Avengers Disassembled

When grief weaponizes chaos magic, the world's greatest heroes tear themselves apart.

Avengers Disassembled is a 2004 crossover storyline published by Marvel Comics that fundamentally altered the status quo for the Avengers, Fantastic Four, Captain America, Spider-Man, and Thor. Serving as the beginning of Brian Michael Bendis's run on the series, the narrative depicts the destruction of the existing traditional roster and the exile of key members. The arc weaves together multiple subplots occurring before and after the main events, including Iron Man revealing his secret identity, Spider-Man developing organic web-shooters, and the death of Thor alongside Asgard in a final Ragnarok. This catastrophic sequence sets the stage for a massive relaunch of the Avengers family of titles.

Quick Facts

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Lore & Background

The storyline reveals that Wanda Maximoff lost her sanity after an errant comment about motherhood from the Wasp triggered suppressed memories of her lost twin children, William and Thomas. These were magical constructs born from an impossible conception between her and the Vision, which had been absorbed by Master Pandemonium and whose memory was suppressed by Agatha Harkness. Upon reawakening this trauma, Wanda blamed the Avengers for the loss of her children. Doctor Strange explained that her abilities were not chaos magic but uncontrolled manifestations of reality warping. In a desperate attempt to fix the situation, the Avengers visited Harkness's home only to find her dead, killed by Wanda. Before the team could decide their next move, Magneto arrived to retrieve his daughter, vowing to help her with Charles Xavier's assistance.

Reader's Guide

Fans should note that this event leads directly to the launch of New Avengers, New Thunderbolts, Captain America, and Iron Man titles, as well as Young Avengers. The original Avengers title ended with issue No. 503, while New Avengers began in December 2004 with a new No. 1. The creative team for this new era included writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist David Finch. Other major changes include Spider-Man gaining the ability to shoot organic webbing from his wrists after being transformed into a monstrous spider by Ana Soria (The Queen) and giving birth to a replica of his old self. Thor allowed himself to be destroyed as part of Ragnarok, ending the Asgardian line. The Scarlet Witch's storyline continued in Excalibur with Magneto and Professor X attempting to help her.

Did You Know?

The main story titled Chaos ran in Avengers #500-503 and a special epilogue called Avengers Finale.
Spider-Man developed organic web-shooters during this storyline, mirroring the contemporary Sam Raimi film trilogy.
Hawkeye died in the battle against the Kree armada after his arrows' explosives went off prematurely, but he managed to take out a battleship with a commandeered jet pack.
Ant-Man (Scott Lang) was killed by an explosion caused by Jack of Hearts arriving at Avengers Mansion.
The Vision was killed by She-Hulk, who had become consumed with bloodlust during the attack on the mansion.