The Marvel Cinematic Universe is perhaps the most ambitious franchise in modern cinema, adapting the characters and stories of Marvel Comics onto the big and small screen alike. Its live-action depictions of Marvel characters have earned massive success, both financially and in terms of general popularity with global audiences. With its stories following various superheroes, its action-based narratives often see hugely powerful figures doing battle with one another in high-stakes fight scenes. However, not every Marvel hero and villain has superpowers, and there have been many examples of great Marvel fight scenes that don’t make use of supernatural abilities at all.
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While many heroes introduced in the TV shows and movies of the MCU possess magical, cosmic, or otherwise outlandish powers, some possess very limited abilities, and in some cases, none at all. These non-superpowered heroes often provide some of the greatest and most exciting fight scenes, which are created using spectacularly choreographed action rather than CGI set pieces. With that in mind, here are 10 great Marvel fight scenes that don’t use otherworldly forces at all.
10) Captain America vs. Captain America
While Captain America is a super soldier, his abilities are only enhanced to peak human performance, which makes his powers non-super in nature. With that in mind, one scene from Avengers: Endgame actually sees two iterations of Steve Rogers go head to head. During the time heist to recover the Infinity Stones, 2012’s Captain America sees his future self, and, mistakenly believing him to be Loki in disguise, engages him in combat.
Seeing two versions of Captain America fighting is an excellent example of Marvel’s non-superpowered combat. Steve Rogers has some of the best fighting skills in the entire MCU, and pitting him against himself makes for an especially exciting match-up. While the younger Captain America perhaps has a slight physical edge, Endgame‘s own Steve Rogers has years of added experience that help him get the upper hand, eventually rendering his past self unconscious after a hard-fought battle.
9) Daredevil Rescuing The Punisher
Daredevil made his franchise debut in one of the best MCU TV shows before reprising the role in subsequent seasons, series, and movie cameos. While his abilities include the use of incredibly acute senses, the nature of the hero means that these are only used in place of his lost vision, and therefore, we aren’t considering them a superpower. While they help him in combat, heightened senses aren’t inherently super. However, as one particular moment in Daredevil Season 2 shows, they do help him deliver some of Marvel’s greatest fight scenes.
After learning that Frank Castle has been captured by the gang known as the Kitchen Irish, Daredevil sets out to free him. Fighting their way out, Daredevil is shown not only brutally beating the criminals, but he repeatedly prevents The Punisher from killing anyone. It’s a cleverly worked scene that highlights the differences between the two characters’ philosophies, all while delivering some exceptional and brutal action.
8) Matt Murdock vs. Rioting Prisoners
It’s not always Daredevil that’s forced to fight his way out of situations, as Season 3 of Daredevil sees Matt Murdock trapped in the midst of a prison riot in his everyday persona as a blind lawyer. The scene sees Matt infiltrating a prison by assuming his partner’s identity to speak with an inmate, only for Kingpin’s thugs to start a riot and attack him. Facing both bloodthirsty prisoners and corrupt guards, Matt fights his way free with the help of a few friendly inmates.
What makes the scene incredible is not just the presentation, but the concept behind the action. A beautifully brutal one-shot action sequence, the scene also sees Matt working to preserve his secret identity where possible, significantly complicating his fight for survival. It’s as brutal an action scene as any of Daredevil‘s best, but seeing Matt undertake it without his mask adds another layer of tension, as he seems infinitely more vulnerable without his hero persona on display.
7) Captain America vs. Winter Soldier
Although there have been many great Captain America moments in the MCU, there are a handful that stand out as especially memorable. 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier provides several examples, with one particularly pointed action scene seeing Steve Rogers face the movie’s titular villain. The battle comes after an unexpected assault on Rogers’s vehicle, with the Winter Soldier relentlessly attacking Cap in the streets at the behest of his Hydra handlers.
Both characters may be enhanced by super soldier serum and each possesses their own vibranium accessory, but the battle does not involve any traditional superpowers. After the Winter Soldier’s initial weapon-based assault fails to kill Cap, it becomes a scene of hand-to-hand combat between the pair. It ends with Cap removing the villain’s mask, only to recognize him as his childhood friend Bucky Barnes, adding a further emotional component to their hard-fought stalemate that elevates the scene even more.
6) Daredevil’s First Hallway Fight
While hallway fight scenes have become something of a staple in the superhero genre, there are few heroes that can boast as many impressive examples of the phenomenon as Daredevil. Charlie Cox’s iteration of The Man Without Fear swiftly became a fan favorite, with the brutal action of the 2015 show regularly cited as one of the reasons. Nowhere was this more evident in its first season than the vigilante’s first hallway fight, in which he takes on an entire building of criminals.
