The 10 Oldest Avengers in the Marvel Canon (Ranked by Age)

While the The Avengers
it has only existed since 1963, many of its members existed thousands and even millions of years before the team was formed. Gods, demigods, and primordial evolved humans of all types stood side by side with Earth's heroes. While Captain America may be the most teased for his "old age," the Avengers on this list make Steve Rogers look like a child in comparison.

While not all of these Avengers remained on the team for long, with some only being honorary members, each of them made an impact on one of the most universally known named teams, both in and out of comics. Despite the team's relatively young age, Avengers concepts have existed since the Stone Age, with ancient predecessors of many of today's Avengers as founding members. Ultimately, this list will examine the history of the universe to highlight the ten oldest Avengers in Marvel continuity.

10

Poison

Approximate age: 1,500 years

Venom was one of Knull's last creations before being imprisoned by the Klyntar, which occurred around the 6th century. Although Venom was never explicitly in the Avengers, Flash Thompson officially joined the Secret Avengers while linked to a pacified Venom. Operating as the singular Agent Venom, Flash and the Venom Symbiote worked alongside the already established Avengers.

Composed of

the original Human Torch
Hawkeye, Black Widow and Captain Britain, the team is tasked with taking down Father, the mad scientist whohat sowed the Deathlock wave throughout the multiverse. Hawkeye refused to let Venom work alongside the team, but the army veteran/symbiote duo was officially inducted by none other than Captain America. Although Venom didn't remain an Avenger for long, he, alongside Flash, joined the Guardians of the Galaxy soon after.

9

Hercules

Approximate age: more than 3,200 years

Being half mortal, Hercules was only born after the initial cycle of rebirth, shortly before his birth on Earth. Now imbued with near immortality

all Olympic athletes have
Hercules fought as one of Earth's noblest heroes for centuries. Surprisingly, Hercules was one of the Avenger's first recruits after the original lineup debuted.

Hercules originally met the Avengers as an enemy, cursed and under the control of the Enchantress. After freeing the Greek God, Hercules spent years helping the Avengers before becoming an official member of the team. Like Thor, Hercules often leaves his earthly protection behind to embark on more pious endeavors, though he always returns when the Avengers are most in need. More than just a team, Hercules sees the Avengers as his family and a place where he can also return for emotional comfort. However, the last time the Prince of Power worked alongside Earth's Mightiest was shortly after the chaos of the Second Civil War.

8

Doctor Strange

Approximate age: more than 5,000 years

Much like his MCU counterpart, Stephen Strange often uses time differences between dimensions to reach and learn more, while little time passes on Earth-616. One of his longest periods out of the time stream was during the War of the Seven Spheres. Recruited by the Vishanti, Strange served as a warlord troubled for nearly 5,000 years until a peace treaty could be signed.

However, the damage to General Strange's mind was so severe that the Vishanti removed the last 5,000 years of Strange's memories. What was taken was preserved in a crystalline artifact. Considering how many other times Doctor Strange has taken advantage of his ability to travel to other dimensions, it's difficult to say with certainty how truly ancient the Sorcerer Supreme could be.

7

Thor

Approximate age: more than 1,000,000 years

It is difficult to determine the age of

many of Marvel's gods
. Some comics say they are immortal, others say the opposite. Is a god born at the time he appears in mythology or much earlier?

For the most part, the modern Thor is cited as having been born around 900 BC. However, when the Avengers traveled to the past, during the first meetings of the Avengers 1,000,000 BCwhere Odin brings forth his Ragnarök. The Asgardians consistently have their youth restored through Ragnarök. Considering Thor is half Elder Godand from what readers have already seen about the Allfather's future, he will exist for much longer than he has ever lived, even without the Ragnarök Cycle.

6

Ares

Approximate age: more than 1,000,000 years

The original God of War and Golf, Ares' age can also be difficult to track. Although Asgardian mythology explicitly speaks of the Ragnarök Cycle, other important gods experience a similar phenomenon. Considering Ares is the son of Zeus, it can be assumed that he might be closer to Thor's age.

