Which superhero team is the more powerful - Netflix's Umbrella Academy or Marvel's Avengers? We are truly living in the Golden Age of superhero adaptations. On the big screen, the rise of Marvel Studios and the MCU led to a boom in superhero blockbusters, and last year's Avengers: Endgame stole Avatar's crown as the highest-grossing movie of all time. Hollywood increasingly seems focused only on film franchises owned by the so-called "Big Two," Marvel and DC, but networks and streaming services are signing off on a far wider range of content. They're adapting comic books like Gerard Way's The Umbrella Academy into popular and critically-acclaimed shows.
Of course, if there's one thing superhero fans love, it's a good hero-on-hero slug-fest. That's become a time-honored tradition in the comics, with the first stage of any team-up generally being a misunderstanding that leads heroes to trade blows; occasionally rival publishers have managed to work together to tell tales of conflict on a far grander scale, such as the famous DC Versus Marvel miniseries in 1996. This kind of versus match is a lot less likely to happen outside of the comic book medium, but it doesn't stop speculation. So here's the intriguing question; just who would win in a fight between the Umbrella Academy and the Avengers?
Of course, it wouldn't be fair to imagine a conflict between the Umbrella Academy and the vast army Steve Rogers led in Avengers: Endgame; the Umbrella Academy may have dealt with the assembled forces of the Commission, but they're unlikely to be able to handle an army of that size. Rather, to make this a fair fight it's best to look to the Avengers' first incarnation in the MCU, who defeated the Chitauri Invasion in 2012's The Avengers. So who would win in this fight?
The Umbrella Academy Has More Raw Power
When Marvel first brought the Avengers to the big screen, they deliberately chose to dial down on their power levels from the comics. It was a smart decision, because it allowed viewers to get used to the classic superhero tropes before they eventually saw characters who operated on far greater scales, such as Captain Marvel and Doctor Strange. But it means the Avengers of 2012 would be quite underpowered going into a brawl with the Umbrella Academy. The most formidable forces would be the Hulk and Thor, but both were yet to recognize their true potential; neither was yet capable of the kind of feats later seen in Thor: Ragnarok.
In contrast, the Umbrella Academy's powers are actually pretty remarkable. Their most powerful member is Vanya, who was literally able to shatter the Moon in season 1, and who appeared to gain a lot more control in season 2. Making matters worse, if the Avengers don't have any idea what they're facing, they'll likely find themselves in serious trouble when Allison causes them to turn on one another. And Five fancies himself as the most dangerous assassin in history; no doubt Black Widow and Hawkeye could give him a run for his money, but his teleportation certainly gives him a decided edge.
The Avengers Work Better As A Team
The Umbrella Academy may be more powerful than the 2012 Avengers team, but there's one big problem facing them; the Avengers are a team. While it's true Earth's Mightiest Heroes spent a good portion of The Avengers punching and shooting one another, they were able to rally when they needed to. Captain America's tactical leadership allowed him to identify a way to ensure each Avenger played to their own individual strengths, and as the Battle of New York progressed they began to coordinate their strategies in quite impressive ways. In one particularly remarkable act of synergy, Iron Man used Captain America's shield to generate a concussive wave of force that blasted multiple Chitauri attackers back. That seems to have been done with no prior thought, with both Avengers spontaneously coming up with the tactic. In contrast, the Umbrella Academy are yet to show any ability to coordinate their powers - at all.
Things get even more bleak when you look at the Umbrella Academy's record. Not only are they hardly a team, they are actually usually operating at odds with one another. In The Umbrella Academy season 2, they couldn't even all manage to get to the same place at the same time, a failure that left Five despairing. The Avengers can put their differences behind them when the moment calls for it; all evidence suggests the Umbrella Academy are unable to do the same.
The Avengers Know Their Powers Better
Meanwhile, the Avengers have another advantage; they're better trained. Black Widow and Hawkeye can both be counted among SHIELD's best, Iron Man knows exactly what his armor is capable of, Thor has been waging war across the Nine Realms for centuries, and Steve Rogers gained all the combat experience he could possibly need on the front lines of World War II. The only real loose cannon in the Avengers' 2012 team is the Hulk, and the Avengers knew not to try to make him play well with others. "Hulk, smash," Captain America ordered the Jade Giant, allowing him to play to his strengths.
This contrasts markedly with the Umbrella Academy, whose training was far from ideal. Sir Reginald Hargreeves was a harsh taskmaster, but he viewed his children as lab rats rather than people. While he was fully invested in learning all he could about their powers, he doesn't seem to have cared whether or not the various members of the Umbrella Academy ever mastered them. In Vanya's case, he concealed her knowledge of her abilities for years. All this means none of the Umbrella Academy really know what they're doing, explaining why several powersets expanded in unpredictable ways in The Umbrella Academy season 2. This lack of knowledge, training, and expertise leaves them at a decided disadvantage.
Conclusion: The Avengers Win
Ultimately, this is a battle of raw power against teamwork and expertise. There's really only one way a battle between the Avengers of 2012 and the Umbrella Academy is going to go; Earth's Mightiest Heroes are sure to triumph. No doubt the Umbrella Academy would initially get some good shots in, but the Avengers would swiftly adapt, with Captain America and Iron Man figuring innovative strategies that left the Hargreeves siblings reeling.
Oddly enough, the Umbrella Academy's best chance would probably be Allison, simply because she could rumor members of the Avengers into turning on one another; even then, the Avengers would work around it quite quickly (as they somewhat managed to do when faced against Scarlet Witch in Avengers: Age of Ultron), ironically helped by the fact they've all traded blows with one another in the past.