Seeing Daredevil face down a veritable horde of villains and tackle them with his brutal hand-to-hand combat skills remains as triumphant today as it did upon release. The scene is gritty, violent, and remarkably well-crafted, cementing Daredevil’s potential as one of the most exciting on-screen heroes. Its place in his MCU story helps to make it an especially incredible scene, as it speaks to the ways in which Daredevil can be employed for on-screen action, setting a dark and memorable precedent for all of the action scenes to follow.
5) Captain America vs. Batroc
Captain America: The Winter Soldier is often considered one of the best Captain America movies, not least because it’s packed with incredible action scenes. From the film’s very beginning, it proves that Marvel heroes don’t need superpowers to deliver incredible action, as both Captain America and Black Widow are sent along with SHIELD agents to infiltrate a SHIELD vessel in order to free hostages taken by terrorists led by Georges Batroc. The scene that sees Rogers and Batroc do battle is one of the MCU’s most overlooked action sequences.
With Batroc played by MMA and UFC legend Georges St-Pierre, there’s an air of authenticity to the fight that is occasionally lacking in superhero movies. The pair’s battle is surprisingly hard-fought, with Batroc’s acrobatic combat style proving somewhat difficult for Rogers at first, making for some eye-catching violence that stands out among anything the MCU had previously done. While it’s somewhat overshadowed by the great action throughout the rest of the movie, it remains one of the best non-superpowered fights in MCU history.
4) Daredevil vs. the Dogs of Hell
After Daredevil Season 1 featured an unforgettable hallway fight scene, Season 2 was forced to attempt to do better. The second season follows up with a similar setup: Daredevil must fight the motorcycle gang known as the Dogs of Hell in an all-out onslaught, thanks to the intervention of The Punisher. He is shown battling his way from the roof of a building down to the ground floor, with a gun taped to one hand and a chain to the other.
The scene unfolding in one continuous shot hearkens back to the previous season’s hallway fight, beginning with Daredevil using the chain attached to his hand to take out the lights. Using the shadows to help him, his brutal and hard-fought path through the building and down its stairwell makes for one of the most visually striking fight scenes in Marvel history. It’s every bit as violent as fans had come to expect, but it’s the skill with which it was clearly choreographed and executed that really makes it a truly impressive sequence.
3) Black Widow vs. Hammer Thugs
Although Black Widow’s MCU appearances are often criticized for not doing the character justice, there were ways in which the franchise brought the character to life perfectly. Her debut in 2010’s Iron Man 2 may not have been the best introduction, but it did feature an exceptional sequence in which she and Happy Hogan infiltrate one of Justin Hammer’s facilities. Facing down a hallway full of henchmen, the pair is forced into action.
Seeing Black Widow deftly take on multiple assailants at once is great, especially as she uses her acrobatic combat skills to easily take down much larger opponents. The scene showcases just how powerful a non-superpowered hero could still be in the MCU, and the huge chasm in ability that existed between the highly trained Black Widow and the untrained Happy Hogan. While Black Widow herself wasn’t always perfectly treated by the franchise, her first major fight scene was appropriately excellent.
2) The Punisher’s Prison Escape
Daredevil Season 2 marked the MCU debut of Jon Bernthal’s Punisher, instantly catapulting him to fan-favorite status. The brutally violent and consistently homicidal vigilante was depicted as a complex figure, and when coming up against the prisoners of Cell Block A, he held nothing back. The scene showed Frank Castle’s escape from custody in the most bloody and vicious fight scene in Marvel history, and remains one of the most memorably savage sequences in the franchise.
Unlike many Marvel fight scenes, The Punisher’s escape is incredibly bloody. It sees the vigilante tear his fellow inmates to shreds, using his bare hands as well as various weapons — makeshift and otherwise — to ensure he’s the last man standing. It’s a scene that is singularly intense and immensely brutal in its execution, and it stands as perhaps the most violent example of the damage a Marvel character can do even without the use of any superpowers.
1) Captain America’s Elevator Fight
Steve Rogers enjoyed the limelight throughout the MCU’s Infinity Saga as its most prominent non-powered hero. Captain America: The Winter Soldier continued his story alongside that of SHIELD and Hydra in the MCU’s present, and it saw him engage in what turned out to be not just one of Captain America’s best action sequences, but one of the MCU’s best-loved fights to date. While in an elevator with a team of SHIELD agents, Cap realizes that they intend to attack him, resulting in the renowned elevator fight scene.
It’s an action sequence that is at once incredibly claustrophobic and intensely satisfying. Seeing Cap work his combat magic in such a tight confined space is incredible, especially as the agents around him are armed and have him heavily outnumbered. The resulting fight is one of the MCU’s most hard-fought battles, not least because Cap cannot rely on backup or being able to effectively dodge his attackers. There’s a reason it’s such a well-loved scene, and that’s partly because the lack of any superpowers helped it to stand out in the wider MCU.
What are your favorite fights devoid of supernatural abilities? Let us know in the comments below!
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