The Avengers‘ Battle of New York remains one of the MCU‘s defining moments, when the original heroes all came together to fight against Loki and the invading Chitauri army, but it all could’ve been much smoother for the team. The group of six individuals – Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hulk, and Hawkeye – had to learn how to get on the same page and work together, and do so to face a threat unlike any most of them had seen, given it came from outer space.
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The Battle of New York left a trail of destruction in its wake, and it took a monumental effort – and potential sacrifice play from Tony Stark – in order to defeat the Chitauri. However, in a deleted scene from Avengers: Endgame, Rocket Raccoon was far more dismissive of the threat posed by the force sent to Earth by Thanos. Watching footage from the fight, he’s stunned to learn that the Avengers spent 2-3 hours battling them, saying, “The Chitauri are the suckiest army in the galaxy.”
Does This Mean The Guardians Are More Powerful Than The OG Avengers?
Rocket reveals a hidden cheat code that would’ve allowed the Avengers to end the fight very quickly: blow up the mothership. Apparently, this would swiftly destroy the entire army, but Steve Rogers admits they “didn’t know” about it, prompting incredulous, mocking laughter from the Guardians member. It’s a fun little scene, though expendable, but Rocket is a little unfair on Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
This doesn’t mean the Guardians of the Galaxy are more powerful than the Avengers, but that they have some different strengths and advantages. That’s particularly true when it comes to cosmic threats: the clue is in their name, but they’re far better positioned to know about and deal with threats that emerge in space. If the original Guardians had gone up against them instead, then Rocket’s knowledge, along with knowledge Gamora might have of them as Thanos’ daughter, plus their high-tech weaponry, would’ve allowed them to handle it much more efficiently. Whether it was the Chitauri, Ronan, or Ego the Living Planet, the Guardians were built to face threats like this.
Still, there was really no way any of the Avengers, except perhaps Thor, would’ve had any prior knowledge or dealings with the Chitauri. And when looking at the Avengers compared to the Guardians, the former is actually more powerful based on the original lineup. They have two of the MCU’s most powerful characters in Hulk and Thor, which immediately gives them the upper-hand in the power ranking stakes, even despite the strength of Groot and power of Star-Lord. That might be a different question now, with the Guardians bolstered by the likes of Adam Warlock and Phyla-Vell, but it also depends who actually makes up the Avengers team roster in Avengers: Doomsday.
The Endgame deleted scene also highlights another issue with Thanos’ plan, and makes it look even worse. It was always a rather questionable choice to hand the Mind Stone to Loki, when the Mad Titan’s quest was collecting all of the Infinity Stones. Learning that he then hired what’s apparently the worst army in the entire galaxy just really makes Thanos look like wasn’t making the best decisions, so no the wonder he had to do it himself.
Of course, the Chitauri themselves did return in Endgame, providing Thanos and the Black Order with an army at the Battle of Earth. Interestingly, there were no dismissive remarks there from Rocket, nor any ideas of taking out the mothership, so maybe it wasn’t so easy after all.
Avengers: Endgame is available to stream on Disney+. The next MCU movies are:
- Spider-Man: Brand New Day – July 31st, 2026.
- Avengers: Doomsday – December 18th, 2026.
- Avengers: Secret Wars – December 17th, 2027.
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