Most Marvel Comics fans have a rough idea of the universe’s power structure, with the One Above All at the top, Howard the Duck at the bottom, and various Avengers and X-Men scattered between them. However, the Marvel Universe is always in flux, and many beings who are technically the wielders of A-list power are currently dead, depowered, or missing in action. Figures like Odin (dead and enjoying his rest in Valhalla) and the Beyonder (currently depowered, and reduced to a disembodied consciousness) aren’t around to safeguard their reputations, with others moving up into their place.
Here, then, are the 30 most powerful characters in current Marvel canon, pulled from all corners of the Marvel Universe, from Elder Gods to mutants to Avengers. Fans can also stick around to the end for a selection of honorable mentions, given the sheer number of godlike beings currently fighting for the top slots.
After a valiant self-sacrifice to save his allies, Moon Knight’s soul was locked away in an afterlife while Khonshu was sealed in an Asgardian vault, unable to resurrect his champion. Thanks to the efforts of the Midnight Mission and the Wrecker, Khonshu was freed and soon Marc Spector was revived. Ultimately, Moon Knight may only be as powerful as his patron god. However, that power is based on faith.
Khonshu and Moon Knight
have recently struggled to meet eye-to-eye, but following their separation from each other, the “father” and “son” have mended their divine relationship. Now fully in sync with the God of Vengeance, Spector has accessed new levels of power reflective of his revitalized devotion to Khonshu. Likewise, Khonshu wants and needs Marc as his avatar.
Catch Moon Knight now in… |
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Series |
Creative Team |
Type of Comic |
Moon Knight: Fist of Khonshu |
Jed MacKay and Alessandro Cappuccio |
Ongoing Series |
Phases of the Moon Knight |
Declan Shalvey, Jed MacKay, Justina Ireland, Benjamin Percy, & Erica Schultz |
Ongoing Series (Anthology) |
While
Peter Parker may hold back
his strength, it doesn’t mean that Spider-Man hasn’t already been an unmatched physical power. However, now Peter Parker has received a series of mystical upgrades, bolstering Spider-Man’s current arsenal of tricks. Equipped with the Wicked Webs of Wundagore, the Luminescence of Limitless Langolin, and the Life-Restoring Reeds of Raggador, Spider-Man is now a completely well-rounded hero of both strength and magic.
Admittedly, Spidey isn’t handling his newfound power well. The fantastical beings from which his new garments draw their strength are fickle creatures. Fortunately, despite his slips, Peter’s unrivaled heroism always prevails.
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As
the son of Wolverine
, Akihiro already belongs to a strong pedigree of near-immortal mutants, literally bred to become living weapons. In death, he was chosen to become the vessel of Bagra-ghul, the Devil’s favorite demon. Now, Akihiro has risen from the grave as the Hellverine, riding the roads delivering profane and wicked vengeance.
Ghost Riders are only as strong as the hosts allow
their Spirits of Vengeance
to let loose. If Akihiro fully freed his body into the demon’s hands, he would quickly surpass both his father and Marvel’s other Ghost Riders. Only vengeance can satiate his inner demon.
Franklin Richards’ status as an all-powerful mutant (and as a mutant in general) has been a subject of debate and controversy. There was a time when the son of Reed Richards and Sue Storm was considered the most powerful hero in all of Marvel thanks to his power to bend reality at his whim. From sheer willpower alone, he could create a new universe in seconds, or destroy Mephisto in the same timeframe. His mere existence was enough to start a war between the Fantastic Four and the X-Men who wanted him on Krakoa.
In more recent memory, though, Franklin lost his powers, putting his all-powerful status in jeopardy. Even more damning, his status as a mutant was outright retconned as well. Most recently, though, he learned he never lost his powers after all. While his mutant status could return as well, the return of his powers puts him right back in the running.
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Few can compete with the name recognition of Thanos, but his grandfather, Uranos, is far more powerful. Described best by his writer as an “iconic counterpart to Thanos,” Uranos is one of three of the Patriarchs above the Eternals, largely due to his immensely powerful psychic abilities. As such, Uranos has frequently feuded with the Eternals, but Kieron Gillen reintroduced him recently as an enemy to the X-Men.
His qualms with the X-Men have seen Uranos slowly rise up the ranks as one of Marvel’s most dangerous god-tier villains, with a strong case being for him to be the most dangerous of them all. Case in point: during the Sins of Sinister arc, Uranos is seen brutally decimating and killing the heroes in one fell swoop as Marvel’s greatest weapon. Few villains have been able to do such a thing, but Uranos has the power to do so at the snap of his fingers, without the need for an Infinity Gauntlet.
