The cameos of Iron Man, but since then it has introduced dozens of MCU heroes and villains. Some are known outside the comic book world, while others are more unusual characters that many people haven’t heard of.
With over 20 movies currently making up the Marvel Cinematic Universe, there are too many characters to count, but some heroes are stronger than others. Sometimes the movies make the heroes weaker than they appear in the comics, but this list ranks MCU heroes based on their skills in the movies and TV shows. Some of these characters are simply humans with fancy gadgets, others have actual superpowers, while others have powers equivalent to the gods.
Updated on May 8th, 2022, by Shawn S. Lealos: The MCU released an entire universe of characters by the time Thanos snapped his finger in Avengers: Endgame. However, since that time, things have grown even bigger. While some heroes have left the MCU, including Iron Man dying and Captain America retiring, many more have debuted in the movies and on the new Disney+ streaming shows.
The world will keep getting bigger, with MCU heroes like Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, and many more coming in the near future. The MCU has introduced new heroes, saw a villain go to the side of good, and brought in yet another major team consisting of brand-new heroes protecting Earth for centuries. As time goes on, the MCU power rankings continue to change.
Mantis
Mantis, played by Pom Klementieff, first appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the movie Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. She was Ego’s servant but became a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy after Ego’s downfall. Unfortunately, Mantis just isn’t that strong of a player.
She has the ability to sense people’s feelings by touching them, but this is basically just a parlor trick as compared to other MCU heroes. She can sometimes alter people’s emotions and kept Thanos docile for a short period of time, but Mantis just doesn’t stack up compared to other heroes.
Sprite
Eternals introduced a new group of heroes that turned out to be the oldest heroes on Earth. Centuries before The Avengers began protecting Earth from aliens, a group of aliens landed on Earth and set up to help lead the planet into the future. However, they remained hidden and only revealed themselves when evil aliens known as Deviants showed up.
Of The Eternals, Sprite was the weakest member of the team and remains one of the weakest MCU heroes ranked. She was an adult trapped forever in a child's body and her primary power was like Loki, as she could cast illusions. By the end of the movie, she gave up her powers to live out her life as a human.
Kate Bishop
Kate Bishop is one of Marvel's newest heroes. She is the start of the young teenage MCU heroes that seem to be preparing to enter the universe at around the same time. Kate has the training, but not as a combat fighter. She has no superpowers, but she is skilled at martial arts and is almost as good of a shot as Hawkeye with the bow and arrow.
Kate also received a boost when she gained Hawkeye as a mentor, and this included him supplying her with her own trick arrows. She beat Kingpin by herself in Hawkeye and that is enough to list her as a viable threat.
Phastos
Phastos is another member of The Eternals, and he remains one of the smartest people on Earth. However, that is where his powers sit, and until he shows more, he is just an alien version of Tony Stark without the armor.
He had the ability to create any sort of technology he wants, but he is also a pacifist who doesn't want to do anything to hurt others. He is a skilled fighter, but outside of his inventions, he doesn't offer much more concerning powers.
Quicksilver
In the comic books, and even in Fox’s X-Men series, Quicksilver is an incredibly powerful hero, but in the MCU, he just isn’t all that great. Brother to the incredibly powerful Scarlet Witch, Pietro Maximoff made his one and only appearance in the MCU during Captain America: The Winter Soldier).
Like all versions of Quicksilver, the MCU version of the character has superhuman speed and reflexes. However, he never develops his powers. Quicksilver sacrifices himself to save Hawkeye in Age of Ultron and meets his demise when Ultron riddles him with bullets.
Ajak
It's hard to measure how powerful Ajak really is. She was the leader of the Eternals and she was powerful enough for the Celestials to trust her with this group of heroes on Earth. She was also the only one who knew the truth about their existence when they arrived on Earth.
Her power is regeneration and healing, and that is something that helps her teammates, and humans, more than anything. However, she never shows her skills as a warrior and she dies at the hands of one of her own teammates before she could show any powers she might have.
Star-Lord
Star-Lord, played by Chris Pratt, might be the most comedic member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, but he can still pack a punch. Not only is Peter Quill talented in close-quarters combat, but he is also half-Celestial.
His powers were developed a lot in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 when he met Ego, but unfortunately, after he destroyed his father, his powers faded. Since then, Star-Lord is still an expert thief, marksman, and pilot, but he often lets his emotions cloud his judgments.
Makkari
Makkari is very similar to Quicksilver. However, while Pietro is one of the fastest mortals on Earth, Makkari is far faster than Quicksilver and is one of the fastest beings in the entire Marvel Universe. After the Emergence in The Eternals, she ran across the entire Earth trying to find its location.
Not even Quicksilver can do something like that. However, while she is super fast, and that is likely enough to win a battle with most villains, she never showed her fighting skills to their full extent in the movie, and her full powers levels remain questionable.
Drax
Drax is no doubt a powerful fighter, but he, unfortunately, is the least powerful member of the original Guardians of the Galaxy team. Each member of the team is powerful for their own reasons, but Drax mainly relies on his brute strength to get jobs done.
Even though he is used for comedic relief in the movies, Drax is often seen as oblivious. With that in mind, he has superhuman strength and durability, while also being skilled at hand-to-hand combat, so that counts for something.
Rocket
If this list were based upon sheer strength, Rocket would no doubt be below Drax, but Rocket has more to offer than just pure strength. Rocket might just be an experiment that went wrong, but his genetic enhancements made him the smartest member of the Guardians team.
While Rocket can hold his own in a fight, he is also a skilled marksman, engineer, and pilot. Not to mention Rocket is a master manipulator, so he convinces people to do things for him and to get himself out of sticky situations by using his head.
