The Marvel Cinematic Universe showed audiences that a man
could fly (as long as he was in a robotic suit of high-tech armor, or a literal
god), and the slow threading of various superheroes into a cohesive universe
has been amazing. But of all the mighty and astonishing superheroes that make
up Marvel's premiere super-team, which is the most incredible?
To settle the question, we're ranking the most powerful
members of the Avengers, starting from the bottom and ending with the strongest
one there is. To qualify, we counted all the heroes in the
Avengers movies, obviously, as well as characters who appeared on Iron Man
or Captain America's team in Captain America: Civil War, both because they've
all been Avengers at one point or another in the comics, and because part of
the fun of it was the two heroes assembling their own team of
Avengers. Read on to see who takes top honors!
Hawkeye
We'll start with the obvious loser on the team, the
Avengers' arrogant archer Clint Barton, a.k.a. Hawkeye. While the Hawkeye of
the comics has built a loyal cult fanbase based largely on David Aja and Matt
Fraction's stripped-down formalist run on his solo book, none of those
qualities are visible in the Hawkeye of the MCU. He's technically a super-spy
on the level of Black Widow, but his defining moments in the movies involve him
decidedly not stopping Thor from getting to his magic hammer (Thor), getting
mind controlled by Loki (Avengers), almost being shot to death (Avengers: Age
of Ultron), and getting immediately taken out by Black Panther in an airport
brawl (Captain America: Civil War).
There's certainly a charm to a lovable loser who keeps
fumbling his way through dangerous situations, but unfortunately for Hawkeye,
we're not giving extra credit for a downtrodden demeanor. Hawkeye easily lands
at the bottom tier of the team, at least until they fight a supervillain whose
only weakness is arrows.
Quicksilver
Believe it or not, there was a time when Quicksilver, the
white-haired on-again/off-again son of Magneto, was in two movies in the same
year (X-Men: Days of Future Past and Avengers: Age of Ultron). It's certainly
hard to believe, since his appearance in Ultron is so bad it's rocketed him down
to the Hawkeye tier of our list.
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His power is superspeed, which seems like it would keep
him a bit higher on a list of most powerful superheroes in the MCU, but he was
shot to death by Ultron's machine guns. Dying because of regular bullets,
especially when you're a literal superhero with superpowers, is just
embarrassing. Superman over at DC is known for being faster than a speeding
bullet, but clearly Quicksilver isn't, which makes his "super" speed
pretty unimpressive, if you ask us.
Black Widow
There's no shame in Black Widow's placement this far down
the list. In a world with gods, robots, magic, and aliens, Black Widow earning
a spot on the Avengers' roster due to sheer competence is nothing to be ashamed
of. Like Hawkeye, she's a super-spy, but unlike Barton, she knows better than
to use an outdated weapon that mankind has been developing countermeasures
against for literally thousands of years. She also gets a few extra credit
points for appearing in so many Marvel movies. There's got to be some reason
that Iron Man, Nick Fury, and Captain America rely on her so much, even if
actual onscreen examples of her excellence haven't been as constant as some of
her peers.
Ant-Man
If this list were graded on charm and the strength of the
supporting cast, Paul Rudd's Scott Lang would easily vault near the top.
Unfortunately for the diminutive dynamo, we're grading on sheer power, and
Ant-Man's skills don't quite stack up. There's a reason that the climax of
Ant-Man goes for easy laughs with the constant reminder of the scale of Ant-Man
and Yellowjacket's final battle.
To be fair to the reformed con man, he did test out
growing to a massive size in Captain America: Civil War, but no one ever grows
to a massive size to win a fight. Call it a byproduct of our obsession with
David and Goliath stories, but generally the only time a character gets bigger
is to be satisfyingly knocked over like an AT-AT Walker on Hoth. Still, actual
superpowered technology beats quick-dying quasi-mutants and super-spies on this
list.
Falcon
You know what rules? Flying. You know what rules even
more? Flying around on awesome metal wings while you try to save the world from
fascism with your best buddy Captain America. Sam Wilson has all the training
that comes from working as a pararescue airman for years, plus the coolest
technology that doesn't come with a Stark branding. There's a reason Captain
America trusts him to watch his back.
The only downside to the MCU Falcon is that they decided
to go with a robotic drone version of his comics counterpart's faithful
Redwing. Sure, talking to birds like some sort of high-flying Aquaman isn't the
greatest power, but we're getting to the superpowered side of this list, so
he'd need something to rank a bit higher. Plus, if we're being fair, he actually
lost to this next Avenger, and we're nothing if not objective.
Winter Soldier
He might look like a teen exploring his identity at Hot
Topic, but Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes, a.k.a. the Winter Soldier, is a
force to be reckoned with. Tortured and mind-controlled by HYDRA, he's been on
so many secret assassination missions that his name is a legend in super-spy
circles. Add in a super-strong and super-flexible metal arm that can punch a
hole through concrete, along with a version of the Super Soldier Serum that
powers Captain America, and the Winter Soldier's a formidable threat.