Wanting to protect your child From the cruel politics of a pious life, Ares passed himself off as a mortal on Earth and assumed a civilian life. While in hiding, the Mighty Avengers recruited Ares to replenish their ranks after

the first civil war
. Ultimately, Ares proved to be a valuable teammate, but he always felt held back until he got the chance to serving in Norman Osborn's Dark Avengers.

5

Valkyrie

More than 1,000,000 years

Brunnhilde became a Valkyrie about a million years ago, after

Odin besieged his home
kingdom, killing her husband in the process. Odin was so impressed with her courage in facing him that he chose her to serve as his your personal Valkyrie. Brunnhilde led the Valkyrior from that point forward, leading the souls of fallen warriors to the gates of Valhalla.

Valkyrie spent many years opposing the Avengers, while her body and soul were manipulated by the Enchantress. After the last cycle of Ragnarök, Brunnhilde was reincarnated. With her new life, she originally served in the same Secret Avengers team as Agent Venom.

4

StarFox

Approximate age: more than 1,000,000 years

Originally known as Eros, Starfox is a member of the immortal species of Eternals, created by the Celestials over a million years ago. The most audacious of his extended family, Eros is most popularly known for his problematic behavior with women and by his younger brother, Thanos. Although Eros is a second generation eternalhe became a full member of the species after merging into the Machine that Is Earth.

Eros was one of the first allies of Earth's Mightiest, joining the heroes later

Thanos started his first great war
against Titan. Spending the next few years enjoying his carnal pleasures, Eros returned to Earth and asked to join the team. He was accepted with the only contingency of changing his codename to Starfox because “Eros” was so inappropriate. Starfox often left Earth to pursue his own adventures, but so returns often to help his old friends go out from time to time.

3

Gilgamesh

Approximate age: more than 1,000,000 years

Other

Eternal multimillennial
Gilgamesh, too known as the ForgottenHe fought as a heroic presence for most of Earth's history. As with many of the Eternals, Gilgamesh ruled as king, embedding himself into human history to guide humanity's evolution over time.

During the Inferno event, Gilgamesh joined a group of surviving heroes trying to save Franklin Richards. He continued to work alongside these heroes, helping them reform a new team of Avengers. Gilgamesh would serve on the team for years until he suffered a near-fatal injury while on the field, where he was soon returned to Olympia to heal.

2

Sersi

Approximate age: more than 1,000,000 years

THE

last of the Eternals
On this list, Sersi, known as Cerce for most of her life, played a significant role in the history of ancient Greece. While Gilgamesh was a critical influence on Mesopotamian culture, Sersi was a key figure in Odysseus' adventures and is directly responsible for resetting Pandora's Box. Closer to modern day, Sersi joined the Avengers after Gilgamesh's critical injury which permanently removed him from the team.

As an Avenger, Sersi was considered an unpredictable ally due to a mental breakdown that occurs after an Eternal has lived too long a life. Typically, an Eternal can overcome this disease of Mahd Wy'ry by killing themselves and being revived via an older mental backup. Instead, Sersi was allowed to remain on the team after entered into an eternal mating ritual with the Black Knightallowing his mind to be soothed by Dane Whitman's.

1

Galactus

Approximate age: more than 14,000,000,000 years

Although Galactus was never introduced into the Avengers, he was nicknamed the Honorary Avenger for his part in containing the sprawling army made up of multiversal variants of Mephisto and Doctor Doom. After being promised the meal of his life, Galactus and his new herald Ka-Zar arrived just in time to change the course of the battle. Galactus is a being so ancient that he predates the entirety of the Seventh and Eighth iterations of the Multiverse.

Originally a mortal of the Sixth Cosmos, Galan was transformed into Galactus at the precipice of the "Big Bang" of the Seventh. Assuming the Marvel universes work like ours, Galactus should be around fourteen billion years old. However,

the Devourer of Worlds
often jumps through time and space, potentially making immortal abstracts significantly older.