The Avengers have been at the centre of the pop culture zeitgeist ever since the original six defended the world from Loki and Thanos’ Chitauri forces in midtown Manhattan. They not only redefined what a blockbuster movie is, but also helped shape what the next ten years or so of the landscape it occupies. Since then, everyone in Hollywood has been vying for their own successful cinematic universe, from Warner Bros.’ DCEU to Ubisoft’s.
While the Avengers themselves have been a constant, the definition of what it means to be an Avenger and the many characters who make up the team have fluctuated and changed with each new film. Although Peter Parker (Tom Holland) was “knighted” into the team after going on an unintentional interstellar field trip with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and Doctor Strange, Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) was a devoted government agent his whole adult life before signing up (Benedict Cumberbatch). Before Wanda (Elizabeth Olson) and Thanos (Josh Brolin) arrived, the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) was their most potent weapon, but both of them quickly rendered him useless (or worse). The list of the seven most powerful Avengers as a result differs greatly from what it would have looked like ten years ago or from what it might look like in a few years.
In light of this, the seven most potent Avengers in the Marvel Cinematic Universe are listed below as we enter Phase Four. (In alphabetical order)
Ant-Man
When compared to the powers of mythical beings and extraterrestrial beings, the capacity to contract and expand doesn’t seem all that dangerous. But Scott Lang’s (Paul Rudd) argument becomes more compelling when you consider the quantum powers that come with the Ant-Man suit. Similar to Doctor Strange (don’t worry, we’ll get to him later), Ant-abilities Man’s simply exist in a different realm than those of Iron Man, Captain America, Spider-Man, and even characters like Thor and Captain Marvel, as well as within fan culture (subconsciously or otherwise), as the question “Why doesn’t Ant-Man just crawl inside Thanos and, well, expand?” became a running joke in the run-up to Avengers: Infinity War.
This shows that despite his considerable physical strength, there are powers and realms that the more combat-oriented beings can’t hope to match. They aren’t dispatching Bruce Banner to deal with a newly deranged Wanda Maximoff because of it. That is the main thrust of the Ant-Man defence: the scientific dynamic of Ant-abilities Man’s is too complex for most Avengers to handle, whether it involves being too big or too small, dealing with quantum physics or the quantum universe. There’s no telling what the limits of Ant-time-traveling Man’s abilities are if the same technology was applied in a weaponized rather than scientific way, as it was when the Avengers were able to stop Thanos’ snap. We’ll learn more about this when he faces Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Ant-Man will probably be crucial in their stand against Kang, making him not just one of the most powerful but also one of the most significant characters in the MCU, much like Doctor Strange is the key to battling the magical and multiversal threats about to descend upon the MCU.
Captain Marvel
Because of Captain Marvel’s immense strength, her origin story film was purposefully scheduled between Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame so as not to interfere with the plots of the other two movies. Captain Marvel’s near-dominance of a fully-loaded, Infinity Gauntlet-wielding Thanos shows that, had she been a part of the team that faced up against Thanos on Titan, they would have been able to defeat him despite Peter Quill’s (Chris Pratt) blinkered antics.
Doctor Strange
While some people might be surprised that the Sorcerer Supreme is placed above both Captain Marvel and Thor, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has already demonstrated how powerless Thor’s brute strength is when compared to the more magical, mental aspects of Doctor Strange’s skill set when the two characters briefly cross paths in Thor: Ragnarok. Even if Thor isn’t in any kind of physical conflict at the moment, it’s hard to imagine what he would be able to do to stop Doctor Strange from completely controlling the situation (and Loki, too, as Strange sent the latter to an indefinite state of freefall). A entity like Dormammu could not be defeated by lightning strikes or hammer blows, much less the man who outwitted it.
With the capacity to shatter universes, dreamwalk, and even occupy dead bodies, Doctor Strange is certainly more powerful than even Thanos, as demonstrated by his performance in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
Hulk
By this time next year, Hawkeye and Hulk might be the only remaining members of the original team of Avengers who protected Earth against Loki, as Thor appears to be elsewhere in the galaxy. And a lot has changed since then, including Hulk’s position within the MCU’s power hierarchy.
The Hulk is positioned as Loki’s go-to weapon in The Avengers from back in 2012. The scale of the war the Avengers are waging has changed, and as a result, the Hulk’s position as one of the most powerful has diminished. As a result of the introduction of various ancient, mystical, or outer space-hailing beings and technologies into the MCU, the Hulk’s brand of smash ’em up offensive is now nothing more than a hammer in a world that now requires the superhero equivalent of a crane. When Wanda Maximoff used the Hulk as a weapon in Avengers: Age of Ultron, she had only just begun to scrape the surface of her witchcraft abilities.
Nevertheless, despite his lowered image among his colleagues, the Hulk continues to be one of the most deadly characters in the MCU, as seen by his capacity to battle alongside Thor while also possessing the same level of intelligence as Tony Stark.
Shang-Chi
The Ten Rings, an ancient (and possibly alien) telepathically controlled weapon that allowed The Mandarin (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai) to maintain power for centuries, are a requirement for Shang-Chi (Simu Liu), one of the most recent additions to the ranks of the MCU’s strongest Avengers, to be included on this list. The weapon is sending a beacon to an unknown and likely equally powerful receiver. Shang-Chi is instantly elevated to the status of one of Earth’s mightiest heroes because to the combination of that weapon and a guy regarded as the greatest martial artist in history.
The Scarlet Witch
Here is possibly the best way to summarise Scarlet Witch’s current position in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: while it is currently debatable whether or not she is still an Avenger in light of her villainous appearance in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (and let’s be honest, she isn’t really gone forever), it is not debatable that she is the most potent member of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. The only person more dangerous than an all-knowing, multiverse-capable creature like Doctor Strange is one who has nothing to lose, which is what Wanda has become after losing her children’s father and the love of her life.
Regardless of the individual stories of the individuals, Wanda Maximoff’s superiority is made clear in the WandaVision season finale when Agatha Harkness, played by Kathyrn Hahn, affirms that the Scarlet Witch has more power than the Sorcerer Supreme.
“Did you know that the Darkhold has a whole chapter devoted to you? That book is the awful book “Wanda hears from Harkness. “The Scarlet Witch is forged, not born. She doesn’t require incantation or a coven. The Sorcerer Supreme’s authority is replaced by yours. It’s your destiny to destroy the world.”
Without America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), Doctor Strange would not have been able to destroy Wanda, and it follows that any subsequent incarnations of Wanda we encounter will be just as powerful.
Thor
The God of Thunder (Chris Hemsworth), who had only just begun to realise his full potential in Thor: Ragnarok, went on to solidify his position as one of the most potent Avengers when he was introduced as the ultimate game-changer in the decisive Avengers: Infinity War battle, a game-changer that *would’ve* killed Thanos had he simply gone for the head. In the eighth episode of What If…? (which is canon, by the way), he battles Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) despite being inebriated and using some of the Top 5 strongest Avengers abilities. As revealed by Thor himself, he is 1,500 years old and has killed twice as many foes.
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