10 Oldest Avengers in Marvel Canon (Ranked by Age)

While the The Avengers has only been around since 1963, many of its members existed for thousands and even millions of years prior to the team’s formation. Gods, demi-gods, and primordial evolved humans of all kinds have stood side by side with the heroes of Earth. While Captain America may be teased the most for his “old age,” this list’s Avengers makes Steve Rogers look like an infant in comparison.

While not all of these Avengers remained on the team for very long, some only being honorary members, each of them has made their impact in one of the most universally known named teams both in and outside the comics. Despite the team’s relatively young age, concepts of the Avengers have existed since the Stone Age, with ancient predecessors of many of today’s Avengers as founding members. Ultimately, this list is going to look through the history of the universe to highlight the ten oldest Avengers in Marvel continuity.

10 Venom

Approximate Age: 1,500 Years Old

Venom was one of Knull’s last creations before being imprisoned by the Klyntar, which took place around the 6th century. While Venom has never explicitly been on the Avengers, Flash Thompson officially joined the Secret Avengers while bonded with a pacified Venom. Operating as the singular Agent Venom, Flash and the Venom Symbiote worked alongside the already-established Avengers.

Consisting of the original Human Torch, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Captain Britain, the team is tasked to bring down Father, the mad scientist that seeded the Deathlock wave throughout the multiverse. Hawkeye refused to let Venom work alongside the team, but the army-veteran / symbiote duo was officially sworn in by none other than Captain America. While Venom didn’t remain an Avenger for long, it, alongside Flash, joined the Guardians of the Galaxy soon after.

9 Hercules

Approximate Age: 3,200+ Years Old

Being half-mortal, Hercules wasn’t born until after the initial rebirth cycle just prior to his birth on Earth. Now imbued with the near-immortality all Olympians possess, Hercules has fought as one of Earth’s most noble heroes for centuries. Surprisingly, Hercules was one of the Avenger’s earliest recruits after the debut of the original lineup.

Hercules originally met the Avengers as an enemy, cursed and under the control of the Enchantress. After freeing the Greek God, Hercules spent years assisting the Avengers before being made an official member of the team. Like Thor, Hercules frequently leaves behind his Earthly protectorship to embark on more godly endeavors, although always returning when the Avengers are most in need. More than just a team, Hercules sees the Avengers as his family and a place where he can return for emotional comfort as well. However, the last time the Prince of Power worked alongside Earth’s Mightiest, was shortly after the chaos of the second Civil War.

8 Doctor Strange

Approximate Age: 5,000+ Years Old

Much like his counterpart in the MCU, Stephen Strange often uses time differences between dimensions to achieve and learn more, while little time passes in Earth-616. One of his longest periods outside the flow of time was during the War of the Seven Spheres. Conscripted by the Vishanti, Strange served as a deranged warlord for nearly 5,000 years until a peace treaty could be signed.

However, the damage to General Strange’s mind was so severe that the Vishanti removed the last 5,000 years of Strange’s memories. What was taken was preserved in a crystalline artifact. Considering how many other times Doctor Strange has capitalized on his ability to travel to other dimensions, it’s hard to say confidently how truly ancient the Sorcerer Supreme could be.

7 Thor

Approximate Age: 1,000,000+ Years Old

It’s difficult to pin down the age of many of the Marvel gods. Some comics say they’re immortal, others say otherwise. Is a god born around the time they appear in mythology or much sooner?

For the most part, the modern Thor is cited to have been born around 900 B.C.E. However, when the Avengers traveled to the past, during the earliest meetings of the Avengers 1,000,000 B.C., where Odin brings up his Ragnarök Asgardians consistently have their youth restored through Ragnarök. Considering Thor is half Elder God, and what readers have already seen of the All-Father’s future, he will be around for far longer than he’s already lived, even without the Ragnarök Cycle.

6 Ares

Approximate Age: 1,000,000+ Years Old

The original God of War and Golf, Ares’s age may also be difficult to track down. While the Asgardians’ mythology explicitly talks of the Ragnarök Cycle, other major gods experience a similar phenomenon. Considering that Ares is the son of Zeus, it can be assumed that he may be somewhere closer to Thor’s age.