Plus, thanks to his central role in two different Captain
America movies, we've actually seen him fight a good chunk of the Avengers,
making his placement on this list fairly easy. Just imagine playing rock,
paper, scissors against a guy with a metal arm. Now that's intimidating.
War Machine
They say it's good to have friends in high places, but
generally that means that those friends can get you a job or maybe loan you
some money. For James "Rhodey" Rhodes, being best friends with Tony
Stark means that he gets a personalized version of high-tech armor with enough
guns and missiles to fuel a small war.
As War Machine, Rhodey's got all the explosive offense of
early Iron Man armors combined with the exacting methodology of a U.S. Army
pilot, basically walking around in a wearable fighter jet. The Winter Soldier
might be a brilliant assassin with a metal arm, but when you're wearing a
mobile armory capable of shooting a missile from 1000 feet away, it's hard to
imagine Bucky winning against War Machine.
Spider-Man
Smart, superpowered, and fitted out with Stark tech,
Spider-Man's a late, but powerful, addition to the MCU. His relative youth and
experience might cause him trouble in his regular life as Peter Parker, but his
spidery alter ego, is a powerhouse. In his first appearance in the MCU in
Captain America: Civil War, he's able to disable Winter Soldier and Falcon,
bring down a Gi(Ant) Man, and even keep up with Captain America. That's a
pretty strong showing for the young superhero.
Plus, in Spider-Man: Homecoming, audiences saw just how
extensive the Stark-designed suit really was, with a powerful on-board AI,
thousands of different kinds of webbing, and even an automated fight simulator.
You give someone with actual superpowers some Stark tech, and they get bumped
up to a whole new tier.
Captain America
Captain America's the full package, and we're not just
talking about actor Chris Evans. Steve Rogers has superpowers, fighting
prowess, and an indestructible vibranium shield that's the closest thing to
unbreakable in the MCU (until adamantium shows up). Plus, if we're counting raw
charisma as a superpower, that's one more advantage Cap has got to push him
into the upper tier of powerful Avengers.
Onscreen, he's handily beaten nearly every character on
this list, whether in fistfights (Spider-Man) or footraces (Falcon).
Unfortunately, there's one opponent he wasn't able to beat, even when the fight
took place in his own movie.
Iron Man
Iron Man is everyone's favorite genius billionaire
playboy philanthropist, and that's even before you get to the laser-blasting,
high-tech weaponry all wrapped up in a suit powered by tech more powerful than
a literal nuclear reactor. Iron Man's got some power, is what we're saying. And
that's only in one suit, not including the literal dozens that he can control
remotely, or the giant suit he built especially to beat down the strongest
thing in the world.
While his lack of close combat experience might seem to
drop him a bit lower, the ending of Captain America: Civil War is literally him
fighting Captain America and the Winter Soldier to a standstill, even with a
barely functioning suit, so he's more than earned his spot.
Black Panther
Tony Stark might be an eccentric rich genius in America
who gets treated like a king, but he's not an actual king like the Black Panther,
ruler of Wakanda. Like Iron Man, he's got a technologically advanced
suit—though in his case, it's made of nigh-indestructible vibranium instead if
iron— and the resources to build any gadget he needs. But Black Panther's also
got the fight training that Stark lacks, along with highly trained bodyguards,
and the backing of an entire country so technologically advanced it makes New
York City look like Amish country.
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Plus, depending on how closely the upcoming movie follows
his comic book origins, Black Panther might also have some mystical background,
as he's able to communicate to Bast, the Panther goddess who gives him enhanced
senses and strength. Even if the movie veers more toward realism, well, he's
definitively beaten Iron Man a few different times , so even this spot on the
list might be conservative.
Scarlet Witch
This is a bit of a tough one, since the Scarlet Witch of
the MCU might be significantly less powerful than the comics version. In the
comics, the Scarlet Witch is a ridiculously powerful mutant who was able to
completely erase the mutant genome from the planet with her chaos magic, but
the comics' "No more mutants" has nothing on Disney's "No
mutants (until we buy the rights to the X-Men back)." As a result, the Scarlet
Witch of the MCU uses abilities that run closer to telekinesis and telepathy
than the magical powers of her comics counterpart.
Even without magic, though, she's a powerful super
heroine, able to take down half the team under Ultron's orders. Still,
considering the Doctor Strange movie has put magic squarely in the realm of the
possible, it's not out of the question that we'll be seeing Wanda Maximoff
reach closer to the ridiculous power of the comics. She might be young and have
questionable taste in robot men, but being the only magic user on the Avengers
puts her over the top. And speaking of questionable robot men?
