The superhero genre has been established as one of the most successful in modern cinema, with the movies of the MCU in particular consistently breaking records. Even before the genre’s massive success, Marvel characters were being adapted to the big screen, with many of its most prominent heroes and villains, as well as some of its lesser-known characters, appearing in live-action movies. There have been multiple Marvel movie franchises and several stand-alone Marvel movies, all of which have showcased the remarkable superhuman abilities of their characters. While many of these superpowers are truly amazing, there are always some that are distinctly less impressive.
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Many Marvel superpowers simply aren’t as extraordinary as they appear. Some seem to be functionally useless, whereas others come with severe downsides that make them more of a curse than a blessing. Whether they’re bad in a conceptual sense or simply terrible for the character who possesses them, some Marvel superpowers are just truly awful.
10) Mister Fantastic’s Stretching
First officially introduced into blockbuster live-action in Tim Story’s Fantastic Four, Reed Richards – AKA Mister Fantastic – is one of the Marvel Universe’s most important heroes. In the comics, his ability to stretch his body in a variety of innovative ways has grown to become deceptively powerful. However, in the 2005, 2007, and 2015 movies in which Reed Richards appeared, it was never used in any such way, and seemed incredibly underwhelming as a result.
Reed Richards’ most important asset has always been his remarkable intellect. While this exists in the movies, it wasn’t linked in any way to his stretching abilities, as has sometimes been the case in the comics. While Mister Fantastic’s movie superpowers have been somewhat helpful on occasion, they are the least useful of the Fantastic Four’s combined powers. Primarily used for opening doors from the other side or constricting people, Reed Richards’ stretching ability has long been one of the least interesting Marvel movie superpowers.
9) Vanisher’s Invisibility
Appearing – although the term can only be applied loosely – in 2018’s Deadpool 2, Vanisher’s live-action debut was short-lived. After being inducted into Deadpool’s X-Force team to combat Cable, Vanisher was abruptly killed before ever reaching the battle. Played by Brad Pitt in a brief cameo as the character was killed, Vanisher’s invisibility proved to be a pretty useless power in terms of his single movie appearance.
Though in theory invisibility could have many applications, Deadpool 2 subtly highlights how bad a power it really is. It has incredibly limited potential when considered in the context of combat situations, especially against characters armed with regenerative healing factors, high-tech weapons, or other more useful abilities. Worst of all, it did nothing to help Vanisher survive in the movie, as he was electrocuted to death shortly after being introduced.
8) Wolverine’s Regenerative Healing Factor
Hugh Jackman’s performance as the iconic mutant hero has seen many incredible Wolverine action scenes over the years, but his powers aren’t as great as they seem. The movies have established Logan’s backstory at length, including his powers: he has a powerful regenerative healing factor and the ability to produce bone claws from his knuckles. Incredibly useful though these abilities may be in the wider Marvel Universe, Wolverine’s powers are actually horrible from the character’s point of view.
Wolverine’s healing factor sees him repeatedly outlive the people he loves, affecting his ability to make emotional connections with others. It also facilitated the incredibly painful procedure to graft adamantium to his entire skeleton, which would have killed any normal person. What makes Wolverine’s powers so awful is the suffering it has caused him both physically and emotionally, and the ways in which it has opened him up to being exploited time and time again.
7) Angel’s Feathered Wings
Though countless powerful mutants have appeared in X-Men movies, there have also been some with much less useful abilities. Despite Angel being one of the comics’ original members of the X-Men, his powers are pretty poor compared to many of his mutant allies. First appearing in live-action in 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand before later making an appearance in 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse – where he was given a power upgrade – Angel’s ability in the movies is limited to his large set of wings.
The Last Stand‘s version of Angel stands out for how bad his ability really is. His large set of wings visibly mark him as a mutant, leading him to face prejudice and general rejection from society at large. However, they also don’t offer him any particularly powerful augmentations, other than the ability to fly. Compared to earth-shattering magnetic powers, telepathy, and energy manipulation, sprouting a large pair of feathered wings simply seems to be an incredibly underwhelming ability.
6) Caliban’s Mutant Detection Ability
Caliban’s first major appearance in an X-Men franchise came in 2017’s Logan, where he was played by British actor Stephen Merchant. His ability to sense other mutants may have seen him play an important role in several Marvel stories, but this isn’t the case in his movie appearance. Logan‘s dystopian future sees Caliban surviving with the titular X-Man, harboring an ageing Charles Xavier while evading capture from the powers that be.
