Who can defeat Thanos? Who is the strongest Avenger? Avengers: Endgame saw the end of Thanos and his mad gambit to destroy half of all life in the cosmos. Iron Man finally got the better of him, but for fans of both the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the original Marvel Comics, it’s always fun to imagine how things would have gone with different characters.
Thanos is very powerful in his own right, even without the Infinity Stones, making it unlikely for some heroes to get the drop on him. Still, the MCU has shown what it takes is determination and a little bit of luck, there is a broad range of characters with the ability to take down Thanos.
Updated on May 3rd, 2021, by Darby Harn: WandaVision and The Falcon And The Winter Soldier both advanced the character arcs for the series respective characters. They also reframed the debate on who can beat Thanos. The series introduced some new candidates to the mix and also redefined the powers and potential of some others, things might have played out differently than they did originally if the Mad Titan had made his play a little bit later in the evolution of the MCU. Given the prospect of the multiverse in the MCU, the potential remains for fans to find out in a potential rematch.
20 Captain America (Sam Wilson)
Sam Wilson has no superpowers, but he has the character and integrity to take on anybody. With the Captain America shield, his new Wakandan suit, and his outstanding skills as a fighter, Sam is a formidable opponent. He might not be the most likely amongst the Avengers to defeat Thanos, though.
Non-powered humans like Black Widow and Hawkeye could compete with the Mad Titan, but in the end he’s too strong. Sam has the advantage of his wings giving him an aerial dimension to the battle. He also has capacity to listen and counsel, and if anybody could talk Thanos out of it, it would be Sam.
19 The Winter Soldier
Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier, is among the most skilled soldier and assassins in the world. He has enhanced strength, stamina, and reflexes. On top of that, he has a vibranium arm courtesy of Wakanda that no one would want to get hit by. He matches up against Thanos about as well as Steve Rogers.
Steve Rogers was able to go toe to toe against Thanos for a while, but in the end, the Mad Titan was far too strong for him. It would be the same for Bucky, though his sober determination to do whatever it takes would be a -powerful motivator.
18 Ant-Man
We’ve seen Ant-Man in action, and it’s clear that he’d lose quickly in a one-on-one with Thanos. However, we’ve seen from Janet van Dyne that extended periods of time inside the Quantum Realm can give someone enhanced abilities and powers.
His ability to change size between being tiny and being a giant is a huge upper hand advantage to anybody who fights him and could certainly prove too much for Thanos. Plus, there is the classic theory of entering from an area nobody wants to deal with to defeat him.
17 Drax
Purely because of how much emotional investment Drax has in wanting to kill Thanos, he has to be considered as an option of someone who could kill him. Drax’s family was killed by Thanos, and that has led to all of his anger, which he is willing to take out whenever he gets the chance.
While he might not be as strong as Thanos when he has all of the Infinity Stones, if Drax got the chance to fight him when he was more vulnerable, he could prove to be a great match.
16 Black Panther
Black Panther is an incredible warrior and someone who fights with tons of heart and passion. The fact that he can radiate the energy from the beatdowns he takes would be a big advantage, especially against Thanos as that would allow him to fight back with a lot of extra power.
Plus, the technology that Wakanda has at its disposal would no doubt allow him to create a brilliant weapon or suit if he was aware of Thanos and the power that he has, which could give him an advantage.
15 Star-Lord
Another victim of Thanos’s Decimation, Peter Quill ultimately dropped the ball and allowed Thanos to secure all the Stones he needed to wipe out half the universe from existence.
Quill is half-celestial, and we’ve seen before that he can handle the effects of the Infinity Stone better than most. And while he may be cut off from his powers, he theoretically still has access to them. This could mean that an angry demigod Star-Lord could have gone for Thanos with a blaster in one hand and his Zune in the other.
14 Spider-Man
When The Avengers manage to get their hands on Thanos during Avengers: Infinity War, Spider-Man proves just how useful he can be against Thanos. He almost manages to slip off the glove and causes issues from afar by using his web-slinging ability.
His flexibility coupled with the fact that he can hit Thanos from any direction while quickly darting out of the way make him a legitimate threat to Thanos if he was given a one on one chance.
13 Captain America
The First Avenger seems an unlikely candidate to make the killing blow against Thanos. Steve Rogers makes it clear that he doesn’t want to kill anyone right before he becomes Captain America, and he’s done his best to hold on to that ideal. But given the darker turn that fans have seen Steve Rogers take in the MCU, it’s not out of line to imagine that he has the ability to kill Thanos.
Cap was able to hold back a nearly unstoppable Thanos with just his bare hands, an impressive physical feat. Add in the ability to use his shield, and the fact that he can wield Thor’s hammer, and Cap is just as capable as anyone.
12 Billy & Tommy Maximoff
The final fate of Billy and Tommy Maximoff remains unknown (in the MCU at least; they’re Wiccan and Speed in the comic books). But given the brief glimpse fans got of their powers in WandaVision, they could potentially be a threat to Thanos even at their young age.
Speed can run as fast as Quicksilver, a power that would have been very useful against Thanos in any engagement with him. Wiccan’s powers are less well defined, but he appears to be both telepathic and telekinetic, two abilities that would be difficult to reckon with in battle.