For those who have not seen Juggernaut’s most recent work, some readers may be scratching their heads, as most readers are familiar with the supervillain for when he had his backside handed to him by the likes of Spider-Man and the Incredible Hulk. However, a lot of time has passed since then and in the time since Juggernaut transitioned into being a hero, joining the X-Men in the process, he’s also had his own power upgrades that boosted his feats of strength.
Among his most recent and impressive upgrades is one that places him on the god-tier level as others on this list. During the Dead X-Men series, he’s able to destroy Weapon M and save the multiverse in the process. Naturally, as Juggernaut becomes a fixture of the X-Men and a staple of the Marvel Universe’s hero line-up, it’s natural that creative teams are finding new ways to boost his power. Expect the trend to continue.
A lesser-known ’90s hero, the Krakoan Era has been kind to Synch. Synch’s powers used to be simple: he could copy the abilities of any mutant in his immediate vicinity. However, thanks to being resurrected by the X-Men, his powers got a major jump-start. Now, Synch can copy the powers of any enhanced being, and once he’s been in their vicinity once, he can summon their abilities from memory at any given time. That alone would make Synch powerful, but he was then trapped in the time-prison known as the Vault for multiple centuries, spending all that time practicing with his powers, leading to the iconic boast, “I’ve been Wolverine longer than anyone alive.”
Marvel had previously called Synch the X-Men’s most powerful member, however the recent X-Men #31 (from Gerry Duggan and Phil Noto) went further and confirmed that he’s capable of accessing literal god-level power. The one drawback is that manifesting powers from memory is damaging Synch’s genetic structure, causing him to effectively age every time he pushes himself to his limits.
Catch Synch now in… |
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Series |
Creative Team |
Type of Comic |
X-Men (2021) |
Gerry Duggan, Phil Noto, et al. |
Ongoing Series |
Rise of the Powers of X (2024) |
Kieron Gillen and R.B. Silva |
Five-Issue Miniseries |
Beginning in 2019, X-Men’s Krakoan Era has been huge for Storm. Moving to Mars (now named Arakko) as a leader for a nation of displaced mutants, Storm officially became the ‘Voice of Sol’ – aka the person the rest of the galaxy considers the solar system’s leader (and Earth’s politicians aren’t happy.) X-Men: Red has seen Storm protect that title from all challengers, as well as winning a civil war against Genesis – previously touted as the most skilled Omega mutant in existence.
The idea of an ‘Omega mutant’ has had different meanings over Marvel history. Currently, it refers to mutants who have the absolute version of their power set. Storm is an Omega mutant because there is no practical or theoretical version of weather-control powers that would exceed what she’s capable of at her best.
Storm has also continued to experiment with her powers, revealing the ability to crush an army by manipulating air pressure and even to wield Asgardian Bifrost energy. At the same time, she’s been harnessing her magical lineage and leaning into her mystic potential. Currently, she’s challenging the cosmic order of life and death in Resurrection of Magneto.
Catch Storm now in… |
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Series |
Creative Team |
Type of Comic |
Resurrection of Magneto (2024) |
Al Ewing and Luciano Vecchio |
Four-Issue Miniseries |
X-Men: Red (2022) |
Al Ewing and Stefano Caselli |
Ongoing Series (Concluded) |
For those unfamiliar with the All-Rider, it refers to the Robbie Reyes version of Ghost Rider who is destined to reach his ultimate form. In this form, Robbie is able to do practically anything, not limited by power or even his reality. He can produce Hellfire out of anything and anyone, even when it comes to burning through the Celestials. In theory, the Celestials themselves are among Marvel’s most powerful characters through their cosmic abilities, and so if All-Rider can burn them, that puts him on their same god-tier level, if not stronger.
On more than one occasion, All-Rider is referred to as the most powerful Avenger not only in existence, but the most powerful Avenger of the multiverse. Considering the feats he’s able to achieve, it’s hard to argue against such a proclamation.
By this point Thanos is synonymous with the collection, use, and power of Marvel’s iconic Infinity Stones. But with the iconic cosmic gems scattered across the universe to find homes in living people, the game has changed. Still, if the Infinity Stones are choosing new hosts in Marvel canon, you can bet Thanos is going to make sure he’s invited to that particular party.
Even so, Thanos has surprised his fans by creating the new Death Stone to join the other known variations, imprisoning the form and powers of his famous paramour, Lady Death herself. Exactly how Thanos will ue this power has yet to fully play out in the pages of Marvel’s new Infinity Watch storyline, but the Mad Titan deserves credit for maintaining his place among the mightiest Marvel figures to this day.
