Who Is the Strongest Marvel Character? Thanos Vs Captain Marvel Could Settle Debate in 'Avengers: Endgame'

A confrontation has been brewing between Captain Marvel and Thanos since before the release of Captain Marvel, beginning with the after credits scene in Avengers: Infinity War, which portrays Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) as the universe's last hope. If there's one thing we can safely guess about the plot of Avengers: Endgame, it's that Captain Marvel will be essential to the fight against Thanos and to reversing his Infinity Gauntlet-enabled decimation of the universe. So let's take a look at the two fighters, each warming up in their respective corners of the ring before the April 26 release date of Avengers: Endgame.

Thanos Vs. Captain Marvel

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Thanos vs. Captain Marvel could be central to "Avengers: Endgame." Marvel Studios

In one corner, we have Captain Marvel, who has four primary powers to deploy against Thanos: energy blasts, space flight, superhuman strength and "binary powers," or the ability to "generate and control any form of radiation or gravity."

While Thanos accrues incredible power thanks to the Infinity Gauntlet, his innate abilities are a bit more limited. Marvel lists just two: enhanced strength and tactical genius, specifically citing how he's manipulated events throughout the Marvel movies, including Loki's attack on New York in the first Avengers. But is Thanos still plotting from his retirement home now that he's won?

Thanos also has abilities in the comics that he hasn't yet exhibited in the movies, including psychic abilities and immortality, though neither is likely to affect the outcome of Avengers: Endgame.

When it comes to raw strength, it's likely even the super-powerful Marvel Cinematic Universe version of Captain Marvel comes up short against Thanos—whose intimidating height and size (he weighs nearly half a ton, according to Marvel) make him able to stand up to the Hulk.

Captain Marvel's determination is sure to make her a formidable foe for Thanos in Endgame, but it's not at all clear that Marvel could take Thanos in a head-to-head fight. Instead, she might be just what the Avengers need to turn the tide of the conflict.

Who is the strongest Marvel Character?

Ranking every one of the hundreds of Marvel characters is sure to involve some subjective interpretations, particularly if we're including all the cosmic weirdos that have inhabited the comics over the decades. But however you slice it, the Carol Danvers Captain Marvel of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is stronger than her comic-book equivalent.

When it comes to the all-time strongest Marvel superheroes, Comic Book Resources ranks Captain Marvel all the way at tenth on their ranking of the strongest Marvel comic book characters, above other Avengers characters like Captain America, Black Panther, Ant-Man, The Vision, Iron Man, Drax and Spider-Man, but significantly below their top two strongest Marvel superheroes: Thor and the Hulk.

But Marvel Comics has its own ranking, posted to their official site in 2018, which doesn't even include Captain Marvel in the top 10—the Hulk and Thor are, once again, numbers one and two.

Things are different in the MCU. On the runway for Avengers: Infinity War, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige described the cinematic Captain Marvel as the "most powerful superhero we've ever introduced."

That's pretty unambiguous, though his use of the term "superhero" does suggest there could be villains—including Thanos—more powerful than Carol Danvers. But for now, Danvers is at the top of the heap in the MCU and is probably going to beat Thanos into a pulp.

Captain Marvel and the Tesseract

But even if Captain Marvel isn't able to single-handedly beat Thanos—which would make Avengers: Endgame a very short movie—there's another plot point from Captain Marvel which is likely to play a major role in any potential Thanos vs. Captain Marvel faceoff.

Spoilers ahead for Captain Marvel.

In the most recent MCU movie, we learn Captain Marvel's powers came, at least in part, from the Tesseract: a vessel for the Space Stone seen in several previous Marvel movies. That means Danvers is imbued with part of the power of the Infinity Gauntlet. This could certainly give her an edge in any confrontation with Thanos—especially if she teams up with other Marvel superheroes capable of wielding individual stones, such as Vision (currently dead, but we'll see).

For now, all we can do is size up the combatants. On April 26, we'll finally see the battle between Captain Marvel and Thanos when Avengers: Endgame hits theaters.

Uncommon Knowledge

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