10 Best Superhero Teams From Marvel And DC Comics, Ranked

In Marvel and DC Comics, superhero teams are a dime a dozen, but who's the best? That, my friends, is in the eye of the beholder. While seasoned comics lovers may vigorously debate the merits and demerits of the Justice League and Avengers, there's bound to be at least one person who'll proclaim their undying love for Alpha Flight and argue why Canada's finest deserves top honor and a Marvel movie. Yes, Sasquatch and Puck rule as characters, but let's not get ahead of ourselves with Alpha Flight here.

Truth be told, it's easy to pick out the 10 best teams from both universes. The issue is ranking them, since there's hardly anything between the groups. They're all powerful and competent enough at dishing out knuckle sandwiches to baddies, so it often comes down to percentages about deciding who moves ahead or stays behind. You need to consider how well the members work together as a team, what type of threats they have overcome, and their overall influence in pop culture. Expectedly, we should all be able to agree on the top two choices here, though there might be a difference of opinion about the final order in which they appear. With that said, it's all good — and any disagreements can be settled by playing several rounds of "Marvel vs. Capcom" or "Injustice: Gods Among Us."

So, comic book fans, let's get down to business, shall we? Here are the 10 best superhero teams from Marvel and DC Comics, ranked.

Want to know the main reason that comic book superheroes received sidekicks? Wish fulfillment. Both DC and Marvel realized that younger audiences imagined themselves fighting crime alongside their favorite characters. Essentially, Teen Titans took a bunch of these sidekicks (Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Wonder Girl) and chucked them together as a team, so for younger fans, it's a metaphorical representation of you and your pals banding together to fight evil.

There have been different line-ups of the Teen Titans over the years, but most fans remember the team consisting of Robin, Starfire, Raven, Cyborg, Beast Boy and others from Marv Wolfman and George Pérez's "The New Teen Titans" run. This version featured in animated shows (including the long-running "Teen Titans Go!"), the live-action "Titans" series, and will likely be the core of DC's live-action "Teen Titans" movie. Without a doubt, it's the best iteration of the team, as they grow up and learn how to work together, battling powerful baddies like Trigon and Deathstroke.

The reason the Teen Titans are ranked at the bottom of this list is that they're still heroes in training and need to carve out more experience for themselves. Think about it this way: Batman doesn't call the Justice League when he needs to deal with Deathstroke. In the Titans' case, it often requires all their numbers to take down a singular bad guy. Yeah, they're good — but not great yet — as there's still a lot for them to learn.

No, no, no. This isn't about the disappointing Defenders featured in Marvel's live-action team-up show, which included an Iron Fist with the martial arts deftness of a jackknifed truck. That version of the team is, well, kinda meh; even in the comics, New York would rather call other teams from the vicinity instead of one comprising Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist. Sorry, but those are facts.

Now, the original Defenders — introduced in "Marvel Feature" #1 by Roy Thomas, Ross Andru, and Don Heck — that's something to get excited about. Assembled by Doctor Strange, this notable and formidable version of the team consisted of Strange, Namor, Hulk, and Silver Surfer at one point. Just look at those names; it's a sophisticated mix of magic, aquatic abilities, strength, and cosmic power that's more than enough to scare off any foe from whatever dastardly plan they might have had.

If the original Defenders had stayed together for longer — they do regroup, though — they would be further up here. However, this team has a revolving door policy, seeing superheroes come and go as they please. Anyone who helped would be considered a member, but they wouldn't stick around for an extended time. It's almost as if they keep their options open in case the Avengers come calling. The Defenders is akin to a garage band jamming together for fun, with everyone knowing they would disassemble in a heartbeat to tour with the big guns.

You can trace the history of the Guardians of the Galaxy all the way back to the late 1960s, where a certain Yondu Udonta was a member of the pack. However, the version of the team that served as the inspiration for James Gunn's ragtag comedic group in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is the one introduced in 2008, featuring Star-Lord, Drax, Groot, Rocket, Mantis, Gamora, Phyla-Vell, and Adam Warlock.

This interstellar superhero team isn't quite as goofy as its MCU counterpart, while it also possesses serious firepower in the form of Warlock, who is one of the strongest Marvel characters and a fundamental part of "The Infinity Gauntlet" comic book storyline. In fact, it's borderline criminal how Adam Warlock is completely wasted in "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3," since he's a character who deserves more airtime and story juice in the MCU than inconsequential jobbers like Korg and Kevin Bacon.

