It\u2019s been a talking point among comic book fans for more than six decades, but the debate has become even more heated since superhero movies went mainstream. Everyone\u2019s asking: Who is the strongest Marvel character?<\/p>\n
We should make the distinction now that rather than picking out the most popular figures in the Marvel Cinematic Universe<\/a>, this article is all about sheer power \u2013 and that immediately eliminates some big names from the discussion.<\/p>\n While the likes of Captain America, Black Widow<\/a>, Iron Man and Black Panther<\/a> have dominated the box office with their respective movies, it doesn\u2019t make sense for them to be in contention here given that their powers are considerably outgunned by other members of the Avengers.<\/p>\n Specifically, we\u2019re talking about cosmic beings like Thor and Captain Marvel<\/a>, with stars Chris Hemsworth and Brie Larson themselves engaging in friendly banter about who can truthfully boast to being the strongest on the team.<\/p>\n Many fans will be quick to point out that a certain witch may have pulled ahead of them both following the events of WandaVision<\/a> and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness<\/a>, while there\u2019s also an underdog argument to be made for Spider-Man \u2013 but we\u2019ll get to that in due course.<\/p>\n We should also note that these are the rankings as they currently stand, but they are subject to change as more characters from the pages of Marvel Comics make the leap to the movies.<\/p>\n While we don\u2019t know who exactly producer Kevin Feige plans to include in upcoming phases of his juggernaut franchise, there are a few names that would seriously shake up the power dynamic as we know it today.<\/p>\n For example, cult favourite character The Sentry is known for having the power of \u201ca million exploding suns\u201d as well as a sinister alter-ego which has come close to tearing the entire Marvel Universe apart on more than one occasion.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, we\u2019re yet to meet Olympian god Hercules in live-action, who many consider to be among the strongest of this universe\u2019s heroes, although he may be on his way soon with the introduction of his father, Zeus, in this summer\u2019s Thor: Love and Thunder<\/a>.<\/p>\n Read on for our analysis of the top contenders to be crowned strongest Marvel character, as well as our ultimate verdict on who can claim the title.<\/p>\n With the recent cinema release of Multiverse of Madness, Benedict Cumberbatch\u2019s one-time Sorcerer Supreme is fresh in our minds and he\u2019s certainly a candidate for strongest hero in the MCU. He is both custodian of ancient relic the Eye of Agamotto, designed to contain the dangerously powerful Time Stone, as well as one of the key protectors of our reality from the chaos of what lies beyond.<\/p>\n Indeed, in Marvel\u2019s What If\u2026?<\/a>, we were shown with no ambiguity that Doctor Strange holds within him the potential to destroy an entire universe, which is a fact referenced once again in his recent solo sequel. However, there\u2019s a crucial difference between those reckless variants and the Strange we have come to know in Earth-616 (i.e. the mainline Marvel Cinematic Universe) \u2013 that being his discipline.<\/p>\n While he has had some rebellious moments (e.g. using the Time Stone against Mordo\u2019s wishes, reading the Darkhold etc.), our version of Doctor Strange has so far been able to stop himself from going over the edge. It\u2019s to the benefit of the universe that he has done so, but this very same restraint is what prevents him from becoming the most powerful person on this list. Heck, he can\u2019t even win a fight against Spider-Man. Speaking of whom, he\u2019s our next contender.<\/p>\n At first glance, we would have grouped Spider-Man in the same class of characters as Captain America, Iron Man and Black Panther. Wildly popular without a doubt, but it\u2019s hard to imagine how they could rank among the most powerful heroes in the MCU. But after last year\u2019s No Way Home saw Peter Parker give Doctor Strange an embarrassing defeat \u2013 using his intelligence and unrivalled agility to contain the sorcerer in the mirror dimension \u2013 we reconsidered our stance.<\/p>\n Of course, that wasn\u2019t the first time that Spider-Man showed incredible resilience. During the final moments of Avengers: Infinity War, when half of the universe\u2019s heroes were snapped out of existence, fans noticed that Parker took longer to disintegrate than his peers. That was no accident, with co-director Joe Russo explaining on the film\u2019s audio commentary that Spidey used his superhuman strength to physically resist the will of Thanos and his Infinity Gauntlet.<\/p>\n Alas, he ultimately succumbed to its effects, but that is nevertheless an impressive feat for a teenager from Queens. Still though, while Spider-Man can stand proudly among the upper echelon of the Marvel pantheon, we\u2019re yet to see him best someone of true cosmic might. Certainly, he never registered as a threat to Thanos during their scrap on the desolate planet Titan, with the baddie vocally dismissing him as a mere \u201cinsect\u201d (speaking figuratively, we assume, as spiders are arachnids).