made natural. Marvel later retroactively gave him the status of founding member, reflecting his centrality to the team's identity even though he technically joined after the others.
Captain America: Why He Is Called "The First Avenger"
In the MCU, Captain America's title of "The First Avenger" has a specific meaning tied to his wartime history. Steve Rogers fought in World War II as a super-soldier — operating decades before the Avengers Initiative was conceived — and was considered the prototype for the kind of enhanced individual Nick Fury would later seek to recruit. When S.H.I.E.L.D. designed the Avengers Initiative, Captain America's legacy was its inspiration and his example its benchmark.
The title is also a recognition of chronology: Rogers was enhanced with the Super-Soldier Serum in 1943, making him the first individual to be deliberately engineered to superheroic capabilities in the MCU timeline. Other heroes gained their abilities by accident (Tony Stark's suits were a survival necessity; Banner's gamma exposure was accidental; Thor was born to his power). Rogers chose to become the First Avenger, volunteering for a dangerous experimental programme because he believed in the cause.
In recent Marvel Comics canon, it has been revealed that the Avengers concept is far older than the 1963 founding. A version of the Avengers existed in 1047 AD during the Viking era — and Thor was a member. Combined with the revelation that Odin was a founding member of a prehistoric Avengers team from one million years BC, Thor's family has the deepest connection to the Avengers concept of any current character. In strict historical terms, Thor Odinson — as a member of both a Viking-era and a modern Avengers team — arguably has a stronger claim to the "First Avenger" title than Steve Rogers, despite Rogers holding it in the MCU.
The Wasp: The Avenger Nobody Remembers Named the Team
One of the most overlooked facts in Avengers history is that it was Janet Van Dyne — the Wasp — who gave the team its name. After Loki was defeated in The Avengers #1, it was Ant-Man and the Wasp who proposed the team remain together, and it was Janet who suggested calling the group "the Avengers." The name stuck, the team endured, and Janet has rarely received appropriate credit for this founding contribution.
In the MCU, Janet Van Dyne appears in Ant-Man and the Wasp as a character who spent decades trapped in the Quantum Realm, and her role in naming the team is never referenced. The MCU's decision to remove Ant-Man and the Wasp from the original founding roster was a creative simplification, but it erased one of the more charming pieces of Avengers trivia.
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