If there's one thing Thanos proved in Marvel Cinematic Universe. His depiction on screen isn't much different than his comic book counterpart. He's one impressive character who succeeded in defeating the Avengers, Asgardians, and the Guardians of the Galaxy, as well as many more characters off-screen.
He appears to be the strongest being in the MCU, but just why is Thanos so strong? That's largely due to his access to the Infinity Stones. There are still some characters who are technically stronger than he is. Given the right conditions, some of the Avengers could have beaten the Mad Titan were he not so advantaged due to the Infinity Stones. On his own, Thanos is still an incredibly powerful character with a number of abilities making him stronger than most people he comes into with.
When it comes to determining who is stronger than Thanos (and who is weaker), it's important to take a look through the comics as well as the films for the abilities that might not have yet been showcased on screen. While it's nearly impossible to cover every character in the MCU as it grows, this group makes for compelling entries to examine Thanos' strength against.
Updated on July 26th, 2021 by Amanda Bruce: As the MCU continues to grow and expand into the far reaches of space and even new timelines, new characters, and new versions of old characters, will come to the screen. Thanos might not be the big bad moving forward, but his presence - and the results of his action - loom so large in the MCU that the strength of different characters will be measured against his ability to defeat the Avengers for years to come.
WEAKER: STAR-LORD
Star-Lord might have some planetary power stored deep within him in the MCU, but he doesn't truly know how to wield it just yet. Instead, he relies on his human-level brute force and familiarity with a wide range of firearms in a fight.
It doesn't help that, unlike Thanos, he isn't able to keep calm and maintain focus in a fight. His emotions tend to get the better of him, as fans witnessed in Avengers: Infinity War. There's no way Peter Quill is taking Thanos down in a one-on-one fight when his lack of focus with half-a-dozen allies alongside him cost them a win.
STRONGER: CAPTAIN MARVEL
Fans actually got to see Captain Marvel the fight against Thanos in Avengers: Endgame, and it's pretty clear from her brief attempt at keeping the Infinity Gauntlet away from him that she's stronger than he thinks.
Her power set involves absorbing and redirecting energy. She's essentially a conduit for power, making her own force pretty much limitless. The only reason she couldn't defeat Thanos in Endgame was because of the number of outside weapons and the literal army used against her. If they faced off, Thanos wouldn't stand a chance.
WEAKER: FALCON/CAPTAIN AMERICA
He might be going by Captain America as Steve Rogers' successor, but his power set remains the same in both roles. Sam Wilson isn't someone with super strength or other super abilities. He doesn't have the physical strength to take on a Titan.
That doesn't mean Sam's flying skills wouldn't come in handy against Thanos. It just means he'd have to spend most of his energy evading the enemy instead of actually fighting back.
STRONGER: THE TVA
With the airing of the first season of the MCU's Time Variance Authority holds a lot of power, even if Loki and Sylvie shake things up for them. Within their headquarters, for example, the Infinity Stones are just paperweights.
That means Thanos wouldn't even be able to use his preferred weapons against them if he happened to violate their sacred timeline rules. It also helps that the entirety of the TVA is armed with weapons that allow them to "prune" people from the timeline. If they took Thanos on in their own house, they'd have him out of commission in no time.
WEAKER: DRAX
Drax is arguably one of the best characters in the MCU, and his portrayal by Dave Bautista is absolutely excellent. When compared to the comic book character he's based on, however, he's incredibly weak. In the comics, Drax is not only much stronger than his on-screen counterpart, he was essentially created to defeat Thanos.
Looking back at his performance on screen, Ronan beat him handily in the first Guardians of the Galaxy film and he didn't fare well against Thanos when the two finally met. He certainly has the heart to combat the Mad Titan, but when it comes to a blow-to-blow comparison, Thanos is much stronger than Drax the Destroyer.
STRONGER: THOR
Thor has proven himself time and time again on the big screen. Is Thor stronger than Thanos? As the Asgardian God of Thunder, he has gone toe-to-toe with some of the MCU's biggest and baddest villains. Without a weapon, he is still very strong, having weakened his sister Hela, but he does his best work when he is holding something in his hand.
Though he lost Mjolnir in his initial battle with Hela, he withstood the might of a star to forge Stormbreaker. When he shows up in Wakanda and uses the weapon, he easily defeats his enemies. Had he followed Thanos' advice and aimed for his head, he would have easily defeated him and prevented the "snap" that culled half the universe. When he follows through with that idea later, it's a little too late, but it's proof that he could have won.
WEAKER: LOKI
Loki is one of those characters who is constantly defeated but always seems to come back stronger than he was before. He's a trickster and the Asgardian God of Mischief so enemies would expect him to keep on coming. Even death can't keep Loki out of the story.
When it came time for Loki to go against the Mad Titan, he was easily grabbed and the life was choked out of him. Granted, Thanos used the powers of the Infinity Gauntlet at the time, but seeing as he had just defeated the Hulk in hand-to-hand combat, it seems likely he would have easily defeated Loki without the weapon.
STRONGER: HULK
Across the Marvel Universe, there truly is no character stronger than the Incredible Hulk. Not only is he ridiculously powerful to begin with, he gets stronger the madder he becomes. Over the years, he has only gotten stronger in the comics. While Thanos did defeat him when they came face-to-face in the opening act of Infinity War, let's not forget Thanos had the Power Stone at the time.
Were the two to go up against one another, the Hulk would easily smash Thanos into the ground. There's almost no question about it. The Hulk has the upper hand in most situations against Thanos.
WEAKER: IRON MAN
Tony Stark held his own against Thanos in the final scenes of Infinity War, but he was ultimately not able to keep up. Through the use of his Bleeding Edge Armor, he was able to withstand a number of the Titan's blows, but the suit's nanobots continued to degrade and fall off throughout the battle.
Tony could take on most opponents were he given enough time to prepare, but when comparing Tony and Thanos directly, Tony is the weaker of the two. Even without the Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos is far more powerful than any of the suits of armor Tony Stark has invented.
STRONGER: SURTUR
Thanos is lucky Surtur was busy smashing the remains of Asgard when he went looking for the Infinity Stones. Surtur is an immensely powerful being who easily defeated Hela and destroyed Asgard at the end of Thor: Ragnarok. Granted, his part in the destruction of Asgard was foretold, but his power was so immense, it's no surprise he was able to carry out the prophecy and fulfill Ragnarok.
Hela easily defeated the combined might of Asgard herself and seeing as she was quickly dispatched by Surtur, it isn't unreasonable to assume he would smash Thanos were the two to fight. With the Infinity Gauntlet, it's not a question, but on his own, there's no way Thanos could have gone up against Surtur when empowered by the Eternal Flame.
