From Cassius Comics

When Loki attempted to engineer a battle between his step-brother Thor and the Hulk, he inadvertently caused a meeting between Thor, Iron Man, Ant-Man (Hank Pym) and the Wasp. The quartet of heroes teamed up, with Thor hunting down Loki in the mystical realm of Asgard, while the others hunted down the errant Hulk on Earth. Loki was soon subdued and the five heroes decided to band together to for a team which the Wasp christened "the Avengers". The Hulk left the team immediately afterwards, but was soon replaced by Captain America, fresh out of suspended animation and retroactively declared a founding member of the team. Over the following years the team went through many roster changes, evolving into a collection of Earth's mightiest heroes. The Avengers were among the heroes who were thought to have been killed in action against Onslaught, and with no former members willing to rejoin, the team was disbanded by the Black Widow. In fact, the Avengers had been transfered to a "Counter-Earth" by Franklin Richards, and they returned to the real world a year after their disappearance. The team continued their adventures for a number of years more until the Avenger the Scarlet Witch suffered from a mental breakdown, devastating the team and killing Ant-Man (Scott Lang), the Vision and Hawkeye. Following her defeat, the Avengers disbanded, but were relaunched shortly after as a team of New Avengers, few of which had ever had anything to do with the original group.

The current roster of the Avengers consists of Luke Cage, Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew), the Sentry, Wolverine and a mysterious eighth member named Ronin, who many have speculated is either Elektra or Daredevil.

Former members include Ant-Man/Giant-Man/Goliath/Yellowjacket (Hank Pym), Ant-Man (Scott Lang), the Beast, the Black Knight, the Black Panther, the Black Widow, Captain Marvel (Monica Rambeau), Crystal, Deathcry, Dr. Druid, the Falcon, Firestar, Gilgamesh, Goliath (Clint Barton), Hawkeye, Hellcat, Hercules, the Hulk, the Invisible Woman, Iron Man (a second, teenaged version), Jack of Hearts, Jocasta, Justice, Magdalene, Mantis, Masque, Ms. Marvel/Binary/Warbird (Carol Danvers), Mr. Fantastic, Moondragon, Namor, Quasar, Quicksilver, Rage, the Sandman, the Scarlet Witch, Sersi, She-Hulk, Silverclaw, Starfox, the Swordsman (the first and second versions), Thor (both the god and Eric Masters), Thunderstrike, Tigra, Triathlon, the Vision, the Wasp and Wonder Man.

Honorary members include Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell), Demolition Man, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Marrina, Stingray, the Two-Gun Kid, the Whizzer and Yellowjacket (Rita DeMara).