“Who is the strongest Avenger?” has not only been a discussion point for fans of the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe, but for the characters that also inhabit the MCU itself. Though the argument tends to come down to the likes of Hulk and Thor, and frankly, it remains a toss-up between them, there are still major heavy hitters in the wings of the MCU. Lest we forget, that for a time, Ikaris of the Eternals was flying around the world (though he is now off the table, having flown into the sun), while Captain Marvel remains a focal point of the franchise with power levels that have seemingly not even been fully explored.
It’s worth noting, though, that the MCU itself is shifting the answer to this question in profound ways. The Multiverse Saga may not be quite as cohesive as some fans wanted it to be, but the MCU has also gone out of its way to introduce major characters who have tremendous power levels, seemingly as set up for the next two Avengers movies. What’s most surprising about this isn’t the fact that they’ve kept up a steady pace of powerful new heroes in the mix, but that their powers are all so tremendously different from each other. Better yet, the MCU has introduced three of its most powerful heroes in the past nine months alone.
MCU’s Most Powerful Heroes Now Include a Kid and Two Others
It’s been less than a year since Marvel released its last two movies, Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps, with its most recent TV series, Wonder Man, arriving just last week. There may not immediately seem to be anything in common with all three of these projects, beyond set-up for Avengers: Doomsday, but all three of them have brought a new character into the MCU who immediately tops the power rankings of characters. Thunderbolts* saw the arrival of The Sentry, which comes paired with The Void, while The Fantastic Four: First Steps wrapped up with the reveal of Franklin Richards as a toddler. Finally, Wonder Man has it all in the name, giving us a glimpse of the title hero’s powers throughout the first season of the series.
The Sentry is the one hero out of all three of these characters whose abilities were immediately put to the test. Not only does the film make the claim that he’s more powerful than all the Avengers combined, it shows that in action, as bullets bounce off of him, he flies through the sky with ease, and tosses away countless opponents (including the Thunderbolts themselves, but also major tech like an attack helicopter). Furthermore, the Void side of the character gives him the ability to trap others within a shadow realm that preys on their weaknesses and doubts.
Franklin Richards’ powers were also put on display in First Steps, as the baby is able to revive his mother after her heroic sacrifice. As longtime Marvel fans know, Franklin comes with reality-warping abilities, changing the world around him to fit his exact desires on a whim, in addition to the stable of usual psychic abilities. Finally, Wonder Man reveals Simon Williams to not only be super strong and invulnerable, but he also comes equipped with the ability to generate massive waves of kinetic energy, something he uses to destroy an entire studio in Hollywood and seemingly escape from a super prison. The arrival of all three of these heroes in the MCU marks the single biggest expansion of power in the franchise in a decade, and maybe ever.
Avengers: Doomsday May Test All Three of the MCU’s Most Powerful Heroes
It’s clearly not a coincidence that three of the most powerful characters in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe have made their debut in less than a calendar year. The reason behind this could very well be that Avengers: Doomsday is just around the corner, and with three titans of the franchise now officially on the board, it means two things are possible. The first of these is that Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom may display his full potential and abilities by putting himself up against these characters, as two of them are confirmed to appear in the film. In the same way that Thanos eliminated Loki in the opening scene of Avengers: Infinity War to show how serious he was, it’s possible that Doom will make a character like Sentry bend the knee to him through a powerful display in the film.
The other possibility isn’t that Doom will arrive and immediately be more powerful than all three of these characters, but rather that he needs all three of them for his ultimate goal. Though we don’t really know all that much about Avengers: Doomsday‘s actual plot, we know that Avengers: Secret Wars will follow it one year later. Assuming that the movie follows the path of the 2015 version of that comic book storyline, Doom will be using the pieces of the multiverse to create Battleworld. One way to make that happen would be to use the combined powers of Sentry, Franklin Richards, and even Wonder Man to make that possible.
Franklin could be the catalyst to pull all the remaining pieces of the multiverse into one place, while Wonder Man’s abilities seem like the glue that could hold them together, taking on the role that Molecule Man held in the comics. Finally, Sentry could be what gives Doom the upper hand over the inhabitants of Battleworld, controlling the character to create submission across the survivors of the multiverse. In any event, it clearly can’t be a coincidence that three of the MCU’s most powerful heroes have all arrived in less than a year. What remains to be seen is how Marvel will use them now that they’re established.