10 Biggest Reasons The Avengers Disassembled In The MCU

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The Avengers have long been defunct in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a wide variety of different reasons. The original Avengers were once the dominant force in the MCU, responding to world-ending threats and representing the Earth"s mightiest heroes. However, the superhero team hasn"t been active for a long while in the franchise thanks to a culmination of various factors.
The Avengers were last seen banding together along with the rest of the world"s heroes to defeat Thanos and his army during the Battle of Earth. But technically, the group hadn"t been formally active since all the way back in Avengers: Age of Ultron, having totally splintered from the effects of the conflict. The ending of Captain America: Brave New World tasks Sam Wilson"s Captain America with organizing a new Avengers, and he"ll certainly have his work cut out for him.
10 Scarlet Witch Poisoned Tony Stark's Mind Setting off a domino effect of paranoia

The lingering effects of Scarlet Witch"s influence on Tony Stark cannot be understated. By the time of Avengers: Age of Ultron, Tony Stark was already reeling from the lingering PTSD and trauma of going through the Chitauri portal. Certain that a bigger alien threat was coming, Iron Man was driven to more and more drastic action, resulting in the restriction of personal freedoms and the creation of Ultron.
Tony"s ideas for a "suit of armor around the world" owe Scarlet Witch"s mind meddling far more credit. The eerie prophetic vision Tony saw of the Avengers defeated thanks to her psychic influence drove much of his overzealous actions, ultimately driving a wedge between himself and half of the Earth"s mightiest heroes. If it weren"t for the lingering mental fallout of Wanda Maximoff"s magic, who knows how much easier it might"ve been for the team to work together.
9 The Battle Of Sokovia The most obvious catalyst of the Avengers' breakup

Obviously, Scarlet Witch"s introduction was far from the biggest element of Avengers: Age of Ultron that eventually shattered The Avengers initiative. The Battle of Sokovia was the single most devastating event for the program, not just because of the devastation Ultron wrought with his near-miss extinction event. The fight was calamitous enugh to result in the Sokovia Accords, which greatly restricted the movements and individual decision-making of superheroes around the world.
The Sokovia Accords split the Avengers up along ideological lines, as a splinter faction led by Steve Rogers refused to bow down to the government"s demands after he saw just how deep corruption could run in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. More importantly, the devastation of the battle also killed the family of Baron Zemo, inspiring the mastermind villain to concoct a plan that would destroy the Avengers from the inside out. Thanks to the battle, Zemo became one of the few MCU villains to actually succeed in his evil plan.
8 Bruce Banner & Thor Left Earth Two of the team's heaviest-hitters were off-world for a long time

The Avengers have a very clear hierarchy of power, with Hulk and Thor easily being the two strongest powered heroes on the original team. Between Hulk"s immense strength and Thor"s versatility, it was a huge blow to the team that neither party took an active interest in the affairs of the Earth following Avengers: Age of Ultron. Hulk decided to abscond from the planet due to clearly not fitting in within human society, and Thor became too embroiled in the politics of Asgard and the other realms.
If Thor and Hulk were still around for the events of Captain America: Civil War, things may have gone quite differently. Their strength may have been enough to prevent ideological sides from forming in the first place, or at least prevent Captain America and Iron Man from getting into the final brawl that would seal their fates as bitter enemies. With the two of them gone, the Avengers were left greatly weakened both physically and ideologically.
7 The Legacy Version Failed Disastrously The hopeful evolution of The Avengers didn't pan out

Despite the damage the film did to the team as a whole, Avengers: Age of Ultron still tried to end on a positive note. Addressing a new team composed of Falcon, War Machine, Scarlet Witch, and Vision, Captain America and Black Widow implied the future of the project to be in good hands. However, this replacement team essentially crashed and burned after only a single mission when Scarlet Witch failed to prevent collateral damage from Crossbones" suicide bombing.
After this public failure, the individual members of the team suffered unfortunate fates. Vision was killed by Thanos, causing Scarlet Witch to descend into madness, and War Machine was replaced by a Skrull infiltrator. Sam Wilson"s evolution from Falcon to the new Captain America was the legacy team"s only success story, putting a damper on this hopeful assembly in retrospect.
6 Nick Fury Abandoned The Avengers (And Worse) The original ideator of the initiative moved on to other things

Nick Fury was the original creator of the Avengers initiative, kickstarting the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a whole when he invited Iron Man to headline the project way back in the first Iron Man. For the most part, he remained a loyal and crucial element for the rest of the franchise, continuing to lead S.H.I.E.L.D. in supporting the heroes with tackling whatever threat they were currently facing. However, Nick Fury"s importance as the glue that held the team together was emphasized once he was taken off the board.
After faking his own death and then dying for real in Thanos" snap, Nick Fury was more or less ejected from S.H.I.E.L.D. leadership when he was finally resurrected. Fury went on to take an interest in S.A.B.E.R. instead, monitoring the Earth for alien threats like the Kree and Skrulls from the comfort of his orbital space station. Without Fury, it"s fair to say that the Avengers initiative can"t hold a candle to its former self.
5 Civil War Splintered The Avengers For both personal and professional reasons