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Agatha Harkness is one of Earth’s oldest living witches whose long time on Earth has accumulated a profound amount of knowledge of the world’s oldest and darkest magic. Following the Scarlet Witch’s spiritual consumption of the true Darkhold, and Chthon alongside it, Agatha dedicated herself to bringing “balance” back to the realm of chaos magic. To Agatha, chaos magic cannot be dependent on the Scarlet Witch and a new Darkhold must be forged.
Her first step required her to secretly invade Wanda’s soul, face Chthon, and tear out his heart, which she did flawlessly. Next, she singlehandedly gathered many heroes from across the world, imbued them with chaos magic, and pitted them against each other. Agatha was interrupted by the then Sorcerer Supreme, Clea Strange, but Agatha proved to be the better spellcaster. While
Agatha’s ritual was interrupted
by Earth’s heroes, she was able to forge a new living Darkhold.
Catch Agatha Harkness now in… |
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Series |
Creative Team |
Type of Comic |
Crypt of Shadows (2024) |
Benjamin Percy, Chris Condon, Jason Loo, Steve Orlando, & Carlos Magno |
Single Issue Anthology |
Scarlet Witch (2024) |
Steve Orlando and Jacopo Camagni |
Ongoing Series |
While Quintin Quire may usually be an insufferable anti-human extremist, there are few people who can truly doubt the raw magnificence of Quire’s telepathic powers. Kid Omega has already
surpassed Charles Xavier
as Earth’s Omega Level Telepath, toppling the once-leader of all mutantkind. It has even been said that Quire’s telepathic powers rival Jean Grey’s.
If Quintin focuses hard enough, he can unlock his second mutation. Once active, Quentin ascends into an incorporeal consciousness that can instantly connect with all sentient life. Kid Omega holds immeasurable potential. Sometime in the future,
the young X-Man
is destined to surpass Jean Grey as the next Phoenix.
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While technically dead as of the moment of writing, ‘death’ doesn’t mean much to the former Phoenix, and she’s been working within the cosmic White Hot Room to consolidate her power, with whispers that X-Men: Forever will see Jean return as a major force. Considered the most powerful mutant alive by the human supremacist group Orchis, Jean’s power has only grown over the years, with her recent appearances in X-Men and King in Black seeing her compete with above-godlike entities such as Knull and Nightmare.
At the X-Men’s disastrous Hellfire Gala, despite dying from a magical poison, Jean managed to telekinetically restrain thousands of people, rewrite Doctor Stasis’ memories, and telepathically communicate with various friends and allies to organize mutantkind’s survival. She’s been working ever since to return to life, gaining a new understanding and kinship to the Phoenix Force, which in the past has pushed her towards corruption.
X-Men’s Krakoan Era is currently coming to a close, running from 2019-2024. Jean Grey has been a major figure during this comic era, and it’s clear she’ll play a decisive role in how it ends.
Catch Jean Grey now in… |
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Series |
Creative Team |
Type of Comic |
X-Men: Forever (2024) |
Kieron Gillen and Luca Maresca |
Upcoming Four-Issue Miniseries (Begins March 20) |
X-Men (2021) |
Gerry Duggan, Pepe Larraz, Phil Noto, et al. |
Ongoing Series |
Doctor Doom, for a very long time, has been considered and recognized as one of the world’s most advanced minds and sorcerers. In both cases, his studious nature and his tenacity to delve into the darker realms of science and magic have gifted Victor with an impressive level of expertise in both fields. Doom is so heavily recognized for his talents that many of Marvel’s heroes have enlisted the aid of their frequent enemy to save them from greater threats.
Following the Blood Hunt event, Doom surpassed Dr. Strange’s magical abilities to wield the powers of the Darkhold to stop the vampire threat for good. Strange imparted his title and rights as the
Sorcerer Supreme to Doctor Doom
, giving the royal sorcerer enough power to cast a never-before-seen spell that harnessed all forms of magic to not only break through the Darkforce but also cure vampires from their weakness to sunlight. In the wake of a victory that only he could achieve, Doom has proclaimed that there can only be
Catch Doctor Doom now in… |
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Series |
Creative Team |
Type of Comic |
Blood Hunt |
Jed MacKay and Pepe Larraz |
Complete Series (Concluded) |
One World Under Doom #1 |
Ryan North and R.B. Silva |
Mini-Series (Debuts February 12) |
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Since his comic debut, Hyperion has often been considered a pale imitation of Superman. A being of immeasurable power, he often spends more time fighting multiversal variants of himself than he does his villains. Due to his complicated multiversal nature, Hyperion is the epitome of endless and fast-changing power.