The thing is, Caliban’s ability to detect mutants is effectively useless in Logan‘s future. Mutants have been hunted to the brink of extinction, or have otherwise had their powers negated, making Caliban’s power largely redundant. Worse, its only real use would be to the benefit of those seeking the world’s remaining mutants, making him a target for the enemies of mutantkind, and preventing him from doing any real good with his ability.
5) Zeitgeist’s Acid Bile
Deadpool 2 saw Marvel movies introduce one of the best Marvel teams into live-action, albeit with hilarious and disastrous results. Deadpool’s X-Force featured multiple Marvel characters, including Zeitgeist, who died only moments after beginning his first mission with the team. In the movie’s Zeitgeist’s power is clearly demonstrated during his audition for the team: he is able to spit highly acidic bile.
It may have clear uses in terms of combat, as the incredibly corrosive substance could obviously prove to be an effective weapon against a variety of enemies. It’s not the efficacy of Zeitgeist’s powers that makes it terrible, though. It’s one of the most disgusting abilities adapted into Marvel movies, and also comes with the potential for harming one’s own teammates, making Zeitgeist’s power a pretty terrible one on balance.
4) Sprite’s Eternal Youth
Introduced as part of the titular team in 2021’s Eternals, Sprite definitely got a pretty raw deal in terms of abilities. Though all of the Eternals possess incredible longevity, rendering them effectively immortal, Sprite is the only one of the team who is stuck in a state of perpetual youth. Despite having lived for thousands of years, Sprite has retained the appearance of a child, even though her teammates are all adults.
Sprite’s other abilities make her a pretty powerful figure, but her eternal youth is pretty terrible. She herself expresses her frustration of being stuck in a child’s body, particularly as her millennia of life experience has made her as mature as any of her teammates. It’s an ability with no real upside, as it prevents Sprite from forming any real adult relationships, and everyone outside of her teammates treats her like a child despite her power and experience.
3) Toad’s Toad-Like Abilities
Across Fox’s decades-spanning franchise and now the appearance of mutants in the MCU, there have been many villains in X-Men movies. One of those introduced in the X-Men’s first cinematic outing in 2000 was Toad, played by Ray Park. Toad takes his mutant name from the animal which his abilities seem to mimic; he can leap long distances, extend his tongue to an unnatural length, and spit slime.
It’s not hard to see why Toad’s superpowers rank among the worst in Marvel movie history. They aren’t overly useful in comparison to those of other X-Men characters, and they also come with various disgusting undertones that make Toad an especially undesirable character. A toad is not an animal that many would actively choose to be compared to, and not only are Toad’s powers pretty gross, but they also aren’t particularly helpful to his allies.
2) Rogue’s Life Force Absorption
Though Rogue is arguably one of the most potentially powerful characters in the X-Men movies, her abilities come with a massive cost. First introduced in 2000’s X-Men, Rogue played a major role in the franchise’s original trilogy, featuring as one of its most significant protagonists. Her ability is described by Professor X as being able to absorb the life force of others, which in the case of mutants, allows Rogue to borrow their abilities for a short time.
In the comics, Rogue’s ability is a little different, and a lot more powerful. However, the movies make the negatives of Rogue’s powers far worse than the positives, practically killing anyone she touches while only borrowing their powers for a very short time. For a character like Rogue who doesn’t wish to harm anyone, a power that can kill with a simple touch is simply not worth its potential applications, making it one of the worst in Marvel movie history.
1) Experimental Extremis Abilities
Iron Man 3 featured the introduction of Extremis, an experimental ability that afforded regenerative powers – among other things – to its users. Though it is shown to have been refined later in the movie into a more controllable form which also allows its hosts to breathe fire, Extremis is an incredibly dangerous power to begin with. Its explosive potential is displayed on multiple occasions, with Aldrich Killian’s original test subjects unable to handle the volatile power.
The original Extremis as introduced in Iron Man 3 is by far the worst Marvel movie superpower. Not only does it not do as intended, but it makes its users little more than walking human bombs. Later applications of Extremis might have proven considerably better, but the experimental version of Extremis is a power that has literally no upside, killing both those who wield it and anyone unfortunate enough to be in their vicinity.
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