Civil War Forced The Avengers To Miss Marvel's Greatest Cosmic War

screenrant.com:

Marvel Comics' Civil War may be important, but it also caused the mighty Avengers to sit out the galaxy's greatest war. The Avengers are generally considered to be Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Time and again they represented this planet on the galactic stage, with Captain America even impressing the rulers of the Shi'ar with his tactical skills and a team of Avengers proving key to the Kree-Skrull War.

Yet, for all that's the case, the Avengers have actually tended to focus purely on Terrestrial issues. They've gotten dragged into cosmic issues when their homeworld is threatened, with only a few of their number choosing to take to the skies. The galaxy learned just how unreliable a force the Avengers can be during the superhero Civil War, which happened to coincide with the greatest war the galaxy had ever seen.

Related: Why Black Widow & Hawkeye Are Avengers (Despite Not Having Powers)

While the Avengers were preoccupied with affairs on Earth, Annihilus launched an invasion from the Negative Zone, unleashing his devastating Annihilation Wave. Xandar was destroyed, the Nova Corps wiped out — with Richard Rider the last man standing. The Skrull Empire collapsed, and the Kree Empire almost followed it as well. Some of the galaxy's most powerful beings fell before the war was over, including the likes of Quasar and even Thanos. Richard Rider became commander of the United Front, and he sent Earth a warning — and, in truth, a cry for help. The Avengers, distracted, never even noticed the message. When Nova returned to Earth after the war, he found himself confronted by Iron Man and SHIELD, and couldn't believe what had happened.

Nova's outrage was entirely understandable. He'd been out there fighting on the front lines,