Marvel Confirms The Avengers' Biggest Defeat Since Infinity War With Death Of Major Hero

Published Oct 17, 2026, 11:30 AM EDT

Nicolas Ayala is a Senior Writer for the Comics team at ScreenRant, with over five years of experience writing about Superhero media, action movies, and TV shows. 

The Avengers' latest battle results in an even bigger defeat to Earth's Mightiest Heroes than Thanos' Snap from Avengers: Infinity War, with thousands of casualties to their name. The Avengers have built their reputation on their ability to withstand catastrophic failures and stage spectacular counterattacks. The team's very name implies their reactive strategy, as they don't always prevent the initial disaster, but do guarantee a rematch. Earth's Mightiest Heroes fight at the peak of their power when backed into a corner, inspired by devastating losses to unite their scattered forces and turn the tide back in their favor.

Besides the many disappointments they have suffered in the comics, the team's best-known defeat takes place in the MCU's Avengers: Infinity War. Josh Brolin's Thanos overpowers several squads of Avengers on different battlefields and successfully materializes his plans of universal annihilation right before the credits roll. The Mad Titan's live-action victory is even more humiliating to the heroes than his comic book counterpart's in Marvel Comics' legendary The Infinity Gauntlet. In the classic comic, Thanos' Snap is the inciting incident that motivates the Avengers to fight, rather than a hard-fought climax that leaves them hopeless for five years.

Before Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom proves whether he can match Doctor Doom's "God Emperor" feat from Marvel Comics' Secret Wars, the Avengers experience a disheartening loss that isn't even owed directly to a supervillain.

Miracleman's Nuclear Bomb Detonation Is One Of The Avengers' Biggest Tragedies In Recent Years

Avengers: Armageddon #5; Written By Chip Zdarsky; Art By Delio Diaz, Frank Alpizar, And Jesus Aburtov

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The Red Hulk has pushed the Earth to the limit during Marvel's Armageddon crossover event, but it's David Colton who brings the world to the brink when he rushes to intercept nuclear warheads without direct cooperation with the Avengers. Colton's decision results in the explosion of a nuclear bomb in Russia in Avengers: Armageddon #4, and Avengers: Armageddon #5 confirms this tragedy leads to the deaths of over nine thousand innocent people. Even more tragically for the Avengers, Bucky Barnes dies in the explosion, completely obliterated by nuclear energy.

Rarely do the Avengers' defeats lead to so many immediate casualties. On top of that, the nuclear explosion quickly reawakens pushback against the world's entire superhero community, and virtually every government starts discussing strategies to keep superhumans and vigilantes under control. David Colton ends up killing thousands of civilians and his only Avenger ally, and brings the Marvel Universe back to Civil War, all in one fell swoop. At this point, the Avengers have also failed to stop Red Hulk and face a Sentry-level threat in the form of David Colton's Miracleman form.

The Avengers' Armageddon Defeat Can't Be Solved Through Sheer Force

Avengers: Armageddon's Crisis Can't End The Same Way It Started

The devastating nuclear crisis sparked by David Colton in Avengers: Armageddon #4 serves as a tragic reminder that the Avengers' sheer superhuman might doesn't guarantee global safety. David Colton turns out to be more powerful than the Avengers' combined forces, yet he isn't fast enough to intercept the nuclear bomb. The ensuing chaos leaves a city leveled, Bucky Barnes dead, and the planet teetering on the edge of World War III. Likewise, attempting to physically punch a cosmic entity like Miracleman into submission afterward would solve nothing for the Avengers. On the contrary, it would only invite further devastation and validate the public's growing belief that superpowered beings are inherently reckless.

Earning back public trust after this disaster requires the Avengers to change their focus toward careful diplomacy. Since the United Nations is already moving to hold the hero community accountable, the Avengers must demonstrate that they can safeguard the planet without coming off as a rogue militia. They need to cooperate directly with international governing bodies and assist with humanitarian recovery efforts, all while stopping a powered-up Red Hulk for good and ensuring that David Colton's godlike Miracleman transformation doesn't make the current crisis even worse.

How do you think Marvel's Armageddon will end?

Avengers: Armageddon #5 is available October 21 from Marvel Comics