10 Most Powerful Heroes in the MCU, Ranked (Including Sentry & Franklin Richards)

Some of the best heroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have almost unmatched power, making them some of the most formidable characters in any superhero franchise. Since 2008’s Iron Man, Marvel Studios has introduced some of Marvel Comics’ most exciting, impressive, and powerful characters into live-action. While the likes of Spider-Man, the Hulk, Black Panther, Captain America, and more have an incredible level of power, there are many more heroes who outmatch them at every turn.

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Among the most powerful heroes in the MCU are synthetic cosmic beings, legendary mutants, witches and warlocks, and even literal gods. These heroes have all used their remarkable gifts for the betterment of the universe – and sometimes multiverse – and have been an asset to superhero teams including the Avengers, the X-Men, the Marvels, and the Thunderbolts. Even more powerful MCU heroes are on the horizon, but they’ll have a tough time following in the footsteps of these impressive characters.

10) Thor

As an Asgardian, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) has an impressive range of innate gifts granted by his extraterrestrial physiology. This includes an elongated lifespan, superior strength, durability, and invulnerability, and an intimate knowledge of the cosmos and magic that most humans could only dream of. However, Thor, as the actual God of Thunder, has a command over electricity and can manipulate the weather, too, while wielding his enchanted hammer, Mjolnir, or his Bifrost-opening ax, Stormbreaker. Thor has a significant amount of power that has allowed him to battle the likes of Loki, Malekith, Hulk, Thanos, Gorr the God Butcher, and more.

9) Carol Danvers’ Captain Marvel

There are several heroes in the MCU who gained their abilities after being exposed to Infinity Stones, and Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) is one of the most powerful. Danvers became Captain Marvel after absorbing the energy of a Tesseract-powered light-speed engine, which altered her DNA and transformed her into a superhuman with enhanced strength, speed, longevity, a regenerative healing factor, and the ability to fly, even though space. Danvers has demonstrated the ability to restart a star, took on Thanos one-on-one, and easily took down her twisted Kree overlords in her 2019 debut.

8) Adam Warlock

Introduced in 2023’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) is imbued with cosmic energy thanks to his creation at the hands of the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji) and the Sovereign. With all the powers that Captain Marvel has, but with even more strength and an unpredictable level of cosmic power, Adam Warlock has the potential to become even stronger. He’s right at the start of his MCU journey, and Adam Warlock would be the perfect candidate to become a new MCU mainstay. This could see him become the franchise’s most powerful cosmic hero.

7) Billy Maximoff’s Wiccan

2024’s Agatha All Along debuted the reincarnated Billy Maximoff in the MCU, with Joe Locke assuming the role and allowing the son of the Scarlet Witch to finally become Wiccan. Billy has many of the same powers as his mother, Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), including telepathic abilities and the potential to shape reality at will. He showed off these gifts by creating the Witches’ Road without even knowing it, which is one of the biggest and most exciting uses of this reality-warping power we’ve ever seen. Maximoff’s command over magic is seriously impressive, and we’ve seen practically nothing yet.

6) Doctor Stephen Strange

Even before receiving his knowledge of the Mystic Arts, Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) was a world-renowned and gifted surgeon with an eidetic memory. This dedication, memory, and commitment made him a fantastic student at Kamar-Taj, where he became a Master of the Mystic Arts and wielded the Time Stone. Strange’s recent experiences across the multiverse, battle against the Scarlet Witch, and use of the Darkhold has made him an even stronger hero who can pull off practically any feat through the use of magic – though he has also been teased as an unpredictable and dangerous threat to the multiverse.

5) Charles Xavier’s Professor X

After making a brief appearance in the MCU proper, and as a variant on Earth 838 at that, Professor X became one of the MCU’s strongest heroes. Patrick Stewart reprised his Fox X-Men franchise role in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and will return in Avengers: Doomsday as the formidable founder of the X-Men. Charles Xavier’s mind-altering power makes him an Omega-level mutant who has impressive abilities including telepathy, mental manipulation, and more on top of his genius-level intellect. Professor X will surely continue to be one of the MCU’s most powerful heroes for years to come.

4) The Eternals

Created by the Celestials to quell the rise of Deviants on Celestial host planets, including Earth, the Eternals are imbued with some remarkable abilities thanks to their cosmic roots. Each Eternal has a command over a specific gift, while they all have unending lifespans, thanks to their synthetic nature. Among them, healing, mind-control, energy manipulation, matter transmutation, strength, flight, speed, weapon creation, intelligence, illusion casting, the list goes on. The Eternals are among the most powerful characters in the MCU, so it’s a shame they haven’t been utilized as well as they could have been.

3) Robert Reynolds’ Sentry

One of the newest characters introduced to the MCU is also one of the most powerful. During OXE’s secret experiments, Robert Reynolds (Lewis Pullman) was given a new super-soldier serum that was thought to have failed, but actually granted him the power of a thousand exploding suns and transformed him into the Sentry. He was easily able to take down the Thunderbolts, even though the team was composed of several super-soldiers, a Black Widow assassin, and a phasing quantum-powered antihero. Reynolds’ dark alter ego, the Void, was also able to make the citizens of New York relive their worst nightmares.

2) Wanda Maximoff’s Scarlet Witch

There are few characters in the MCU – heroes and villains alike – who are as powerful as Wanda Maximoff’s Scarlet Witch. Born a witch, Maximoff’s abilities were kicked into overdrive after being exposed to the Mind Stone, unleashing her Chaos Magic and reality-warping abilities. The Scarlet Witch took the entire town of Westview, New Jersey, hostage, recreated a version of her deceased lover, Vision (Paul Bettany), traveled the multiverse after being corrupted by the Darkhold, and more. Her power is unbelievable, and this has only spurred speculation that she, indeed, is not actually dead.

1) Franklin Richards

The Fantastic Four: First Steps introduced a whole universe of new powerful characters into the MCU, as the Fantastic Four of Earth 828 includes some formidable heroes, while their new fifth member is, by a long way, the MCU’s most powerful. Franklin Richards might just be a child, and hasn’t had the chance to show off all his abilities, but he was born with the Power Cosmic – an almost unlimited source of unimaginable power. Galactus (Ralph Ineson) sought Franklin because of his powers, while the child demonstrated the ability to resurrect his mother, Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), from the dead.