Which merit badges would each of these Marvel superheroes be most qualified to counsel?

When they’re not saving mankind from total annihilation, what exactly do the Avengers do?

If they’ve got some free time, might I suggest they serve as merit badge counselors?

It turns out each of the Avengers — Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Hawkeye and the rest — would be pretty great at counseling certain merit badges.

In honor of today’s opening of Avengers: Age of Ultron, I thought I’d explore which merit badges each Avenger would be best at counseling.

Here we go.

Captain-America-MBCaptain America (Steve Rogers)

Superpower: Olympic-level athleticism, great leadership abilities, incredible physical and mental conditioning

Most qualified to counsel: American Heritage

Why: Because he truly knows what it means to be an American and lives up to those ideals every day, just like an Eagle Scout. In fact, Chris Evans, the actor who portrays Captain America, said he modeled the role after an Eagle Scout he knows.

Others he could counsel: Aviation (he knows a lot about planes), Athletics (he’s a superhuman athlete), Citizenship in the Nation (obviously), Personal Fitness (he’ll inspire Scouts to do their best when completing fitness challenges)

Iron-Man-MBIron Man (Tony Stark)

Superpower: Genius-level intellect, highly proficient scientist and engineer, built himself that awesome suit

Most qualified to counsel: Inventing

Why: He invented the coolest piece of technology the comic book world has ever seen. His suit gives him superhuman strength and durability while letting him fly and use weapons when necessary.

Others he could counsel: American Business (Stark Enterprises, anyone?), Digital Technology (he’s a genius with computers), Electronics (ditto), Robotics (did I mention that super suit?)

Hulk-MBHulk (Bruce Banner)

Superpower: Turns green and stronger as he becomes angrier. As the Hulk, Bruce Banner possesses superhuman strength.

Most qualified to counsel: Athletics

Why: Asking the Hulk to counsel a merit badge may not be the safest idea, but if you can get him to relax and focus for a few hours, Scouts would love watching him complete the 100-meter dash in under a second, fly for hundreds of feet in the standing long jump or do a million pushups in two minutes.

Others he could counsel: Gardening (I hear he has a green thumb), Chemistry (as Bruce Banner only!), Nuclear Science (as Bruce Banner only!)

Thor-MBThor (Odinson)

Superpower: Superhuman strength, has that special hammer (Mjolnir) that lets him transport through time and manipulate the weather

Most qualified to counsel: Weather

Why: Thor, with the help of his mystical hammer, can control the weather. So rather than tell Scouts about wind, tornadoes, lightning and rain, he can show them.

Others he could counsel: Astronomy (he’s been to space himself), Space Exploration (same), American Cultures (he can talk about how people with different backgrounds and customs can get along)

Hawkeye-MBHawkeye (Clint Barton)

Superpower: Master archer and marksman, skilled at hand-to-hand combat

Most qualified to counsel: Archery

Why: This is probably the most obvious one on the list. Along with Katniss Everdeen, Hawkeye might be the most famous fictional archer around. Though his trick arrows that explode or spray tear gas probably aren’t safe for Scouting events, the boys would love earning this merit badge from the world’s greatest archer.

Others he could counsel: Bird Study (OK, maybe that’s a stretch)

Black-Widow-MBBlack Widow (Natasha Romanoff)

Superpower: Trained military operative, skilled in hand-to-hand combat and martial arts, excellent spy

Most qualified to counsel: Search and Rescue

Why: She’s an elite spy, so Black Widow knows all the tricks for finding people wherever they are. Of course, with search and rescue the person wants to be found, but let’s ignore that little detail and consider how awesome it would be for Natasha Romanoff to counsel this merit badge.

Others she could counsel: Geocaching (bet she’ll find that cache before you), Insect Study (just kidding)

Scarlet-Witch-MBScarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff)

Superpower: Can tap into mystic energy for reality-altering effects, resulting in spontaneous combustion, deflection of objects in flight, and so on

Most qualified to counsel: Energy

Why: A merit badge about producing energy and using it wisely is perfect for the Scarlet Witch, who can manipulate energy to her advantage.

Others she could counsel: Chess (her powers could help her checkmate you in a handful of moves)

Quicksilver-MBQuicksilver (Pietro Maximoff)

Superpower: Superhuman speed

Most qualified to counsel: Personal Management

Why: As someone who can move at supersonic speeds, Quicksilver is able to get a lot done in the blink of an eye. That makes him qualified to help Scouts better understand time management. Though he might not have the patience for it; it’s been said that he gets frustrated easily because to him it seems as if the rest of the world is moving really slowly.

Others he could counsel: Athletics (he could run circles around the Scouts)

Ultron-MBBONUS SUPERVILLAIN: Ultron

Superpower: Artificial intelligence, super strength, almost impervious to damage

Most qualified to counsel: Robotics

Why: First off, do we allow robots to be merit badge counselors? What about supervillains? If so, Ultron is the perfect Robotics MB counselor, seeing as he’s a robot himself.

What do you think?

Have a better idea for which merit badges these people could counsel? Leave it in the comments.


About Bryan Wendell 3282 Articles
Bryan Wendell, an Eagle Scout, is the founder of Bryan on Scouting and a contributing writer.