The Marvel Cinematic Universe is chock-full of impressive villains. The first ones that come to mind are the mental threats that can get under a hero’s skin with just a few words, such as Helmut Zemo, who successfully tears the Avengers apart in Captain America: Civil War. Killmonger also does plenty of damage despite only having a couple of fight scenes, changing Wakanda forever by destroying the Heart-Shaped Herbs. However, there’s only one villain that remains a sore subject for every MCU resident: Thanos. The Mad Titan wipes out half of existence in Avengers: Infinity War, and everyone remains gone for five years. No other bad guy has had that kind of impact, but one that just got introduced certainly has the potential to.
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The final episode of Ironheart reveals the mastermind behind The Hood, Mephisto. The villain offers Parker Robbins more money than he knows what to do with in exchange for his soul and turns his sights on Riri Williams at the end of the episode. She takes his deal, and it becomes clear that Mephisto is every bit as powerful as Thanos and doesn’t need the Infinity Stones to achieve his goals.
Thanos Can’t Do It Alone in the MCU
In terms of brute strength, Thanos may be the most powerful character the MCU has ever seen. He takes down the Hulk with ease, even toying with the Avenger for a moment before unleashing his full power. The Mad Titan shows off again in Avengers: Endgame when he takes on Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America at the same time and knocks them on their butts. It takes Cap lifting Mjolnir to do any damage, and even then, Thanos gets right back up and summons his army. However, Thanos doesn’t want to beat everyone to a pulp. In fact, the version that appears in Infinity War only fights when provoked, choosing to let the Infinity Stones do the talking instead.
The Black Order helps their father track down all six of the gems, filling up all the slots in the Infinity Gauntlet. Along the way, Thanos proves that he’s capable of wielding the shiny objects during battles with the Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers. That’s an impressive feat, no doubt, but it speaks more to his durability than anything else. Meanwhile, the villain that Riri runs into in the pizza shop is in a whole other league.
Mephisto Can Do What Thanos Can Do & More
When Mephisto first introduces himself to Parker, he transports him to the pizza restaurant with ease. They get to talking, and while things are going well, Parker becomes distracted by a nearby family. With a wave of his hand, Mephisto locks them in place and explains that he could do the same to the entire city. Those are neat tricks that any Master of the Mystic Arts could pull off, so it takes wearing Mephisto’s hood to convince Parker that he’s actually going to get what he wants. The money starts flowing, and The Hood gains magical abilities that make him a problem for Riri’s technology and security guards all over Chicago.
Mephito doesn’t stop there, though, because once Parker loses control of the hood, he attempts to replace him with Riri. He knows what her brain is capable of and wants to use it for his own again. The only way he can gain access to her knowledge is by offering to bring her AI friend N.A.T.A.L.I.E. back. She agrees but doesn’t believe he will come through. Riri continues working on a solution when Natalie appears in front of her. However, it’s not the AI version; it’s the real deal. Using his incredible power, Mephito brings Natale back from the dead, and while there are sure to be drawbacks in the future, Thanos was only able to do that on his best day. And in reality, the MCU only shows a fraction of Mephisto’s power in Ironheart, which means it’s only going to get more impressive from here.
Ironheart is streaming now on Disney+.
Do you think the MCU’s Mephisto is more powerful than Thanos? Where else would you like to see the Ironheart villain pop up? Let us know in the comments below!
