It’s all come to this, people! Come May 4th Marvel Entertainment will put together the ultimate in team movies, when action heroes from all of Marvel’s latest movies come together to take on the evil Loki and his army to defend Earth and Avenge humanity. Hopes are high for the big screen debut of comic books’ most popular super team, and we’re expecting one hell of a fun cinematic ride. On the road to the Avengers film, we got to thinking about our favorite super teams, and we compiled a list of ten super teams we’d kill to be apart of, if we were ever alive in their realities. This is of course a list for the fan boys, but these are ten super teams and organizations from comics, TV, and pop culture that we’d love to sign up for. We’d gladly abandon our humdrum lives for a shot at membership with these fine elite teams who help protect interests of all kinds. Top Ten list, assemble!
HONORABLE MENTION:
The Inception Dream Agents
Requirement: Vast knowledge of lucid dreaming
We’re never quite sure if the team in “Inception” were actual agents for a clandestine organization, or if they were merely symbols for Agent Cobb’s own lucid dreaming that took on their own lives. Regardless, the Inception dream agents are a team we’d love to sign up for, if only to master the dream realm and interrupt the nightmares and fantasies of our enemies and clients. With a machine they drift in to the dream world and through that function they manage to enter in to the humongous and confusing world of the dream plain where down is up and nothing makes any sense.
I picture myself as an architect more than anything, building and destroying tunnels and corridors, and simply inventing a land for our agents to roam in. Of course the risk of death is always imminent, and the dream drones of clients always threaten the welfare of even the most skilled and armed agent. With my fascination for dreams, this team is ideal and fascinating.
S.H.I.E.L.D.
Requirement: Military and law enforcement training
These are the omnipotent forces behind the scenes of the Marvel universe who don’t always possess super human powers, but have abilities and skills that manage to dwarf the normal American citizen. Run by Nick Fury (black or white, which ever you prefer) and pulling the strings in experiments, prisons, and funding people like the Avengers, Tony Stark, and many more interesting prospects, S.H.I.E.L.D. is there whether you know it or not, watching and waiting in the wings, prepared to pull rank on any rogue super being, should they attempt to corrupt America’s interests and threaten American citizens.
They’ve mostly been a small presence through most of the years I’ve been a comic buff, but most recently became a popular organization in pop culture, as run by skilled but interesting folks like Phil Coulson, while enlisting the help of brilliant warriors like Black Widow and Hawkeye in the process. They’re a legion of many soldiers with many abilities, and they’re prepared to bring down rivals like HYDRA and anyone else who stands in their way. We’d love to train and help protect the world, while keeping an eye on the super beings at the same time.
Legion of Superheroes
Requirement: Living in the 31st Century
A group that worships Superman as a deity and role model? Where do I sign? Armed with their own membership rings and distinct uniforms, The Legionnaires are a group of dozens of peculiar super powered young beings who help patrol the universe and protect the 30th and 31st century with the help of people like Saturn Girl and Cosmic Boy. Though I’d run the risk of being given a goofy moniker for my codename, I can see myself in a team like the Legion, patrolling the universe, fighting off alien menaces, and time traveling to tamper with the destinies of people like Superboy and Supergirl.
Though the team itself has something of a muddled and convoluted history, their team is filled with interesting individuals, all of whom help keep the galaxy in check with their super powers and massive line up of beings who jump in and out of their roster to fight evil. Give me a costume, and a ring, and we’ll get to work.
B.P.R.D. (Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense)
Requirement: Military, Law Enforcement experience; Supernatural abilities, access to the supernatural
What better way to battle the occult and supernatural menaces than to fight alongside those who possess the ability to do so? While I would immediately be in the human agents sector, it would be fascinating working alongside monsters and beasts alike who are dead set in bringing down paranormal menaces that threaten to destroy the world around us.
An organization almost as secretive and secure as S.H.I.E.L.D., the B.P.R.D. is an top secret agency devoted to bringing down menaces of the paranormal kind and I could definitely get comfortable with fighting alongside individuals like Hellboy and Abe Sapien while canoodling with angelic folks like Liz Sherman. The agency definitely has its downfalls, like the high mortality rate. And of course if you’re outmatched by a being of immense size and strength, a human agent can’t accomplish much, but in the long run as a person with an immense fascination with the paranormal and occult, I’d be at home at the B.P.R.D. And it wouldn’t be so tough mixing it up with Hellboy.
The Jedi Order
Requirement: Training, knowledge in the force
The Jedi Order requires that a young jedi recruit begin studying at a very young age and train as a padawan, so in order for us to become a jedi, we’d have to have entered the order at the age of eight. Oh, and there’s that thing about being one with the force and all that. Nevertheless if I lived in the reality of the Jedi Order and garnered the training necessary, I’d more than welcome the opportunity to train in the spiritual advancement of the Jedi and become a peacekeeper for the galaxy.
Though the code of the Jedi is a rigid and strict one, we’d revel at the chance to train with beings like Yoda and Qui Gonn Jinn, while mastering the art of the lightsaber. The caveat of course is running the risk of Sith Lords, dark jedi who seek to destroy and take over the universe. But I can imagine I’d adjust easily and become one with the force in no time. The world of the Jedi is vast and epic, much like the world of “Star Wars.” Plus, as an added benefit, we’d learn how to speak the language of the Wookies.