The Vision
In the comics, the Infinity Gems are the most powerful
items in the universe, used in conjunction with the Infinity Gauntlet to wield
complete control over basically everything. While there's not full confirmation
that the MCU will follow suit until the release of Avengers: Infinity War, it's
not a far stretch to say that the magical McGuffins are incredibly powerful.
The Vision, the cybernetic homunculus based on Tony Stark's JARVIS AI, has the
Mind Gem embedded in his forehead, giving him the powers of density
manipulation, intangibility, and laser blasts. Even before the Mind Gem was
used to power everyone's favorite walking AI, it was used to by Loki in a magic
staff to mind control followers and bring a horde of alien invaders to attack
earth in The Avengers.
Altogether, the combination of a brilliant AI, laser
blasts, and a power source derived from a fundamental power source of the entire
Marvel universe makes The Vision almost godlike.
DOCTOR STRANGE
Dr. Stephen Strange is an arrogant surgeon who stumbles
into the world of magic after a fateful car crash permanently damages his
hands. Quickly becoming a master of the mystic arts under the tutelage of the
Ancient One, Doctor Strange eventually becomes the Sorcerer Supreme following
the death of his mentor. As the Universe’s foremost expert on mysticism, Doctor
Strange, assisted by the trusty Book of Vishanti, is able to perform countless
powerful spells that can affect the fabric of reality itself. Amongst the most
powerful humans ever to exist, Strange has a spell for every occasion, even
proving himself capable of besting cosmic entities like the In-Betweener and
Adam Warlock in battle.
Although the character has been somewhat nerfed in the past few decades,
that doesn’t stop Doctor Strange from being one of the Avengers’ most
indispensable members. Able to manipulate time, project his consciousness
across the astral plane and detect threats both mystical and physical, the
Sorcerer Supreme has a certain level of omniscience thanks to his unmatched
magic-wielding skills. Employing several mystical artifacts to help him along
the way — including the Eye of Agamotto and the Cloak of Levitation — Doctor
Strange is clearly one of Marvel’s MVPs, as was recently proved in Avengers:
Infinity War.
Thor
Unfortunately for Vision, godlike isn't godly, and Thor
is the actual God of Thunder, which puts him just over the top. Faster than a
bolt of lightning, more powerful than a burst of thunder, able to leap tall
buildings in a single throw (of his hammer)! In a world of super-soldiers and
tech geniuses, only a god can keep the rest of the Avengers humble. Even if you
discount his magic hammer, or his control of storms, or even his
super-strength, he's the prince of Asgard, a popular scion of a supremely
powerful king who commands a whole army of gods. Each one of Thor's many
friends and family members are nearly as strong as he is, living in a
god-filled utopia in space. Oh, and for eons, there was an entire basement full
of world-ending weapons under his dad's castle. In the Marvel Universe, there's
no one who can command that level of power. Well, almost no one…
The Hulk
The Hulk has beaten basically everyone in the entire
Marvel Universe a few different times, often in (literally) earth-shattering
ways, and that's just in the comics. In the MCU, Hulk's personally beaten the
tar out of Thor, Iron Man, Loki, The Abomination, and the entire U.S.
Army—and those are just the characters who've actually bothered to fight him
instead of just running away. When Iron Man's response to Loki in The
Avengers is to offer up the fact that the Avengers have Hulk on their side,
it's not a joke. Hulk really is the strongest one there is
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CAPTAIN
MARVEL
Thanks to the hype surrounding next year’s
long-awaited Captain Marvelmovie,
Carol Danvers’ popularity has skyrocketed over the past couple of years,
despite being a much-loved character to begin with. Debuting in 1968’s Marvel Super-Heroes #13, Carol
Danvers was once a member of the United States Air Force, accompanying the Kree
hero Mar-Vell, the original Captain Marvel, on several adventures, before
an explosive accident merged Carol’s human genes with Mar-Vell’s Kree genes.
This essentially made Carol a Kree-human hybrid, resulting in the birth of one
of Marvel’s mightiest cosmic heroes. Operating under several names over the
course of her career, Carol Danvers has gone by Ms. Marvel, Warbird and Binary
over the years, but is now the current Captain Marvel. Granted superhuman
strength, endurance and speed, Carol is able to fly at six times the speed of
sound, which combined with her strength makes her incredibly powerful.
Also one of Marvel’s most talented manipulators of
energy, Carol can fire extremely potent blasts of explosive energy from her
fingertips, and can also absorb most forms of energy to further augment her
power, even using a nuclear blast in this capacity at one point. During her
time as Binary, Carol gained the ability to access the energy from a “white
hole”, enabling her to manipulate energy on a much more cosmic scale, letting
her control gravity, light and electromagnetism. Although these powers eventually
faded, remnants of these abilities are still shown to be present in Captain
Marvel from time to time.
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