Marvel Cinematic Universe: The Top 10 Most Powerful Avengers
This blog will be a ranking of the top 10 most powerful Avengers, as of, and predating Endgame, so essentially every single named hero that fought with the Avengers in Endgame (and before) are being considered for this list. These characters include (in alphabetical order):
- Ant-Man
- Black Panther
- Black Widow
- Captain America
- Captain Marvel
- Drax
- Dr. Strange
- Falcon
- Gamora
- Groot
- Hawkeye
- Hulk
- Iron Man
- Mantis
- Nebula
- Okoye
- Rocket Racoon
- Scarlet Witch
- Shuri
- Spider-Man
- Star-Lord
- Thor
- Valkyrie
- Vision
- War Machine
- Wasp
- Wong
Keep in mind that these rankings are not reflective of who can beat who (some characters who are lower on this list can beat characters who are higher than them due to a bad matchup of abilities) but rather who is generally the most powerful. Now without further ado, let's get into the list:
#10: Ant-Man
While Scott may have started out as the butt of the joke when he first joined the MCU, he has since evolved into one of its most powerful characters. He can shrink down to the size of an ant, yet can still strike with the force of a grown man, he has disks that can grow and shrink things to various sizes and can command an army of insects. But his ability to turn into a massive giant is what gives him a spot on this list. When at this size he can rip apart planes, one-shot Leviathans and KO Cull Obsidian with a casual stomp. In terms of raw physicals and damage output, he is one of the most imposing characters on this list. Though there are a few reasons that he's at the bottom. Firstly he is really really slow when he's enlarged like this, that makes it hard for him to tag fast/agile opponents and means that he's going to be taking many more blows that he'll be dishing out. This segues into his other major weakness: he really doesn't have any particularly impressive durability feats. He's a strong versatile character, but his low speed and damage soak hold him back from being any higher.
#9: War Machine
Over the years Rhodey has racked up quite the impressive array of feats for himself and has certainly come a long way since his beginnings in Iron Man 2. In terms of strength, he's tossed around tanks, hurled Tony through thick concrete walls, and knocked Giant-Man on his ass (with Tony's help). Though what really makes him a threat is the amount of firepower that he's packing. He has mounted miniguns that can obliterate parking lots worth of cars in seconds, can drop bombs that create building size explosions, and when he combines his weaponry he can flay a jet bridge in seconds and obliterate hundreds of Outriders casually. As for durability he can trade blows with Iron Man, brush off tank shells, get back up after being slammed with large fuel trucks, and endure direct hits from multiple missiles. Hell, even his mobility is decently impressive, his flight speeds are sub/super sonic, and he has even been shown to casually bat away RPG rounds. However, due to limited showings and somewhat lackluster physicals he can't be considered as a part of the upper echelon of MCU powerhouses.
#8: Worthy Captain America
In one of the most awesome reveals of all time during the third act of Endgame Steve Rogers solidified himself as one of only 3 being in the MCU shown to be worthy of Mjolnir, and boy did this reveal come with some kickass feats. He obviously has all of the lighting and striking power that Mjolnir brings to the table. This includes lighting that can wreck Leviathans, flay concrete, and decimate large portions of ice, as well as striking power that can ragdoll/stun Hulk, create massive concrete-shattering shockwaves, ragdoll tanks, and shatter the rainbow bridge. And given Cap's skill level he wielded Mjolnir far more effectively than Thor ever did, giving Thanos a harder time in their 1v1 confrontation than even Prime Thor managed to only moments earlier. So you may be wondering why Cap isn't higher on this list. For starters we only see him wielding Mjolnir for about 10 minutes, which doesn't give us a ton of material to work off of, and secondly, it seems that Cap maintained his base durability (and probably strength too) since Thanos was able to casually one-shot him after gaining the upper hand, this makes Cap a pretty big glass canon and means that as soon as a fellow higher tier manages to land a hit Cap is pretty much going to be taken out of action instantly.
#7: Vision
Vision clocks in at number seven, and he is a character who never quite lived up to the hype. Though he certainly has enough power to warrant a spot here. The most powerful weapon that he has in his arsenal is undoubtedly the mind stone, which can cleave building-sized structures in half casually and one-shot Machine by accident. He also has phasing which he can use both to avoid attacks, maneuver more effectively around the battlefield, as well and destroy opponents by phasing through them. However, Vision's physicality is far from impressive, in terms of strength he has next to no feats, other than shredding apart Ultron bots (which both Quicksilver and Captain America could do casually) and as for durability the best he has no offer is no selling a bus slamming into him, and he has been restrained/injured by Hawkeye's electric arrows and KOed by Scarlet Witch increasing his density and sending him through a few floors of concrete. Overall Vision's mind stone and phasing give him solid damage output and defense, but his lack of durability, strength, and speed feats mean that as soon as he gets into close quarters with some of the bigger powerhouses on this list he's getting dropped, fast.