<\/p>\n It\u2019s impossible to have a conversation about who the strongest Avenger is without at least mentioning the Incredible Hulk. This enormous green rage monster is the physical embodiment of brute strength, capable of storming through any obstacle in his path and going toe-to-toe with even the most formidable enemies.<\/p>\n For a long time, Hulk\u2019s greatest weakness was himself. The uncontrollable nature of his angry outbursts often resulted in collateral damage, while his lack of intellect made him very difficult to reason with (as seen in the first two Avengers films). Bruce Banner was shown to have an even looser grip on his abilities during the events of Infinity War, where he was incapable of summoning his emerald alter-ego.<\/p>\n Therefore, it could be argued that he has only become more powerful since his evolution into the so-called Professor Hulk; an effective merging of his two personas that reliably affords the merits of both. But he isn\u2019t the only hero who\u2019s been doing some work on himself over the past decade or so, with a certain \u201cfriend from work\u201d also benefitting from a considerable upgrade.<\/p>\n Things didn\u2019t go well for Thor when he took on Hulk for the first time in 2012\u2019s The Avengers, but a later rematch on Sakaar makes a compelling case for how their power dynamic has shifted. What began as another trouncing for the Asgardian turned dramatically on its head when he tapped into the full extent of his power as the God of Thunder. Of course, Marvel cheekily avoided giving us a definitive answer on who is strongest by having the Grandmaster intervene in their battle, but all signs suggested that Thor was about to administer a knockout blow.<\/p>\n That bombshell fight seemed to plant Thor at the very top of the MCU pecking order, but several other characters have come to the forefront since the events of Ragnarok, with one of the most notable being Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel. In the lead-up to her introduction, producer Kevin Feige promised that she would be \u201cthe most powerful character\u201d in the franchise moving forward, which became a rather controversial topic among some fans. Even stars Brie Larson and Chris Hemsworth joined in on the bickering, as seen in a viral clip from the Avengers: Endgame press tour.<\/p>\n But while there\u2019s certainly room for debate, Thor\u2019s claim to the title of strongest Marvel character is definitely weakened by those comments from Feige, given that he is the grand architect of this universe.<\/p>\n Thanos took on the entire MCU and won (at least, initially). That\u2019s impressive. The Mad Titan is arguably the most formidable villain that our heroes have faced to date, boasting incredible strength and durability even without the added benefits of a fully equipped Infinity Gauntlet. While Thor ultimately killed him in the original timeline with the freshly welded Stormbreaker, that doesn\u2019t necessarily prove that the God of Thunder is stronger than him.<\/p>\n Indeed, his initial blow just prior to the snap seemed more to do with lucky timing than anything else, catching Thanos off-guard following his violent acquisition of the Mind Stone from Vision. Meanwhile, due to the severe nature of his injuries, Thanos was unable to defend himself when Thor beheaded him shortly after on his retirement farm, so that can hardly be regarded as a fair fight.<\/p>\n Their encounter just prior to Endgame\u2019s final battle is far more telling as both are on top physical form and you\u2019ll notice that Thanos has Thor thoroughly on the ropes. Indeed, he very nearly kills the God of Thunder by driving Stormbreaker through his chest, but Captain America fortunately stops him with a little help from Mjolnir.\u00a0While the combined might of the Avengers did eventually take Thanos down, there were only two members that left him truly rattled on an individual basis.<\/p>\n Back to Captain Marvel now, who is one of the only characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe who could conceivably come out on top in a one-to-one brawl with Thanos. We see that during the final battle in Endgame, where at one point she is the only person left standing to prevent him from unleashing a second snap. Her incredible strength is on full display here, keeping the monstrous foe from closing his fist and being comically unfazed by his feeble attempt at a headbutt.<\/p>\n In the end, Thanos is forced to use one of the Infinity Stones to bat Captain Marvel away, but had he not had the unfair advantage of a fully equipped gauntlet, it seems quite possible that she could have kept him restrained. It\u2019s no surprise given the seemingly limitless amount of cosmic energy coursing through Carol\u2019s veins, which she absorbed during an explosive encounter with the mysterious Tesseract.<\/p>\n As previously stated, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige once touted Captain Marvel as the franchise\u2019s most powerful character while drumming up anticipation for her debut. But a lot has happened in the three years since her initial solo outing, with one character in particular levelling up significantly in that time. At long last, let\u2019s talk about Wanda.<\/p>\n It\u2019s hard to overstate just how far Wanda Maximoff has come since her introduction in Avengers: Age of Ultron, where essentially all she did was tear apart a couple of robots. In the present day MCU, she has fully embraced her role as the fabled Scarlet Witch, commanding a frankly terrifying level of power that she is not afraid to use.