Marvel Comics’ greatest “Avengers Assemble” moment flips the iconic scene in the Avengers: Endgame movie. While this epic battle cry is usually pronounced by one or more Avengers, rallying their comrades for battle, in one, unforgettable instance it was used by the common folk of New York against a deadly supervillain.
Avengers: Endgame contains perhaps the most exciting and memorable scene of the entire MCU’s history: the gathering of the heroes’ allied forces and their charge against the army of Thanos, heralded by Captain America’s epic cry of “Avengers Assemble!”. This iconic pair of words was actually first pronounced (by Thor) in the comics back in 1964, in Avengers #10, by Stan Lee and Don Heck. Since then, they have become representative of everything that the Avengers stand for, a rallying cry for heroes to fight against evil and the most feared words by villains throughout the galaxy.
The most epic “Avengers Assemble” moment, however, did not involve any Avengers at all, but a lovely old lady and a crowd of angry New Yorkers. In Mighty Avengers vol. 2 #2, by Al Ewing, Greg Land, Jay Leisten, and Frank D’Armata, the Mad Titan Thanos has invaded Earth while the Avengers are off-planet. Thanos’ deadly lieutenant, Proxima Midnight, attacks New York, and she wipes the floor with the few heroes left. When she’s about to kill an unconscious Luke Cage, an old lady hits her with a brick, and starts calling Thanos’ soldiers “fascists“. When Proxima asks the lady what her last words are, she yells “Avengers Assemble!“, which is immediately picked up by the crowd around. Proxima and her goons are surprised and taken aback by the reaction of the “pathetic” humans, but the chants give Luke Cage the strength to stand up and fight back.
The Most Epic Avengers Assemble Moment Had No Actual Avengers
In a lot of Marvel stories, the people of New York bear witness while their city is destroyed by supervillains, alien armies, or evil gods, and wait for their heroes to show up and save the day. In this specific instance, the creative team behind Mighty Avengers wanted to show that Marvel’s civilians are not helpless victims, a message conveyed through the cries of No pasarán (they shall not pass), a global slogan of antifascist resistance. This is the Marvel Universe, however, so No pasarán quickly turns into Avengers Assemble, which has also become a universal slogan, a symbol that, no matter how dreadful evil may be, there will always be heroes who rise against it.
Luke Cage and the other heroes who stand up against the forces of Thanos in this story will then go on to form their own team of Avengers, and it was all thanks to an old lady who had the guts to stand up against an alien killer. The scene in Avengers: Endgame is one of the most epic in cinema history, but the sequence in Mighty Avengers #2 proves that Avengers Assemble has a much bigger meaning, one that was built throughout decades in the comics.