Another one of the most obvious reasons why the Avengers split up and perhaps the single biggest factor in their difficulty reforming has been the Avengers" Civil War. The conflict began when the introduction of the Sokovia Accords split the team into two ideological factions; the side that was willing to accept greater restrictions on superhero activity to prevent more public damage, led by Iron Man, and the side unwilling to become subservient to the government, led by Captain America. This philosophical rift eventually evolved into a fully-fledged war.
Besides the political lines the conflict drew, the emotional impact of the events of Captain America: Civil War can"t be understated either. Iron Man"s desire to capture Bucky Barnes, a fugitive formerly brainwashed into being a deadly assassin, was only compounded by the shocking revelation that Bucky killed his own parents. The betrayal that Steve Rogers was aware of this, deliberately keeping it from Tony, was the final straw in shattering any amount of trust the two had ever shared.
4 Endgame Robbed The Avengers Of Their Leadership Causing the organization to utterly crumble

Though they officially dissolved as of Captain America: Civil War, the Earth"s mightiest heroes informally banded together along with all sorts of other heroes in order to face Thanos for the final time during the climactic Battle of Earth. The fierce fighting ultimately resulted in the death of Tony Stark, perishing to the gamma radiation of the Infinity Stones after using them to turn Thanos and his army into dust. With Tony dead and Steve retired, this return to form was doomed to be a one-time experience.
After Nick Fury, Tony Stark was by far the most instrumental person in keeping the Avengers initiative running, directly advocating for new members to join to people like General Ross. Avengers: Endgame also saw the official retirement of Steve Rogers, meaning that the Avengers had also lost their stalwart official leader. It"s no wonder the group hasn"t been able to reform in the aftermath of the battle.
3 Tony Stark's Death Defunded The Avengers Initiative Keeping the lights on his no joke

Iron Man once joked that he was only good for paying for everything when it came to the Avengers. While this was far from his only contribution to the team, there is a kernel of truth buried within the humor, as the Avengers was indeed quite reliant on Stark Industries" funding to stay operational. Once Tony died in Avengers: Endgame, the team no longer had a relatively no-strings-attached source of funding to rely on.
When Tony died, ownership of Stark Industries passed to his widow and former secretary, Pepper Potts. After losing her husband to hero work and never being especially keen on the idea of it (despite piloting the Rescue Iron Man suit herself in the Battle for Earth), it"s safe to say that Pepper wasn"t especially willing to devote Stark Industries to reforming the Avengers. Thus, the Avengers were officially left without a major source of funding in the MCU, making it far more difficult for them to ever officially come back.
2 Public Sentiment Around Superheroes Is Still Fractured Citizens might not take kindly to a new Avengers

Public backlash has always been a tricky thing for the Avengers to navigate. Outcry from the citizenry was one of the primary factors contributing to the Sokovia Accords and the Civil War, with normal people justifiably not comfortable putting their lives in the hands of eccentric heroes. As of the current age in the MCU, public support for superheroes is still mixed at best.
The Skrulls were a big factor in erasing the goodwill done by heroes, impersonating them for nefarious means. The marketing for the upcoming series Daredevil: Born Again seems to point out a lingering public sentiment of disdain for heroes, perhaps even leading to Matt Murdock hanging up his devil cowl, and Captain America: Brave New World openly discussed the fractured support for heroes in the world. This will be a significant hurdle for any future Avengers iterations to overcome.
1 Heroes Are Now Completely Ununified The MCU in general is quite disconnected

For all the reasons that the Avengers haven"t been able to come back to their full strength in Phase 4 and 5, a lack of suitable candidates certainly can"t be cited as one. Since Avengers: Endgame, many new capable heroes to build a potential new Avengers roster have been introduced, including Shang-Chi, the new Falcon, Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, She-Hulk, and Kate Bishop. However, most of these heroes have had few chances, if any, to interact with one another outside of post-credits scenes.
Without a guiding force like Nick Fury or Tony Stark to merge these crimefighters together, it"s no wonder that a new cohort of recent heroes haven"t been able to form the new Avengers. Spider-Man"s newly reset secret identity also caused the team to lose out on an already-existing and vetted member, now on his own. The MCU as a whole has had difficulty with maintaining its trademark interconnectivity ever since the culmination of the Infinity Saga, but perhaps Sam Wilson"s Captain America can finally get things back on the right track.
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