While the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe revolves around the idea that the Avengers are extraordinary people who always save the day, the truth is that they aren’t always heroic. Their superpowers and abilities might allow them to save the day and do good, but this doesn’t mean they are perfect. In fact, all of the Avengers are flawed individuals who make mistakes, and some make more than others.
Because of this, there are times when the Avengers do some pretty bad things. Sometimes, they commit these bad actions willingly, and other times they don’t mean to hurt others but accidentally do. Since they are so powerful, their mistakes can have many consequences.
They didn’t hold a funeral for Black Widow.
While compared to some of the items on this list, this one might not seem like that big of a deal; it does reflect a big problem within the franchise. That is that even after years of the Avengers working together, they often fight with one another or barely see each other as even coworkers.
Even though Natasha had been committed to the Avengers for many years, Tony Stark asked who her family was, and she wasn’t even given a proper funeral.
Tony Stark left the Avengers without his help after Thanos was killed
After Avengers: Infinity War, the different characters deal with their grief in their own ways. But, while most of the heroes seem to stay in some with one another, others completely give up on fixing anything.
Tony Stark focuses on his family, and while this makes sense, it also comes off as selfish that he didn’t even care to check on his friends. Then, when they ask him for help, he’s hesitant at first to do anything. Given the state of the world and with so many resources at his disposal, this feels like a bad choice for Tony.
They thought they were above the laws
One of the biggest flaws with the Avengers overall is that they often believed they were above laws. While, on the one hand, there is something to be said for breaking unjust laws or trying to save people even when it breaks the rules, they also often acted recklessly.
Both Steve and Tony were guilty of this in different ways during Captain America: Civil War. But, overall, all of the Avengers seemed to think they always knew what was best.
Bruce Banner destroyed countless things while unable to control the Hulk
This point is somewhat complicated because Bruce Banner himself definitely didn’t ever want to hurt anyone or cause damage, and he carried an immense amount of guilt over his inability to control himself as the Hulk.
However, from the perspective of consequences, the Hulk did cause a great deal of property damage and hurt many people when he was in the Hulk state.
Natasha Romanoff was an assassin and spy
Many of the Avengers have complicated backstories. Like Natasha and Wanda, some were villains at one point, while others, like Tony Stark, were pretty morally grey.
While the MCU hasn’t gone too much into Black Widow’s history, as her solo film had to be pushed back, everyone knows that she was a spy and an assassin. She was trained be a killer from childhood, so in some ways, she was also a victim, but she definitely also did some pretty bad things.
Steve Rogers should be arrested for messing with time travel
The MCU still struggles to tell a consistent story about time travel, and there are many plot holes and questions that remain. And, with Loki’s Disney+ series almost out, the question of messing with time travel is on many fans’ minds.
While Loki is shown as villainous for meddling with time, Steve was shown as heroic. However, he also broke the time travel rules, and he did so for the selfish reason of wanting to be with a woman he never even officially dated.
They inflicted collateral damage in Sokovia and Lagos
The Avengers are responsible for a great deal of collateral damage, including the loss of many innocent lives. On the one hand, they were often fighting villains and trying to protect people, so they didn’t really have a choice but to step in, and many more people would have died without them. On the other hand, they could be quite reckless.
While Iron Man was a big offender as he was the one who created Ultron, other Avengers like Steve and Wanda sometimes didn’t have great control over their actions and ended up killing innocent people.
Clint Barton became a problematic vigilante
While Hawkeye’s actions after the Blip are pretty much excused in Avengers: Endgame, they probably shouldn’t have been. He becomes a rather troubled vigilante who takes it upon himself to kill criminals in Asian countries, and many fans were upset by this.
The fact that he was going to other countries to take justice into his own hands isn't great. And, yet, none of the other Avengers ever even really question what he was doing.
Wanda Maximoff kept an entire town under complete control
Other than Tony Stark, Wanda might be the most morally grey Avenger in the entire MCU. While her comics version might be different, in the MCU, she starts out as a villain and works with both HYDRA and then Ultron.
Then, in WandaVision, she basically enslaves an entire town of people in order to live out her ideal life with Vision. Fans see that the people of Westview were truly suffering at her hands, and it makes her seem pretty villainous.
Tony Stark created weapons and villains over and over
Without a doubt, one of the most flawed Avengers of them all is Tony Stark. He is a very privileged billionaire whose family fortune largely comes from the sale of weapons, and because of his wealth and status, he can basically act outside of the law and does so many times. He only really worries about the sale of Stark weapons when he ends up personally suffering because of them.
Then, he continues to do things like creating Ultron and act with little thought to how he treats others. While he does try to use his wealth to make things better and clean up the Avengers' messes, he’s often hypocritical, too, as he never really intended to follow the oversight set out in the Accords.
