Battle of New York

The culminating battle in the Chitauri Invasion, during which the Avengers defeated Thanos's Armies and captured Loki.

The battle began when Erik Selvig used the Tesseract and the Arc Reactor powering Stark Tower to open a deep space portal, allowing Chitauri drones and Leviathans to travel instantaneously to New York City. 

The Chitauri forces were opposed by the Avengers, lead by Steve Rogers, who battled the Chitauri, while the New York emergency services focussed on evacuating civilians.

The World Security Council, believing the battle could not be won, gave the order to nuke New York. Tony Stark was able to catch the warhead, steering it through the portal where it destroyed the Chitauri mothership at the same time as Bobbi Morse closed the portal, cutting the Chitauri drones off from the mothership hivemind, effectively killing them.

Loki was defeated by the Hulk, and taken into custody.

Included under Conflict
Conflict Type
Battle
Battlefield Type
Urban
Start Date
May 4, 2012
Ending Date
May 4, 2012
Location

Belligerents

Avengers

Led by

The Armies of Thanos

Led by

Strength

Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Bobbi Morse, James Rhodes, Natasha Romanoff, Bruce Banner/Hulk, Clint Barton, Thor
Loki, one Chitauri Mothership

Casualties

Avengers: None NYC: 74 civilians, unconfirmed numbers of police and national guard casualties
All Chitauri combatants

Objectives

Protect civilians, close the portal, capture or subdue Loki
Defeat Earth's defenders, establish a foothold from which to launch an attack on the wider planet