The Avengers are uniquely qualified to protect civilians from the threat of great evil. Whether it's Loki trying to take over the world, or HYDRA trying to take over the world, or even Ultron trying to take over the world, the Avengers are there to stop it. Unfortunately, every big bad brings huge destruction, even from the good guys, and over the years, superheroes like Iron Man, Captain America and Thor have leveled entire cities. Of course, it was all for a good cause — who said protecting the free world would come cheap? Still, as seen in Captain America: Civil War , the Avengers are about to come face to face with the consequences of their actions, or, more specifically, the collateral damage caused by their heroics. So, to help pile on the guilt, I've ranked the Avengers by the destruction they've each caused.
Calculating how much damage each Avenger is responsible for may sound intense, but it's far from an exact science. Just one of the problems when it comes to calculating damage is the fact that some Avengers, like Iron Man and Thor, have been in more movies than others, and thus have had more opportunities to cause property damage. Others, like Black Widow or Hawkeye, are known spies, so it's likely they have caused their fair amount of destruction off-screen, but the extent of any past destruction is unknowable. And that's not even considering how one might divide the monetary cost of the damage the Avengers have wracked up as a team. All this to say that the ranking of Avengers from least to most destructive is solely informed by what we've seen in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but all the same, it should give you a pretty good idea of who to blame next time you see an on-screen city falling to pieces. Some Civil War spoilers ahead!
10. Scarlet Witch
When she only appeared in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Scarlet Witch's collateral damage was pretty slim. Sure, she did some bad deeds when she was on Team Ultron, but, given that all the damage caused by Ultron could be considered Iron Man's responsibility, Scarlet Witch's destruction was really very minimal. In Civil War, she causes some pretty big damage when she accidentally destroys a building, but it's still relatively small when compared to what her fellow Avengers have done.
9. Ant-Man
To defeat Yellowjacket, Ant-Man caused quite a bit of destruction. Not only did he and his nemesis destroy a good peace of Pym Technologies, they also brought down a helicopter. The damage to the infrastructure alone would cost at least $20 million, in my estimation, not to mention the cost of the priceless technology in Pym Technologies that was likely lost in the fight. Still, compared to the other Avengers, Ant-Man's mere millions of damage is like pocket change.
8. The Falcon
The Falcon is in a strange position on this list because, while he hasn't been directly responsible for a lot of the destruction seen in the MCU, he was one of a handful of heroes involved in the battle at the end of Captain America: The Winter Soldier. That fight took down at least one government-owned skyscraper and three Helicarriers, not to mention the amount of cars and other tech likely damaged in the war between SHIELD and HYDRA. According to Movieweb.com, the destruction of The Winter Soldier would've cost about $2.8 billion. However, that's not including the cost of the three SHIELD/HYDRA Helicariers destroyed. Actual Helicariers don't exist, but a modern Naval carrier costs a reported $12.8 billion, according to NationalReview.com. At this rate, Falcon's in the hole for at least a couple billion dollars.
7. Hawkeye
Like Falcon, Hawkeye can't really be directly blamed to too much destruction. After all, there's only so much damage those arrows can do. But, he did take part in the Battle of New York in The Avengers, the cost of which has been estimated at $160 billion by The Hollywood Reporter — including repairs. Even split between five Avengers, that comes out to over $3 billion each.
6. Thor
The only reason Thor is so low on this list is because unlike his fellow Avengers, a great deal of his destruction occurred on other planets, so our measurements of damage (casualties, infrastructure, etc.) cannot accurately measure the consequences of Thor's destructive tendencies. However, on Earth, Thor has caused quite a bit of trouble.
Before he helped in the billion-dollar destruction of New York, Thor was also responsible for destroying the small town of Puente Antiguo. In Thor, the town appears to be about four square blocks, so the damage caused by Thor's fight with Destroyer was minimal. Still, a small town is a small town. According to City-Data.com, the similarly-sized real town of Abiquiu, New Mexico, has an average house value of $132,534. Assuming there are around 20 houses in Puente Antiguo (which might seem like an overestimation), the total damage would cost about $2,650,680. And that's not including the cars, tech and other goods that might have been ruined.
5. The Winter Soldier
The Winter Soldier may not be an Avenger yet, but he's about to be. It's tough to judge the Winter Soldier's destruction, especially because he was an assassin working in the shadows for so long. However, if one proposes that the Avengers are responsible for the cost of the damage done by the villains, then The Winter Soldier is, at the very least, responsible for a share of The Winter Soldier damage, which, as you'll recall, rang in at about $2.8 billion, plus another $12.8 billion per Helicarrier (there were three total).
4. Black Widow
With her hand in the destructive battles in The Avengers, Age of Ultron and The Winter Soldier, Black Widow's got a huge amount of destruction in her wake. Not to mention the fact that she has certainly caused collateral damage in her long career as a spy. Forget about red in her ledger — she's got red in her bank account, at least a few billion dollars.
3. The Hulk
Looking at The Hulk, it's easy to assume he's been the most destructive Avenger in Marvel movie history. However, in the grand scheme of things, the Hulk really hasn't caused a lot of damage, at least not that fans have seen. Other than breaking hundreds of windows and probably taking down a building or two, the Hulk has stayed (relatively) trouble-free. That said, when he lost control in Age of Ultron, he didn't have any regard for collateral damage or human life, and that's a dangerous thing. That episode and his fight with Iron Man likely equaled $10 or $15 billion in damage, if not more.
2. Captain America
Given Captain America's insistence at saving innocent lives and keeping the death toll as small as possible, it's strange to think of him as the second most destructive Avenger. Yet despite his best attempts, Cap has found himself in the middle of three of the biggest fights in MCU history — in Avengers, The Winter Soldier and Age of Ultron. All three of those fights resulted in billions of dollars worth of damage, though most of Cap's destruction was wracked up in The Winter Soldier, a film in which he literally tore down SHIELD and HYDRA. Sorry, Cap, but you've got at least $20 billion in damages to your name.
1. Iron Man
Finally, Iron Man is by far the most destructive Avenger. How so, you ask? Well, when we first met Tony Stark (technically pre-Iron Man), he was essentially a weapon salesman. If we see him as responsible for all the damage his weapons have done all over the world, then right there you've got countless casualties and immense physical damage to war-torn areas. As Iron Man, Tony Stark has destroyed over $5.68 million worth of luxury cars alone, Jezebel has calculated. Not to mention the fact that each Iron Man movie has seen Tony destroy large properties, be it a gigantic convention center (Iron Man 2), or his own mansion, valued at $117,250,000 by Movoto Real Estate.
Furthermore, there is a case to be made that Iron Man should be held fiscally responsible for all the damage caused by Ultron in Age of Ultron, which would lower the damage costs for all Avengers significantly and leave him holding the check.
Of course, there are plenty ways to calculate damage other than simple monetary value. For example, if you were to measure destruction by broken hearts... well, Iron Man would still be the most destructive Avenger.
Images: Walt Disney Studios; Giphy (10)