Wishing to protect his son from the cruel politics of godly living, Ares posed as a mortal on Earth and took on a civilian life. While in hiding, the Mighty Avengers recruited Ares to replenish their ranks following the first Civil War. Ultimately, Ares proved to be a valuable teammate, but he always felt held back until getting the chance to serve in Norman Osborn’s Dark Avengers.

5 Valkyrie

1,000,000+ Years Old

Brunnhilde became a Valkyrie sometime close to one million years ago after Odin laid siege to her home kingdom, killing her husband in the process. Odin was so impressed with her bravery to stand against him, that he chose her to serve as his personal Valkyrie. Brunnhilde led the Valkyrior from that point forward, ushering the souls of fallen warriors to the gates of Valhalla.

Valkyrie spent many years opposed to the Avengers, while her body and soul were being manipulated by the Enchantress. After the last Ragnarök cycle, Brunnhilde was reincarnated. With her new life, she originally served on the same Secret Avengers team as Agent Venom.

4 Starfox

Approximate Age: 1,000,000+ Years Old

Originally known as Eros, Starfox is a member of the immortal species of Eternals, created by the Celestials over one million years ago. The most audacious of their extended family, Eros is most popularly known for his problematic behavior with women and by his younger brother, Thanos. While Eros is a second-generation Eternal, he was made into a full member of the species after fusing himself into the Machine That Is Earth.

Eros has been an early ally with Earth’s Mightiest, joining the heroes after Thanos ignited his first major war against Titan. Spending the next many years enjoying his carnal pleasures, Eros returned to Earth and petitioned himself to join the team. He was accepted on the single contingency that he change his codename to Starfox because “Eros” was too inappropriate. Starfox has frequently left Earth to pursue his own adventures, but just as frequently returns to help his old friends out from time to time.

3 Gilgamesh

Approximate Age: 1,000,000+ Years Old

Another multi-millennia-old Eternal, Gilgamesh, also known as the Forgotten One, has fought as a heroic presence throughout the majority of Earth’s history. As with many of the Eternals, Gilgamesh ruled as a king, incorporating himself into human history to guide humanity’s evolution over time.

During the Inferno event, Gilgamesh joined a band of surviving heroes attempting to save Franklin Richards. He continued to work alongside these heroes, helping them reform a new team of Avengers. Gilgamesh would serve on the team for years until he received a near-fatal injury while in the field, where he was soon returned to Olympia to heal.

2 Sersi

Approximate Age: 1,000,000+ Years Old

The last of the Eternals on this list, Sersi, known as Cerce for the majority of her lifetime, played a significant role in ancient Greek history. Where Gilgamesh was a critical influence in Mesopotamian culture, Sersi was a key figure in the adventures of Odysseus and is directly responsible for rebinding Pandora’s Box. Closer to the modern day, Sersi joined the Avengers after Gilgamesh’s critical injury that permanently removed him from the team.

As an Avenger, Sersi was considered an unpredictable ally due to a mental breakdown that occurs after an Eternal has lived too long of a life. Normally, an Eternal can overcome this Mahd Wy’ry illness by killing themselves and being revived through an older mental backup. Instead, Sersi was allowed to remain on the team after she entered an Eternal life-mating ritual with the Black Knight, allowing her mind to be calmed by Dane Whitman’s.

1 Galactus

Approximate Age: 14,000,000,000+ Years Old

While Galactus has never been inducted into the Avengers, he was dubbed an Honorary Avenger for his part in holding back the time-spanning army made from multiversal variants of Mephisto and Doctor Doom. After being promised the meal of a lifetime, Galactus and his new herald Ka-Zar arrived just in time to change the tide of the battle. Galactus is a being so old, that he predates the entirety of the Seventh and Eighth iterations of the Multiverse.

Originally a mortal from the Sixth Cosmos, Galan was transformed into Galactus at the precipice of the Seventh’s “Big Bang.” Assuming Marvel universes work like our own, Galactus should be close to fourteen billion years old. However, the Devourer of Worlds frequently bounces through time and space, potentially making the immortal abstracts significantly older.