There are numerous gods, godlike beings, and characters in the Marvel Universe who can and have destroyed the Earth, planets, and universes at least once. To that purpose, there have been much argument, Death Battles, and general discussion on who would win in a battle against comparably powerful people from other universes.
This tends to spark many debates and set many comment sections ablaze. Well, today's article engages in a similar activity as it attempts to rank the most overpowered characters in Marvel. To add to this, the MCU, all in all, have many powerful entities already, with more on the way if Phase 4 is any indication.
Note: This article contains broadly abridged histories of each profiled character and merely expresses the author's opinion. It is agreed that there are characters far more powerful than these, and will doubtlessly be more.
Scarlet Witch and 9 other Marvel Universe characters, ranked for how powerful they are
10) The Incredible Hulk
When Bruce Banner was accidentally exposed to gamma radiation, he became an angry monster known as the Incredible Hulk. His various comic versions have been able to fight pretty much all the Marvel heroes to a standstill, if not defeat many of them. The most infamous is World War Hulk, where the Hulk came back after being launched into space by the Illuminati and defeated many heroes to exact his revenge such as the Inhuman leader Black Bolt, Doctor Strange, Iron Man, among others.
Hulk is one of the most recognizably overpowered Avengers in the Marvel Universe. Hulk's various feats across the Marvel Universe include healing after nuclear war, withstanding blows from the ever-powerful Sentry, and destroying an asteroid twice the size of Earth. Hulk is constantly compared and contrasted with Thor for the "strongest Avenger" title. As the Hulk says, you won't like him when he's angry because his strength is tied to his anger and he only gets stronger the longer the battle drags on.
9) Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers)
There are multiple versions of Captain Marvel throughout the Marvel Universe, starting with Kree Agent Captain Mar-Vell all the way up to the current Carol Danvers version. Here's the abridged version of these various variants: Captain Mar-Vell was a Kree Agent sent to infiltrate Earth and ultimately turned on the Kree Empire after her (correct) suspicions that they were trying to take over, Monica Rambeau was a Lousiana police officer who became the leader of the Avengers at one point, Genis-Vell was Captain Mar-Vell's son who tried to destroy the universe, Phyla-Vell was Genis' sister who fought Annihilus' armies and died saving her comrades in the Guardians of the Galaxy, Khn'nr was a Skrull infiltrator who turned on the Skrulls, Noh-Varr became the Kree's defender of Earth after quitting the Dark Avengers, and Carol Danvers as Ms. Marvel before becoming Captain Marvel.
Now, onto the powers! Captain Marvel has displayed the following accomplishments as and with the current Carol Danvers, in addition to the ability to transform into energy and shoot photonic beams:
- Destroyed a planet
- Blew through The Collective, who was able to withstand a blow from The Sentry
- Damaged the huge dragon Fin Fang Foom
- Flew at similar speeds to Thor and Iron Man's max
- Once lifted a Celestial
- Tanked a point blank blast from Ultron and another from Ghost Rider
- Was able to survive attacks from an empowered Thanos
This list merely samples what Captain Marvel has accomplished. It is known that she can also fly, possesses limited precognition, can manipulate elements and power, and can survive in space even with her lungs frozen.
8) The Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff)
One of the most dangerous fan favorite mutants in the Marvel Universe, Wanda Maximoff is the daughter of Magneto. That should be enough to scare anyone, though MCU aficionados should remember Wanda was already terrifying as a HYDRA experiment. If incorporating the entire town of Westview, New Jersey into her sitcom-esque life in Wandavision worried viewers, imagine the exhilarating experience after reading House of M, where she nearly eradicated the mutant population!
There's also her encounter with the Darkhold in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, which aids her in twisting reality itself. Scarlet Witch's key strengths are chaos magic and reality distortion. She was able to equal the Phoenix Force, depower mutants across the multiverse, one-shot Dr. Doom and even shield herself from Chaos itself.
7) Galactus
Galactus, known the Marvel Universe's planet eater and cosmic monster, is ranked lower than Jean Grey and others. This is given considering what the others have accomplished. Galactus was originally an explorer named Galan from a planet called "Taa" in a universe that preceded Big Bang. When the universe exploded (a moment known as Big Bang), he was transformed into the massive Galactus.
