The MCU is growing all the time, with The Fantastic Four: First Steps the latest movie to join the media franchise. With it comes a new superhero team, and Marvel’s first family are pretty powerful, to say the least. They will end up being very handy indeed by the time Avengers: Doomsday rolls around, joined by a slew of other incredible heroes from Marvel’s back catalogue.
So, with this in mind, we’ve put together a list of the most powerful groups in the MCU at the moment, including details on where you can watch them in action to make sure you’re clued up on the whole Avengers: Doomsday cast.
The Resistance
Are they the strongest heroes? Not really. They must be smart, then, surely? Actually, no, not at all. But do they at least work well together as a team? Not so much. Still, what the Resistance lacks in… just about everything, they make up for in sheer defiance and never knowing when to quit.
You’ll have seen the likes of Deadpool and Wolverine joining forces with Gambit, X-23, and Elektra in the aptly named Deadpool & Wolverine (who would have guessed it?) Between regeneration and being almost unkillable, plus explosives, expletives, and knife skills, the Resistance sure does bring variety and levity to the battlefield.
The Eternals
The oldest superhero team in the MCU has been around for more than 7,000 years, even having a hand in sculpting the path of human history. If you watched Eternals, you’ll know the titular team has a wide range of abilities, including matter manipulation, super strength, super speed, and mind control.
Sadly, we’ve not seen these godlike characters since their singular outing in 2021, and it’s highly likely they’ve been boxed up and left on a shelf by Kevin Feige and Co. now. (Please, won’t someone address that huge Celestial that rose from the crust of the Earth?!)
The Thunderbolts
A misfit team of antiheroes put together unwittingly by the rather sneaky Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. Initially, Fontaine wanted the likes of US Agent and Yelena Belova to kill one another and help clean up her mess; instead, the rogues banded together in their titular movie to stop her, creating a cute little group known as the Thunderbolts. By the end of Thunderbolts*, the former antagonists truly do turn good, and they even get a new name (but we won’t spoil that just in case you’ve still not seen the film).
While this MCU crew mostly relies on combat skills alone, they do have ‘Bob’ on their side, otherwise known as Sentry, one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel realm.
The Guardians of the Galaxy
Ever since we first met Peter Quill, Gamora, Drax, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy, they’ve been a fan-favourite bunch of A-holes in the MCU. Much like the Thunderbolts, these intergalactic mercenaries are not wholly benevolent; they’re actually pretty selfish at times, but they do develop some semblance of a moral compass over their three movies.
With Peter, aka Star-Lord, being a demigod, the Guardians have a great starting argument in claiming to be the most powerful group in the MCU. Gamora and Drax bring the muscle, Rocket is great with technology and weapons, and Groot is one very strong tree. Plus, by the end of the trilogy-closer, the Guardians adopt Adam Warlock, who, like Sentry, is one of the strongest characters Marvel has ever created.
The Marvels
Chances are, the Marvels could win most fights with just one of their members doing all the work. That member is Captain Marvel, who is right up there among the most powerful beings in the whole universe. Even Thanos was petrified of her.
While she usually likes working alone, Captain Marvel picks up a couple of accomplices in The Marvels, with Kamala Khan (Ms. Marvel) and Monica Rambeau (Photon) fighting by her side. Together, they can fly, shapeshift, and mess with the electromagnetic field, all of which is pretty useful in a battle.
The X-Men
Admittedly, there’s been very little of the X-Men in the MCU so far. We’ve only really seen Beast in a post-credits scene attached to The Marvels. Played by Kelsey Grammer, Beast (Hank McCoy) is one of the original X-Men characters from the classic trilogy, first appearing in his mutant form in X-Men: The Last Stand.
We’ll be seeing plenty more of him and the rest of the mutants soon enough, though. The likes of Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), Magneto (Ian McKellen), and Cyclops (James Marsden) – all supremely powerful mutants in their own ways – are signed on to reprise their roles for Avengers: Doomsday, though how long they’ll be in that film for is unknown.
The Avengers
We simply wouldn’t be having this debate about the most powerful groups in the MCU were it not for the ultimate Marvel team, the Avengers. Originally comprising Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye in The Avengers, this roster of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes is by far the most popular and versatile group in the MCU.
Their makeup has changed over time, of course, with members leaving (or dying) and new heroes being deemed worthy of joining. By the time Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame came around, you could also include the likes of Ant-Man, Black Panther, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, Scarlet Witch, and Vision. The Avengers have all bases covered when it comes to superpowers.
The Fantastic Four
Our newest group of MCU superheroes has very quickly shown how powerful they are by taking on Galactus in First Steps. Between Sue Storm’s psionic powers, Johnny Storm’s pyrokinesis, and Ben Grimm’s brute strength, they’re already well-rounded. Throw in Reed Richards’ stretching ability and unparalleled intelligence, and you’ve got a group capable of becoming the dominant force on Earth.
Without spoiling the new MCU flick, it’s also worth noting that Sue and Reed’s son, Franklin, is kind of a big deal. There’s a reason the Fantastic Four are Marvel’s First Family: they set the standard for comic book super teams in 1961, pre-dating even the Avengers. In short, the Fantastic Four are very important, very powerful, and they’ll be the key to saving the universe from Doom.
Where to watch the most powerful characters in the MCU streaming online
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