#6: Hulk
The Avengers resident brick is coming in at sixth place here, overall Hulk is undoubtedly a massive physical powerhouse. His lifting strength includes supporting (likely) thousands of tons of collapsing rubble (even though he was severely injured at the time), casually overpowering Thor, and tossing a hundred-ton rock hundreds of meters casually. In sheer strength, this makes Hulk one of the most physically menacing beings in the entire MCU. And his striking strength is also absurd, he can ragdoll Hulkbuster parts and Ultron casually, dent vibrainium, oneshot a Leviathan, and even momentarily stagger Surtur. His durability is also fantastic, he can endure blows from Mjolnir, get kicked hundreds of feet at high speeds by the abomination, endure a beating from the Hulkbuster (who matched Hulk himself in striking), get hurled at supersonic speed by Surtur, get up after being wailed through hundreds of feet of solid metal, and tank being bull-rushed through skyscrapers. He's even fast enough to snatch RPGs out the air. However, while Hulk is one of, if not the biggest brick on this list, he does have his limits. He was KOed by a fall from 30,000 feet, he relies solely on brute strength, and rarely, if ever, actually fights smart, not to mention the fact that his versatility is heavily limited. His physicals are fantastic, but he's bound to struggle against smarter, more mobile, and versatile opponents, so he can't be placed much higher on this list.
#5: Iron Man
Kicking off the top five is my second favorite Avenger. While in the comics he certainly doesn't rate above the Hulk, in the MCU he's a far more powerful character relative to some of his peers. His Infinity War/Endgame armor makes him one of the most powerful and versatile characters in the MCU. He can ragdoll tanks, push multi-hundred-ton propellers at near-supersonic speeds, draw blood from Thanos, stagger Cull Obsidian with a casual punch, and lift thousand-ton+ ferries. And while his physical strength is undoubtedly impressive his durability is some of the best of any character in the MCU. He can endure Mjolnir throws, getting hit thousands of feet and through a building, being smacked dozens of times by multi-hundred ton propellor, walk off a 1000+ ton meteor slamming into at sonic/supersonic speed, tank a onslaught from a pissed of Thanos who was using the PG, absorb Thor's lightning, shake off being hit directly by dozens of missiles, was unharmed after being hit by a tank shell and falling to the ground hard enough to create a building-sized crater, tanked a blast from a concentrated beam the was made from a building-sized explosion, and even blocked a Power Gem blast with his armor. He also has excellent mobility, in terms of travel speed he can fly at super-hypersonic speeds, in terms of reactions he can weave in between bullet-speed energy blasts, dodge high-caliber rounds, and react to tank rounds. He combines these to create a very effective combat style. He has danced around both Thor and Thanos using this speed and even displayed near bullet/FTE combat speed while saving some civilians from a firing squad. However Iron Man's greatest asset is his versatility, his repulsors can destroy Leviathan's, one-shot tanks, ragdoll cars hundreds of feet, and even one-shot Cull Obsidian. His missiles can destroy tanks, blow Leviathan's in half, and he can spam these in high volumes to produce large building-sized explosions. Not to mention the fact that he can create any construct that he wants with his nano-suit, and has lasers that burn far hotter than re-entry. And due to his intelligence and strategical mind he applies all of his versatility very effectively. While Tony may not have as much raw power as many of the characters on this list, he makes up for this by being incredibly versatile, mobile, intelligent, and durable.
#4: Captain Marvel
As versatile and smart as Iron Man is, raw power sometimes prevails. Given Captain Marvel's limited number of appearances, she has a crazy number of impressive feats. She has overpowered Thanos (granted he wasn't using his full strength) and caught and casually tossed a massive building-sized missile that was moving at hypersonic speeds. Her bullrushes have plowed through and caused heavy damage to Thanos' block-sized space, and destroyed Ronan's ship with a continuous blitz. And she is likely the most durable character on this list, between no-selling dozens of blasts from Thanos' ships (which were one-shotting Leviathans) and being unmoved by a headbutt from Thanos (a similar headbutt sent IW Iron Man flying) she is virtually indestructible. Her energy projection is also solidly impressive, she can casually obliterate Kree ships with single blasts, and by merely clapping her hand together she generated a massive building-level blast. She has also outmaneuvered Thanos in combat (when in the same movie he took on Iron Man, Thor, and Cap at once) and was able to casually react to and shoot down dozens of Kree spacecraft. Captain Marvel likely has the potential to be higher on this list as her appearances grow, but due to her limited screen time, at the moment she doesn't have the requisite showings to be placed any higher.