<\/p>\n Captain Marvel might be an even match for Thanos in terms of strength, but Wanda is evidently leagues ahead. When they cross paths on the battlefield in Avengers: Endgame, she disarms him without breaking a sweat, with Kevin Feige pointing to that moment as a clear indication of the changing tides. At a Q&A with New York Film Academy in late 2019, he publicly shifted his stance to support Wanda as the MCU\u2019s most powerful hero.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you look at Endgame, Wanda Maximoff was going to kill Thanos,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s as scared as I\u2019ve ever seen Thanos. And if he hadn\u2019t said, \u2018Decimate my entire team to get her off of me,\u2019 I think she would\u2019ve done it.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s not even to mention all the post-Endgame drama that she has been involved in. Controlling the minds of an entire town and creating life from nothing in WandaVision was a staggering feat, but Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness really emphasised Wanda as an unstoppable force of nature. The universe\u2019s greatest sorcerers and the combined force of the Illuminati were all powerless to stop her, with Maria Rambeau\u2019s crushing defeat at her hand seemingly proving that Wanda\u2019s witchcraft trumps Captain Marvel\u2019s cosmic energy.<\/p>\n In an interview with Empire Magazine<\/a>, Feige added: \u201cNo character seems to be as powerful as Wanda Maximoff. And no character has a power-set that is as ill-defined and unexplored as Wanda Maximoff.\u201d<\/p>\n At the time of writing, Wanda Maximoff (aka the Scarlet Witch) is the most powerful character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, we\u2019ll be keeping a close eye on emerging players in the films to come and will update this list accordingly if a new challenger rises.<\/p>\n You can find most Marvel Cinematic Universe movies streaming on Disney Plus. Check out more of our Film<\/a> coverage or visit our TV Guide<\/a> to see what\u2019s on tonight.<\/strong><\/p>\n The latest issue of Radio Times magazine is on sale now \u2013 subscribe now<\/a>\u00a0and get the next 12 issues for only \u00a31. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the\u00a0Radio Times podcast<\/a>\u00a0with Jane Garvey.<\/b><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n By David Craig Published: Monday, 30 May 2022 at 12:00 am Who is the strongest Marvel character in the cinematic universe? The definitive guide It\u2019s been a talking point among comic book fans for more than six decades, but the debate has become even more heated since superhero movies went mainstream. Everyone\u2019s asking: Who is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":16266,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":[],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/05\/who-is-the-strongest-marvel-character.jpg",743,495,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/05\/who-is-the-strongest-marvel-character-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/05\/who-is-the-strongest-marvel-character-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/05\/who-is-the-strongest-marvel-character.jpg",743,495,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/05\/who-is-the-strongest-marvel-character.jpg",743,495,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/05\/who-is-the-strongest-marvel-character.jpg",743,495,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2022\/05\/who-is-the-strongest-marvel-character.jpg",743,495,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By David Craig Published: Monday, 30 May 2022 at 12:00 am Who is the strongest Marvel character in the cinematic universe? The definitive guide It\u2019s been a talking point among comic book fans for more than six decades, but the debate has become even more heated since superhero movies went mainstream. Everyone\u2019s asking: Who is…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/16265"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Doctor Strange<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/05\/DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadnessTeaser2Printed1-Shtv4lg-96eaf92-e1651836266931.jpg?quality=90&resize=619%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Spider-Man<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/05\/Spider-Man-NWH-b6d9ae4.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Hulk<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/05\/AvengersEndgameHulk-4bed76b.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Thor<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/05\/AvengersEndgameThor-47e9cd7.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Thanos<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/05\/thanos-endgame-1bbc587.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Captain Marvel<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/05\/captain-marvel-2019-brie-larson-56bbbf3.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Scarlet Witch \/ Wanda Maximoff<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"""\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/3\/2022\/05\/Wanda-Maximoff-2d5eb73.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413"\" "\\"\"\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> The Verdict<\/strong><\/h2>\n
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"