Much like other superhero teams from Marvel and DC Comics, the Guardians have had multiple members in their ranks, including Agent Venom, Thing, Beta Ray Bill, Doctor Doom, and Cosmic Ghost Rider. Of course, everyone has a soft spot for any version of the team that features Groot and Rocket — and Star-Lord too, when he isn't behaving like a toolbox. The team attracts a lot of talent, that's for sure, but then again, would you call them to solve an issue when the Fantastic Four, X-Men, and the Avengers are available? I think not.

Real recognizes real, so give it up for the first-ever superhero team in comic book history: Justice Society of America. A precursor to the Justice League, this group saw Jay Garrick's Flash, Alan Scott's Green Lantern, Atom, Hawkman, Spectre, Sandman, Doctor Fate, and Hour-Man combine their powers and fanfare to great effect as the first version of the JSA. It's cute how they had their own little round table and chairman, running the team like an actual club with rules and order rather than the disorganization of today.

The JSA proved to be extremely popular when they debuted in the 1940s, seeing Batman and Superman included as honorary members. However, this group started to lose steam after too much justicing in American society, eventually evolving into — drum roll, please — the Justice League of America. A million DC reboots later, the history of the JSA was retconned — and it's likely to happen again in the future, because hey, it's comics, where canon matters until it doesn't!

Justice League outstrips the JSA in every way, but it's fair to say that without the JSA paving the way, not many of the teams on this list would exist. There have been reboots of this faction over the decades — including a version of the Justice Society of America that appeared in "Black Adam" – but there's still something special about seeing the original team prove that superheroes are better when they work together rather than as individuals.

The Legion of Super-Heroes is a team closely associated with Superboy — whether it be Clark Kent's original alias as a teen hero or another version of the character depends on editorial decisions of the time. Ultimately, though, the Legionnaires are a band of heroes from the future (think 30th century-plus) inspired by Superboy's adventures, so they build their own super-club too. The first members included the wonderfully named Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, and Lightning Lad, but this team has had more members than Fleetwood Mac throughout the decades.

Thanks to the endless array of heroes coming in and out of the group, the Legion of Super-Heroes has no shortage of superpowers across the spectrum. From shapeshifters to Green Lanterns, martial arts experts, and even Brainiac-5, there's a bit of everything among them, signifying a pretty powerful group who can lay the smackdown on whoever steps up to the plate.

So, why aren't they rated higher on this list? To be honest, it's a PR problem. DC hasn't done enough to actually showcase just how powerful and important this team is compared to others. Quite often, they feel like a lesser option when they shouldn't be. Maybe they need to run a few advertorials in the Daily Planet to generate hype or something.

The Green Lantern power ring remains regarded as one of the most powerful weapons in the DC Universe. Why? Well, because your imagination is the only limitation of what it can create. From guns to vehicles to even gigantic middle fingers (as displayed by Nathan Fillion's Guy Gardner in 2025's "Superman"), this ring is like Play-Doh for adults. Now, imagine you have a troop of Green Lanterns from all across the galaxy using them. If you're a villain, you better grab a change of underwear, because it's about to get messy!

In order to be a Green Lantern, you are seen as an individual who holds incredible willpower, capable of facing immense fear. In other words, resiliency is their superpower, so if you chuck a power ring into the mix, everyone is practically OP. On top of that, just look at all the characters who are Green Lanterns: Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Kyle Rayner, Guy Gardner, Jessica Cruz, Kilowog ... The list goes on and on, with heavy hitter after heavy hitter.

Unquestionably, the peace-keeping Green Lantern Corps stands out as one of the most powerful teams in all of comics, because when they work in unison, it's practically impossible to defeat them. The only downside is that no one has discovered how to use hybrid technology in terms of charging the power rings. Much like the Sega Game Gear, the battery life on those things are horrible, running out when you just started having fun.

The Fantastic Four consists of four superpowered heroes — Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm — but together, they're (ahem) fantastic. Yeah, fine — I'll include H.E.R.B.I.E. as one of the members as well, because the cuteness overload counts in the robot's favor. While the numbers may look few, make no mistake about it: Marvel's First Family is one of the best superhero teams from Marvel and DC Comics. After all, they have successfully defeated a world devourer like Galactus and triumphed over the devious Doctor Doom on countless occasions. Moral of the story: don't ever bet against them.