#3: Thor
I don't think that anyone is surprised by this, Thor is undoubtedly one of the most powerful Avengers ever, and he absolutely has the feats to back it up. In terms of lifting, he has the best feats of anyone in the MCU, post-lightning amp he moved the rings of Nidavellir, a multi-million-ton feat. As for striking he has sent Hulk flying through hundreds of feet of metal, destroyed a building-sized ship that withstood a small block sized impact as well as re-entry, and has generated massive shockwaves with his blows on more than one occasion. Not to mention Stormbreaker, which carved through Thanos like butter. As for durability the thunder god has endured an extended beating from Hulk, survived a town-sized portion of a city exploding in his face, has brushed-off multiple block-sized explosions, and endured the heat/energy of a neutron star for almost a minute (though it ultimately was powerful enough to kill him). Lightning is another one of Thor's most impressive attributes, with it he has destroyed the Rainbow Bridge, obliterated multiple Leviathan's, stunned Hulk, and destroyed hundreds of meters of solid ice. And he also has his lightning cloak, which lets him apply his lightning in many different and versatile ways (though it is worth noting that the lightning cloak seems to be significantly weaker than his regular lightning). And he has shown supersonic reaction speeds on more than one occasion. Thor's only real weakness is his own mind, he very rarely fights smart, more often opting to get in close quarters and brawl with his opponents, as opposed to actually using his versatile powerset. This is ultimately what holds him back from being at the very top of the list.
#2: Scarlet Witch
Our second-to-most powerful Avenger is Scarlet Witch, and in terms of raw output, she's likely the strongest here. She's one of only two Avengers on this list who has shown that she is more powerful than Thanos in a 1v1 confrontation, and her feats support this. Even in her early days with the Avengers, when she was relatively inexperienced, her telekinesis was powerful enough to break Ultron's vibrainium, contain building level explosions for extended periods of time, and support multi-thousand-ton towers. By Infinity War, her powers had grown considerably, to the point where she could casually lift and ragdoll five building-sized death machines from Thanos' army, as well as hold off a 4-gem Thanos with a psionic blast while only using half of her power (keep in mind that Tony was unable to even slow down a 3-gem Thanos with an extended repulsor blast). However in Endgame, she displayed her most impressive feats by far, she could pick up and hurl multi-hundred-ton boulders like nothing, overpower Thanos with her TK (which essentially means that her TK is stronger than pretty much anyone in the MCU), break Thanos' sword with a psionic blast (Thanos' sword is more durable than Vibrainium and matched Stormbreaker without sustaining damage). She then went on to utterly overpower Thanos and flay his armor, forcing him to call in an airstrike in order to keep himself alive. Her only weakness is the fact that she's a glass cannon, however, her shields (which can contain building level explosions, block blows from a pissed off Thanos, and intercept falling buildings) and reactions (she has reacted to Thanos' attacks, blocked bullets, and explosions), provide her with a solid defense to almost any attack. There is only one Avenger who is an even greater threat than Wanda Maximoff:
#1: Dr. Strange
Stephen Strange doesn't have the most raw power of any Avenger, nor is he the fastest, strongest, or most durable, but none of that really matters because (excluding Thanos with the full IG) he is far and away the most versatile character int he MCU. In terms of defense, he can deflect power gem blasts from Thanos with the mirror dimension, block Dormammu's energy for an extended period of time, and weaker magicians deflected fire from Thanos' ship with their shields. He can also BFR just about anyone to the mirror dimension, has TK that can stop a tidal wave dead in its tracks, he can open portals, teleport, transmute infinity gauntlet constructs, clone himself hundreds of times, his Crimson bands restrained one of Thanos' arms, and using magical whips he fully incapped Thanos, who was forced to resort to using the Infinity gauntlet in order to escape. He also has excellent reflexes and mobility, between his cloak of levitation, and reflexes that allow him to block power gem blasts he is one of the most mobile characters in the entirety of the MCU. Overall Dr. Strange just has too many hax and abilities, the number of things that he can do makes him an invaluable asset in any situation, combat or otherwise. He is not only the sorcerer supreme but also the supreme Avenger.
This is my personal list of the top 10 most powerful Avengers, in the future I plan on making a complete ranking of all of the Avengers. So feel free to comment whether you disargee, agree, or just having something to say.
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