G.I. Joe
Requirement: Military, Law Enforcement training
GI Joe has always been about military versus the supernatural in some respects, as the villainous Cobra organization has always demonstrated keen ability to summon more than human evil than other enemies of the same ilk. GI Joe we can picture is a squad I’d be comfortable with. While I’m not always Rah Rah America, I am all about fighting for the side of good, and GI Joe is centered around dozens of well trained and skilled agents and soldiers who demonstrate abilities in specific fields to help bring down Cobra and protect the world.
With weapons experts, sailors, demolitions experts, and above average ninja assassins on their team, GI Joe is always at the forefront of combat, but always at risk of falling at the hand of Cobra. They’re not short handed either. I grew up watching the adventures of GI Joe, and I’d be behind this squad in an instant, and garner a cool codename in combat. I’d be apart of the more complex modern incarnation GI Joe, not the cheesy eighties version, though.
Power Rangers
Requirement: Pre-chosen based on special traits
If I lived in this reality I’m not sure which Power Rangers Team I’d want to be apart of. Ultimately it’d boil down to Mighty Morphin’ or SPD Emergency. In either case, we’d revel in being apart of the team that helps to protect the universe as well as planet Earth from assorted menaces across the galaxy. I’d love the black or blue color scheme, and master the art of dynamic posing, which Power Rangers are prone to do in combat. Posing is important, of course.
The Power Rangers are a group of super powered teenagers who don special costumes that grant them abilities to fight monsters and evil beings from other worlds, and with special weapons, they keep Earth and the universe safe from all harm. There isn’t a single kid that didn’t want to be a Power Ranger when I was a child, and if I lived in this reality, I’d gladly sign up and taken on the costume and helmet of the color coded avengers. And operating giant robots? That’s just seventeen kinds of excellent.
Justice League
Requirement: Extraordinary/Advanced Abilities
To walk with the Justice League, is to walk alongside god like beings, all of whom have their scars and war wounds and have fought some of the universe’s greatest foes. Led by the Man of Steel, they’re a group of select superheroes, all of whom protect Earth and the surrounding galaxies. You don’t have to automatically have to be super powered, as we saw in “Justice League Unlimited,” but you have to possess some kind of ability that can benefit mankind.
If living in this reality granted us super powers that could help my fellow man, I’d easily sign up for the Justice League and work my way up the ranks of beings who watch from above, ready to strike down evil at a moment’s notice. I, of course, would emulate Superman and aim to live up to his potential. The Justice League have many branches and sub-sectors, but it’d be a thrill just to enter the watch tower.
The Avengers
Requirement: Extraordinary/Advanced Abilities
The Avengers has always fascinated me as a team and as a series. They’re a legion of dozens of superheroes, all of whom are super humans with some advanced ability or talent who earned their way in to the government sanctioned team, and are called upon to defend the planet and galaxy at a moment’s notice. Whether it’s an African king, a billionaire mastermind, a demigod, or a sentient android, the Avengers aren’t always picky about whom they recruit, but when they recruit someone, they’re an individual with a special gift that allows them the chance to fight against the likes of HYDRA and Ultron.
I’m a fan of the Avengers of the past, the team dedicated to good. Not to much the Ultimates, who the brooding more emo versions of the team. But in either case, I’d gladly sign up to become a team member. I am in fact a proud owner of the Avengers membership card as signed by Tony Stark and President Bill Clinton, so it’s not like I’m a complete outsider. The Avengers are the elite team led by Captain America, and I’ll gladly follow him in to battle against Dr. Doom or Baron Zemo.
X-Men
Requirement: Born with the X-Gene
I often brag to people that I for three years I ran a rather successful X-Men RPG website that housed over a hundred members who took part in role playing on a message board daily. I had my own personalized pyrokinetic character named “Firestarter” ©, and I interacted with other X-Fans, many of whom I’m still friends with to this day. I also have my very own Xavier Institute Diploma signed by me that I keep in mint condition, tucked away with my comic collection. The X-Men have been one of my favorite teams of pop culture since I was a child.
They’re relevant to this day because they represent the minority, the repressed, the outcasts. They’re symbols for homosexuality, the bullied, the loners, and the deformed, all of whom are special in spite of their one distinct trait that separates them from others. It’s no shock that if given the opportunity and granted an ability, I’d sign up to be an X-Man in an instant and fight alongside folks like Iceman, Cyclops, and Nightcrawler. They’re still the most compelling team in fiction to this day.
The Green Lantern Corps
Requirement: Chosen by Ring based on attributes
If there’s any team I can picture myself being apart of more realistically, it’s the GL Corps, because it’s just such an incredible opportunity and anyone can be a part of the team. Be you a one legged alien, a three eyed sloth, a rodent, or an Earth man, you’re eligible to be a part of the Corps, because the ring determines who is more worthy of donning the Green Lantern ring that can grant you the ability to police the galaxy alongside others, and train. The ring itself is a weapon that allows you to conjure up any weapons that you can conceive from your mind, so long as it’s charged and you’re a worthy corps member.
The guidelines for a corps member are rigid and often times tough to follow. You’re a guardian, but have to listen to the council of Oa, who sometimes leave the fate of a world or alien race up to others, and you have to follow the rules. Regardless, the color green is eye catching and the ring allows you the chance to become a hero, exploring vast galaxies, and flying arm in arm with alien races whom will become allies in the fight against pure evil. Donning the ring is a privilege and it’s something I’d kill to be apart of, in the end. I’d be a valiant, courageous hero like the comic book Hal Jordan, not douchie like movie Hal Jordan.