But what's the reason for the Fantastic Four's high success rate as heroes? It's twofold, really. For one, Reed Richards is a genius. He proves that brains beat brawn every single time, with his innovation and intellect helping the team to compensate for the fact that collectively, they aren't the largest nor the strongest around. And two, there's a lot of heart between them. They're a family, first and foremost, demonstrating a willingness and sacrifice to go the extra mile for each other. It isn't like a normal co-worker situation, where you think, "Yeah, okay, I'll help you carry boxes, but the moment there's a giant Celestial walking the streets, you're on your own, bro."

It's no surprise that even though the Avengers are the most popular superhero group in this universe, everyone seeks out the Fantastic Four's assistance as well, because they get the job done.

Professor Charles Xavier's mutant team consists of an ever-growing roster of colorful characters. The good news is that Xavier runs the X-Men like a school, so when other mutants become more seasoned and experienced, they operate as teachers — or mentors — to the newer recruits. Resultantly, there's always a transfer of experience and wisdom among the X-Men that ensures a steady pipeline of heroes for different generations.

Xavier, though, knows how to pick the best students. Arguably, the most famous version of the team comes from 1991, which saw Xavier split the mutants into two teams: Blue (Cyclops, Wolverine, Gambit, Psylocke, Rogue, and Beast) and Gold (Storm, Jean Grey, Archangel, Iceman, and Colossus). This group had it all, possessing some of the most powerful Marvel characters of all time and establishing themselves as flagship heroes in the Marvel Universe. Decades later, this is still the version of the X-Men that everyone talks about, regardless of the endless reboots, Ages of Apocalypse, Days of Future Past, and the convoluted Krakoa nonsense.

Their powers and popularity aside, the greatest strength of the X-Men is in their belief in tolerance and acceptance. It isn't unusual to see former foes, such as Magneto, Mystique, and Juggernaut, join the team. For this superhero group, it isn't about holding onto grudges; it's about making the world a better place for mutants and humans. Xavier and his students understand that everyone makes mistakes, so they dream of a brand-new tomorrow where everybody can live in harmony.

You must be thinking, "What?! How are the Avengers only listed as the No. 2 team here?" Well, hear me out for a second: the MCU's Avengers would be in top place — indisputably — but this list isn't only about the cinematic version. Rather, it's about the group in pop culture overall. Respectfully, the Avengers accelerated in popularity as a superhero team in the 21st century thanks to the movies. Before that, there was a time in the '90s when "The Avengers: United They Stand" animated series was a quickly canceled show, because no one cared about Hawkeye and the West Coast Avengers in the storyline. It was a time in which most people valued the X-Men over Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

Now, before you crucify me with letters to the editor, let me say that diehard comic book readers have always known that the Avengers are a big deal. How can you not expect a team consisting of the likes of Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, and Spider-Man to be anything less than stellar? They have banded together to take down all of the greatest threats to humanity — consistently and constantly. It also helps that they aren't afraid of opening their doors to new members, guaranteeing that there's always space for the best superheroes in their ranks.

If you're in trouble, calling out to the Avengers will always result in assistance and rogues running for the hills. That said, there's still one team that's slightly better here.

The title says Justice League — not Josstice League or Zack Snyder's Justice League — for those wondering. Ask yourself this: How could you choose any team over one that has Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman as its main members? Throw in regular teammates like Green Lantern, Flash, Martian Manhunter, and Aquaman, and you have one of the most powerful superhero teams — not just in Marvel and DC Comics — period. They're bigger and better than the Spice Girls and Backstreet Boys combined!

What's most impressive about the Justice League is that each of its members, on their own, is "super" enough to deal with just about any threat they encounter. Combined? Well, you almost feel sorry for the villains about how unbalanced the situation is here.

Much like other superhero teams, the Justice League isn't afraid of freshening up its roster. They treat each other as equals in this group, so all it takes to be inducted is for a group vote to say you're in. Although someone needs to do an audit on how Booster Gold made it in — there may have been shenanigans to make sure he secured enough votes. Jokes aside, it's impossible to look past the Justice League as the best of the best when it comes to superhero teams. Now, if only someone could capture this group perfectly on the big screen ...