Aside from consuming planets, Galactus has defeated Odin, killed a Mad Celestial, survived numerous Celestial attacks, transferred entire galaxies whenever necessary, and even converted himself into a massive "black hole" that would eventually swallow up all matter in the universe. That's a lot of achievements for a guy who is mostly known for devouring planets! It usually takes a lot of power and forces to stop him unless you're at his level.
6) Jean Grey
Bearer of the Phoenix Force, Jean Grey has been the X-Men's secret weapon and one of the best Marvel Universe psychics for the longest time. As an Omega level mutant, Jean Grey poses a huge threat to anything that crosses the X-Men or the Earth as a whole. Time and again, Jean Grey has stood against threats like Onslaught, Apocalypse, Galactus, and more. She's also the most powerful Phoenix Force holder, ranking above even people who can reverse Infinity Gem effects and wound Eternity.
Her feats include rivaling Galactus, being at an outerverse level strong with her magic and able to enter The Mystery where All Life Returns, becoming ubiquitous, and being able to generate and manipulate black holes. There is also the possibility of resurrection, as the Phoenix Force does not and will not allow her to die.
5) Sentry
Robert Reynolds was endowed exceptional powers by a formula which led him to becoming the hero, The Sentry. He was one of the few heroes active prior to the Fantastic Four, and his knowledge has helped heroes like the X-Men and Spiderman on multiple occasions. How powerful is he to be superior to Jean Grey? He is said to have the might of a million suns. Reportedly, Reynolds has even pierced the armor of a deceased Celestial. He's probably one of the most physically powerful characters in the Marvel Universe.
Jean and the Phoenix Force may be extraordinarily powerful, but Sentry has stood against Galactus more than once and is super strong and fast. He easily overpowered Thor and broke every bone in the Hulk's body, even stalemating World War Hulk. His powers include stronger telepathy than Professor X; he can resurrect himself and others as well.
4) Franklin Richards
To give readers an idea of what his powers are like even as a child? In his own domain, he was more powerful than Mephisto, nicknamed the devil of the Marvel Universe. Franklin was also regarded as a menace to the Marvel Universe's Celestials who were building the galaxy.
As a grown-up? He made Galactus his herald, when the reverse is usually the dominant reality since it's Galactus who usually makes other individuals his messengers. As a kid, Richards created his own pocket universes. As an adult, he fought off the Mad Celestials, who were capable of defeating a well-fed Galactus when fused. It is also known that Richards rebirthed reality at the expense of his omnipotence.
3) Mad Jim Jaspers
Jasper's reality warping abilities are concerning for the Marvel Universe, as he has already created his own universe that required destruction before it spread to other realities. Jasper is also the Marvel Universe's worst kind of villain: a politician! Aside from the humor, have you seen what Senator Kelly accomplished with the Sentinels?
Jaspers was able to manipulate reality by barely thinking about it. The only thing that defeated him was being shoved into an empty reality. Because Jaspers can control reality and matter, simply being in a universe is harmful for anyone who comes into contact with him. Jaspers had already achieved the position of British Prime Minister, and if he had persevered, he would have become the Emperor of Reality.
2) The Living Tribunal
The Living Tribunal, aka the Living Trinity, is meant to be the Marvel Universe's multi-versal guard.The three faces on its body represent three concepts: the front face represents equity, the hooded right face represents necessity, and the left face signifies vengeance. However, they are understood to be good in the purest meaning of the term and operate as the force that prevents an imbalance of cosmic concepts such as good and evil within a universe.
How powerful are they? They can accelerate a star to its natural endpoint to make it go supernova with a mere flick, seal off a universe, and preside over Eternity, Infinity, Galactus, and Death. They can grant a moment of godhood to any being along with advanced clairvoyence.
1) The One Above All
The One Above All is the equivalent of the highest authority of the Multiverse in the Marvel Universe. The title is not a stretch or an exaggeration in any way since the OAA is strictly speaking, omnipresent and omniscent. The OAA rarely intervenes unless a situation calls for it, seeing there is little that necessitates cosmic intervention.
Everything in the Marvel Universe is his to survey and he's only rivaled by his diabolical counterpart, the One Below All. Every character in the Marvel Universe is an extension of himself. He can bring people back from the dead, has plot and concept manipulation as powers, and rearrange everything and anything to his liking. The One Above All is rarely seen, but he is always present when the Marvel Universe is in desperate need of cosmic aid.