11 Agatha Harkness
Agatha Harkness is one of the most powerful magicians in Marvel Comics. She’s also a powerhouse in the MCU who was immune to The Hex. Agatha can drain magic and energy from others, making her an immediate threat to Thanos. In her hands, the Infinity Gauntlet would be even more terrifying.
Agatha is not more powerful it seems than Wanda or Doctor Strange, but she is open to exploring whatever power and magic is necessary to further her aims. That would give her a decent chance against Thanos even with the Infinity Stones.
10 Doctor Strange
Master of the Mystic Arts and Sorcerer Supreme, Stephen Strange was able to give a cryptic message to Tony Stark about how this was all part of his “endgame” plan before becoming a pile of dust. Proving that he was willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good.
When seeing the millions of possibilities where the Avengers tried to take down Thanos, Doctor Strange only saw one where they might succeed. While he wasn’t directly involved in that, there’s no doubt he has the sheer abilities to have taken him down in an alternate universe.
9 Vision
Sure, in the way things played out in the MCU, Thanos actually killed Vision, the fact is that the two never encounter each other when Vision is 100% healthy. Because he has one of the Infinity Stones as part of his body, it would have been very interesting to see them fight.
He has incredible ability and powers and being able to fight from different heights would have really caused Thanos some problems which is why it is actually a shame that Marvel didn’t provide fans with this dream encounter.
8 Monica Rambeau
Monica Rambeau’s full power potential isn’t currently known, but given what was on display on WandaVision, she would be among a small group of heroes favored to defeat Thanos. She was able to phase through the Hex that Wanda created around Westview. In the process, she gained extraordinary powers.
Comic book fans know that Monica Rambeau has a broad range of impressive powers, many similar to Carol Danvers and all of them potentially lethal to Thanos. She can transform herself into any form of energy within the electromagnetic spectrum, including gamma rays.
7 Captain Marvel
Fans haven’t truly seen what Carol Danvers can bring to the table yet. They have a good idea of her abilities and powers, but there’s almost certainly so much more lying in wait.
She has training from the Kree, who had managed to keep Thanos in check for quite a while. Even more telling, Nick Fury’s last act before he disappeared from the Snap was to page Captain Marvel for help. If Nick Fury’s final thoughts were to contact Captain Marvel for help, then that’s a pretty unbeatable endorsement.
6 Hulk
The Hulk was a bit camera shy when we saw him in Avengers: Infinity War. After squaring down with Thanos aboard the Asgardian ship, Hulk was unwilling to come out again afterward to fight Thanos.
But this wasn’t because he was afraid; he didn’t like being used as Banner’s get-out-of-jail-free card. As such, he didn’t feel like fighting Thanos or any of his minions. With Banner and The Hulk on the same page, and a totally trained and healthy body, Thanos would be hard-pressed to stop him.
5 Nebula
There’s something to be said for Nebula’s persistent efforts to kill her adopted father. Even after having most of her body broken and destroyed, she managed to put herself back together time after time.
There is practically no one in the universe that knows Thanos as well as she does. Not to mention after years of physical and mental torture at his hands, there’s no one half as motivated or as capable of bringing him down. Nebula also has comic history backing her up; she was the one to remove the Infinity Gauntlet and defeat Thanos in The Infinity Gauntlet comic series.
4 Gamora
As everyone learns during Avengers: Endgame, Gamora is no longer dead, which was one of the highlights of the movie. While she isn’t technically Thanos’ daughter, she does grow up with him and has a clear and distinct backstory as to why she’d want to kill him.
Unlike the vast majority of the characters in the MCU, Gamora knows Thanos inside out. She knows how he thinks, why he acts in certain ways, and that would lead to her being able to expose those weaknesses to potentially defeat him, especially since she’s his biggest weak point.
3 Thor
Can Thor beat Thanos? In the MCU he certainly would have, if only he had aimed for the head. The Asgardian Son of Odin was extremely close to ending Thanos at the end of Avengers: Infinity War. After gaining the powerful weapon Stormbreaker, Thor becomes the wielder of the most powerful weapon in the universe.
Stormbreaker is capable of killing Thanos outright, and only Thor is currently worthy of wielding it. A head to head match up between Thor at full power and Thanos, even armed with the gauntlet, seems to favor the God of Thunder.
2 Iron-Man
Of course, this is the man who is actually able to defeat Thanos in the end, sacrificing himself in order to kill him. He loses his own life to do that, proving just how unselfish he is at his core, with Iron-Man’s power and strength of character being the overwhelming power for him.
Thanos had pure strength and the power of the Stones at his disposal, but his conviction was outmatched by Tony Stark’s. While other characters might have the ability to take him down, there can be no arguing this one.
1 Scarlet Witch
The power of the Scarlet Witch against Thanos was on display in both Infinity War and Endgame. It was also acknowledged in WandaVision – she very nearly beat him. Now, having fully embraced her power as a witch and practitioner of chaos magic, it’s clear – Wanda would destroy Thanos.
Even if he had the Infinity Gauntlet, her ability to alter reality and manipulate space and time would render him as helpless as any of the people in Westview. She took on a powerful witch in Agatha Harkness and has the potential to take on even more powerful foes in the future.
