MCU: Melinda May is "the most lethal agent SHIELD's ever seen"

According to an official statement made by Marvel Entertainment, Melinda May is "the most lethal agent SHIELD's ever seen." This is a badass official statement, and it shows the level at which May operates on a consistent basis.

I personally think that this statement is true. Agree or disagree?

I can’t believe some people sleep on Melinda’s combat prowess. I would hate to catch the hands from her lol.

I doubt she's more dangerous than Cap.

i've never watched agents of shied however it doesn't make sense for her to be better than black widow

@donwayneii: Why not? May was the first-draft pick for the Avengers months in advance. She opted not to join because of a traumatic field op that made her kill a little girl, leaving her a dark shell of her former self. Also, Coulson states that she has more black belts than Widow does. May even destroyed an assassin who was renowned for almost having killed Hawkeye (she was unarmed and the assassin had a chain spear).

Interesting. I rarely see Cap brought up in these conversations (even though he definitely was a SHIELD agent). But May is definitely more lethal from what we've seen. Her marksmanship and skill are superior to Cap's, even if she isn't physically enhanced like he is.

They don't call her the Cavalry for nothing. Cap is obviously enhanced but that's cheating. "Most lethal" is definitely a title she deserves.

They directly mention Natasha multiple times, often stating when someone does something as well as she once did it, or better. Black Widow is definitely one of the best, but she isn't untouchable, there are other SHIELD agents on her level.

@jayc1324: fair enough makes sense

I mean, barring the obvious super-powered agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. like Cap, Quake, Lincoln, or Yo-Yo, yeah I'd say that statement is true. Especially in May's specialty (CQC) with Widow being her only real competition atm.

Widow is fantastic too, for sure.

Now that I think about it, Ward should be up there too. He was beating May when they fought, and he has great sniping feats too.

He had top grades in combat by SHIELD's standards, but I think May was intended to be his slight superior in raw lethality!

@jayc1324: Ward is slightly behind them, May was always implied to be his superior by feats and statements. And Widow in-universe is regarded as one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s best which is right where May stands.

I believe it. She's among the most skilled in the entire MCU.

I'll never be able to decide overall who's the best among May, Widow, Ward and Bobbi. I had Clint placed in the same bracket too but now I've downgraded him. Clint is an elite agent but still not on par with them. But I'd say he's versatile and has had much more exposure to global threats and dealing with them by becoming an avenger so he's something else now, above the shield agents's paycheck. But fundamentally Clint isn't on par with these four.

Among these four, I think May is the best fighter followed by Bobbi followed by Widow/Ward. In espionage, Widow is at the top with Ward at second. Ward and Widow score high in improvisation and unpredictability too. Bobbi and May are just better fighters. They've fought above their weight multiple times.

Also among them, Ward is my Favorite. Brett Dalton was fantatsic.

Agreed.

I'll never be able to decide overall who's the best among May, Widow, Ward and Bobbi. I had Clint placed in the same bracket too but now I've downgraded him. Clint is an elite agent but still not on par with them. But I'd say he's versatile and has had much more exposure to global threats and dealing with them by becoming an avenger so he's something else now, above the shield agents's paycheck. But fundamentally Clint isn't on par with these four.

Among these four, I think May is the best fighter followed by Bobbi followed by Widow/Ward. In espionage, Widow is at the top with Ward at second. Ward and Widow score high in improvisation and unpredictability too. Bobbi and May are just better fighters. They've fought above their weight multiple times.

Also among them, Ward is my Favorite. Brett Dalton was fantatsic.

"Most lethal" could also translate to "has killed the most" or "the most likely to kill". It's not a conclusive statement on skill since, more often than not, it's more difficult to accomplish a mission without killing.

Great point!

@deltahuman: Bobbi is the best *fighter* S.H.I.E.L.D. has produced. She's an absolute beast. However I wouldn't consider her the most lethal since her morals prevent her from killing or seriously wounding her enemies.

In order from most to least leathal I'd put it as May >=Ward/Widow > Daisy (depowered) > Clint > Bobbi

@ready_4_madness: Based on what?

@ready_4_madness: Marvel Entertainment says you're wrong. LOL

@angeljax:

I wouldn't directly say Bobbi is the best fighter produced by shield but among the non enhanced, she has the best showings against guys with superhuman strength. She has great pain tolerance and has equalled both May and Ward in combat. Widow and Bobbi are both pretty so they can use it to their advantage in the spying business too. Personally I think Adrianne Palicki is prettier than Johansson.

Not true at all. Hawkeye for one is. Ward has also been directly compared to her numerous times in the show, and there are multiple people on Ward's level as well. By pure feats there are plenty of people on her level and above.

What else is new?

Got an A on my Accounting test

Nice!

Damn, Well screw you widow and Hawkeye

So what you're saying is there's officially no reason for Black Widow to be a part of the Avengers?

@tomkatie: That's not at all what Marvel is saying. The non-powered Avengers aren't on some god tier of skill, there are individuals who can match them.

I could see it.

I'd put both Widow and Ward above her.

@pipxeroth: Really? Both of them above May herself in pure lethality?

@the_magister: "Pure lethality" isn't exactly a well defined term. I think both of them are better fighters, which is the way I understand the comment.

@pipxeroth: I don't think they're better fighters, at-least not by implication and logic.

Coulson said that May possesses more black belts than Widow, and I always saw Ward as a physical beast but slightly less skilled than May.

Take away widows sting and all her gadgets. Put her in a fight against May. The results is May winning based on feats. In verse logic is a bit tougher for it to make sense, but May would at least put up one hell of a fight.

@torikowontdie: I don't think it's tough to make sense of with in-universe logic. May is basically confirmed to be the superior martial artist to Romanoff.

@the_magister:

I don't think they're better fighters, at-least not by implication and logic.

Coulson said that May possesses more black belts than Widow, and I always saw Ward as a physical beast but slightly less skilled than May.

Statements are meaningless without the feats to back them up. And having more black belts frankly means nothing.

They went for black widow because May declined the offer of being an avenger, also in H2H Ward > Widow

ATM only because Ward is dead, but even when May is a better fighter he can still give her a fight.

I'd argue May does have the feats, though. She consistently fights named and reputable opponents. She destroyed a guy who was renowned for almost having killed Hawkeye when she was unarmed and he had his chain spear. Hawkeye (sort of) evenly matched Black Widow every time they fought. You do the math.

By sheer feats, yes Ward > Widow in h2h. But scaling and logic are just as important imo, since we aren't on the Battle Forums

@rukelnikovftw: I agree

@angeljax: CW Arrow one-shots May with god level physicals though, let's not kid ourselves here

Well, by logic, Widow was SHIELDs second option and May was their first, that should tell you plenty.

@the_magister: It didn't even need to be said. Arrow could blink her out of existence if he wanted to.

@rukelnikovftw: We know that May was wanted for the Avengers Initiative many months in advance, but do we know when Black Widow was picked? It could've been even before that for all we know.

Saying that Ollie even needs to blink is a severe underrating of his combat prowess.

lmao

no, its Skye.