7 Most Powerful Marvel Heroes and Their Greatest Weakness

Marvel doesn’t have as many ultra-powerful heroes as their distinguished competition in top positions, but that doesn’t mean they have none. One of the great things about the House of Ideas is the way they take things in new directions, revolutionizing what a powerful superhero can be. They are more human than their DC counterparts, and their stories have gone in amazing new directions that have made superheroes into one of the most famous parts of pop culture in the 21st century. This humanity is what makes these character specials and it gives them the kind of weaknesses that everyday people have, making their stories more meaningful than most.

These weaknesses have made these characters into who they are. They’re the very things that make these characters into legends and have made their stories so much fun to read about. Here are the weaknesses of the seven most powerful Marvel superheroes, each of them giving us a window into who these characters really are.

7) Professor X

Professor X is the X-Men’s founder, the man with the dream. However, that dream has proved to be his greatest weakness. Xavier’s dream is a laudable one, but he’ll go to any extent to make sure that dream comes true. Charles has done a lot of terrible things over the years, from mindwiping his students to enslaving a newly born intelligence to secretly engineering events so that he could create a mutant nation, lying to everyone. He’ll do anything to make his dream come true and that has led Xavier to becoming a villainous presence in the mutant community. Usually, someone doing anything to reach a goal is good thing, but the professor’s found a way to make it his biggest problem.

6) Namor

Namor is a guy who beats the Avengers, drowns cities, picks fights with guys like Hulk and Thanos, and goes harder than anyone else around him with everything. He’s the most powerful monarch on Earth, with the largest, most fruitful kingdom. The Sub-Mariner is a complicated character, but his weakness is obvious to long time fans: his anger. The king of Atlantis is always at a certain level of anger, but the madder he gets, the dumber he gets, and he’s really easy to enrage. His anger has cost him more than anything else over the decades.

5) The Sentry

The Sentry is the man with the power of a million exploding suns, and can alter reality itself. He’s a powerful hero, and he’s another one with obvious weaknesses to anyone whose read all of his stories. Bob Reynolds is a man with deep mental issues, from agoraphobia to addiction, but the biggest weakness he has is his powers themselves. Bob should not be a superhero, because every time he shows up, the Void isn’t far behind. He’s his own worst enemy, and while he has the power to save the world, he also has the power to end it. He’s one of Marvel’s most overpowered characters, and one of the most dangerous.

4) Silver Surfer

Silver Surfer is a former Herald of Galactus and as such controls the Power Cosmic, giving him power over cosmic energy, matter manipulation, super strength, indestructibility, the power to fly faster than the speed of light, and super senses. He can thrash most just about every hero and villain on Earth. At once. He’s also just a sad, tragic man and that’s his biggest problem. Norrin Radd sacrificed his life for his world, and he’s traveled the universe since with his loneliness and the guilt of leading Galactus to sustenance. He fights evil, but he also mopes around the cosmos, mourning his past. It’s not really much that can help his enemies in combat, but it’s the one chink in his armor.

3) Scarlet Witch

Scarlet Witch has become the Sorcerer Supreme, making her more power than ever. While she’s not at “manipulate the history of the world into something new”, level, she’s still plenty formidable. Wanda’s biggest weakness is part and parcel of who she is. She had one of the most traumatizing lives ever and that has made it rather easy for her to fall to darkness. She’s experienced the worst of everything, really, and this has made it easier for forces to manipulate her. Plus, as powerful as she is, she’s still only human, so corruption is part and parcel of who she is. She has the power of a god, but none of the wisdom, and enough trauma for numerous adults. It’s a really bad combination that goes boom every couple of years.

2) Thor

Thor is the God of Thunder, the holder of Mjolnir, and one of the greatest warriors in the Ten Realms. He’s become the king of Asgard, wields the power of the Odinforce, and is still one of the Avengers’ heaviest hitters. However, Thor is a hero whose biggest problem is still arrogance. He’s not the same way he used to be as a callow youth, he still believes his own hype. Thor walks into every situation as the most dangerous person ever, and this had led him to some rather savage beatings. He’s still a prideful god, and this has been a problem that everyone has learned to exploit.

1) Hulk

The Hulk is Marvel’s greatest monster, the most powerful being on Earth. He’s a force of nature, but at the center of that force is the weakest part of him: Bruce Banner. The extreme abuse Bruce had suffered over the years has broken him. His trauma, and the Hulk’s need to protect him, has defined the Jade Giant’s limits for decades now. Bruce is a tired, guilty, scared man with issues far beyond the norm. He breaks constantly; sometimes he can handle it and keep functioning, other times he becomes a monster himself. Bruce’s choices have often made things much worse, and will continue to do so.

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