The Marvel Cinematic Universe features many powerful characters, but not all of them are as well represented as they are in the comics. Since the franchise first began in 2008 with the release of Iron Man, the MCU has grown to incorporate an ever-evolving roster of Marvel Comics characters. The movies of the MCU have adapted a range of stories from the comics, establishing numerous powerful characters with varying degrees of comic accuracy. The franchise has therefore established its own hierarchy of power, and it’s one that doesn’t totally line up with the more established version from the source material.
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Naturally, as part of these differences, there are some characters who appear to get short-changed. For every powerful MCU character, there are others who are far less well-represented in the live-action franchise than they are on the page. These heroes and villains are decidedly underpowered in the MCU, particularly considering how powerful they have been shown to be in the pages of Marvel Comics.
7) Drax the Destroyer
Drax’s role in the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy helped to make the films some of the funniest movies in the MCU, but they did little to establish how powerful a character he truly is. In the comics, Drax’s abilities have varied over the years, but he has long been one of the Marvel Universe’s most fearful combatants, and easily capable of going toe-to-toe with the likes of Thanos, Captain Marvel, and Adam Warlock. The MCU does very little to establish any such power level, and instead uses Drax as simple yet effective comic relief.
6) Taskmaster
The MCU’s Taskmaster is now best known for her disappointing death in Thunderbolts*, firmly establishing just how badly the franchise wasted the character’s potential. The version of the character introduced in Black Widow was only a shadow of that of the comics and was given very little opportunity to truly shine. The changes to Taskmaster’s backstory were not at all the issue, but rather the MCU treating her as a disposable character instead of more accurately depicting the versatile and deadly nature the character possesses in the comics.
5) Adam Warlock
Adam Warlock is one of the most powerful MCU characters, but the franchise has so far done very little to make use of his strength. Although Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 showed some of his impressive abilities, many of his best attributes from the comics were missing. Instead of being the immensely powerful cosmic hero he is on the page, the MCU’s version of Adam Warlock was effectively an overgrown child with only a fraction of the power he possesses in the source material.
4) Mantis
There are a number of MCU characters who are more powerful than they seem, and Mantis deserves to rank highly among them. The MCU depicted her as a quirky empath, but the comics have seen her make use of a much more impressive array of powers. In addition to her empathy, Mantis is able to control various forms of energy, is an expert martial artist, and has a regenerative healing factor, making her MCU counterpart seem decidedly underpowered by comparison.
3) Quicksilver
Quicksilver’s remains one of the most shocking MCU deaths in the history of the franchise, but it also highlights how underpowered Avengers: Age of Ultron made the hero. The Quicksilver of the MCU seemed to possess the most important attribute of the character in the form of his super speed, but missed out on many of the secondary abilities that have made him a mainstay in the comics. Considering he was unceremoniously killed by a hail of bullets, it’s fair to say that the MCU’s version of the character didn’t live up to his comic book counterpart.
2) Kang the Conqueror
Though he originally seemed set to be the all-powerful main antagonist of the MCU’s Multiverse Saga, this ultimately changed, transforming Kang’s story into something far more underwhelming than it deserved. In the comics, he’s one of the Avengers’ most powerful foes and presents a major multiversal threat. The MCU instead had Kang defeated with relative ease twice in just two appearances, all before ever really showcasing the extent of his abilities within the franchise.
1) Hulk
While the franchise has asserted that he’s one of its strongest heroes, the MCU often makes the Hulk look weak. The comics have established Hulk’s immortal nature and the seemingly boundless potential of his rage-induced abilities, but the MCU has so far limited the hero to more manageable levels. The Hulk of the comics is often pretty overpowered, so while the MCU opting to downplay his strength makes sense, it still makes the franchise’s version of the iconic character seem decidedly underpowered.
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