How come there have been no Avengers, or any other teams, since Endgame?

What I don’t care for is how the MCU has turned The Avengers into a brand instead of a consistent presence. Because of the films’ box office success, Marvel now treats the team like a summer comic book event—something you “build up to.” In comics, both Marvel and DC have always had tentpole summer crossovers—House of M, Civil War, and Secret Invasion from Marvel; Identity Crisis, Infinite Crisis, and 52 from DC. These events bring together a wide cast of heroes, spark tie-in stories, and launch new characters. But between those events, The Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four are always around.

In the MCU, though, there’s been no proper team in action until Thunderbolts* and the upcoming Fantastic Four: First Steps. And that long wait just feels unnecessary.

One of the charming things about The Avengers in the comics is that the roster was often oddball: a couple of scrubs and one star. Within six issues, you had “Cap’s Kooky Quartet”—Captain America, Hawkeye, Quicksilver, and Scarlet Witch. No Hulk, Thor, or Iron Man. That model worked, and it still would today. Wouldn’t it be interesting to see a team of Shang-Chi, Wong, Sam Wilson and the new Falcon, and She-Hulk trying to help people? And maybe they’re not doing great at it.

Now that the Netflix characters are canon, was The Defenders ever referenced again? Did they team back up? Was it on the news? The MCU also keeps teasing Young Avengers or Champions, but won’t commit. These characters show up in cameos or secret side roles, but never truly form a team. Why not just pull the trigger and let them grow across projects?

This approach makes fans feel strung along. Instead of building real momentum or emotional investment, Marvel just keeps hinting at what’s next—without giving us the actual teams that made the comics worth coming back to every month.