In Earth-1938, Hyperion had intervened in a fight between the Laughing Cat and Nighthawk. However, the supposedly heroic Nighthawk attacked Hyperion, infecting him with a Venom strain that the Darkforce android had picked up in space. Now combining his Celestial-level power and the multiversal awareness Venom grants his wielders, Earth-1938 Hyperion is considered to be the most powerful Venom in the entire Multiverse. Acknowledged by Eventuality, the future Anti-All of the Ninth Cosmos, Hyperion Venom may come to play a critical role as a new cosmic threat rears its head in the course of the Venom War –
Catch Hyperion now in… |
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Series |
Creative Team |
Type of Comic |
Venomverse Reborn #4: “Nighthawk v. Hyperion” |
Dan Slott and Stephen Byrne |
Single Issue |
While Doctor Strange may be Marvel’s most famous magic user, Scarlet Witch certainly seems to be wielding more raw power as of late. Her recent feats include creating a magical afterlife for all mutants who ever died (a waiting room from which they can eventually be resurrected) and consuming the Elder God Chthon and his spellbook, the Darkhold.
While many expected Wanda to lose control of this new power, she’s instead mastered it, becoming an emergency consultant for anyone in desperate need while also rejoining the Avengers. There’s a definite sense that if she wanted to be the Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Strange would be out of a job.
Catch Scarlet Witch now in… |
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Series |
Creative Team |
Type of Comic |
Avengers (2024) |
Jed MacKay, Carlos Villa, et al. |
Ongoing Series |
Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver (2024) |
Steve Orlando and Lorenzo Tammetta |
Four-Issue Miniseries |
Scarlet Witch (2023) |
Steve Orlando and Sara Pichelli |
Ongoing Series (Concluded) |
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Marvel’s recently concluded The Sentry saw six people granted a portion of the Sentry’s unbelievable power. Sadly, this wasn’t enough for the new ‘Ryan Sentry,’ who decided to kill off his competition to claim their portions of the Sentry’s might and turn himself into the ultimate superhuman. Thankfully, Ryan was beaten by journalist Mallory Gibbs, who was able to siphon away his power, claiming the Sentry’s incredible abilities for herself. However, given the mixed legacy of the heroes who came before her, Mallory has opted to pursue heroism under the new name ‘Solaris.’
Sentry’s power has almost no limits – while the original tended to use his flight, superstrength, and invulnerability as default, his true ability is total control over reality on a molecular level. Sentry has brought people back from the dead, torn holes in the fabric of reality, and telepathically rewritten the memories of everyone on Earth, meaning there’s essentially nothing Solaris can’t do. However, while she has near-infinite power, Mallory is still scared of her own potential, and has only just begun training with Misty Knight to use her powers responsibly.
Catch the Sentry now in… |
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Series |
Creative Team |
Type of Comic |
The Sentry (2023) |
Jason Loo, David Cutler, Luigi Zagaria |
Four-Issue Miniseries (Concluded) |
When Synch “became a god” in X-Men #31, it was to defend his friends from the ultimate Sentinel, codenamed Nimrod. Unfortunately, despite his burst of power, Nimrod was only staggered, and was soon back on his feet attempting to kill the X-Men’s best and brightest. The apex form of AI life on Earth, Nimrod is dedicated to slaughtering mutantkind and leading the uprising of robotic life, with plans to summon a Dominion to Earth – a godlike AI that will raze the planet of all biological life.
Nimrod’s power lies in his adaptability – he’s a database of every superpower on Earth and contains measures to adapt to and defeat their abilities. Even Legion – one of the most powerful X-Men in history, able to unleash an army of different powers – has admitted he can’t beat Nimrod, having run a series of simulations where he lost every time.
Catch Nimrod now in… |
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Series |
Creative Team |
Type of Comic |
X-Men (2021) |
Gerry Duggan, Pepe Larraz, Phil Noto, et al. |
Ongoing Series |
Fall of the House of X (2024) |
Gerry Duggan and Lucas Werneck |
Five-Issue Miniseries |
Rise of the Powers of X (2024) |
Kieron Gillen and R.B. Silva |
Five-Issue Miniseries |
The
Incredible Hulk is a powerhouse
of strength and an immortal with no sense of pain or limits. Coming off the end of the Immortal Hulk series, it was revealed to Bruce Banner and his many Hulk alters that they could not die. That self-confidence has propelled Hulk to push past his previously conceived limits and somewhat given him new expertise in navigating the amorphous nature of magical realms.
Throughout his currently ongoing series, Hulk has smashed his way through endless hordes of twisted monsters, maddened angels, and wicked gods to achieve his ultimate goals. Soon, Banner and the Hulk must face an enemy on the same level as the Once Above All, the progenitor of all monsters called the Mother of Horrors. If Hulk has proven anything recently, it’s that death may never touch him but will certainly grasp his enemies.
Catch Hulk now in… |
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Series |
Creative Team |
Type of Comic |
The Incredible Hulk |
Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Nic Klein |
Ongoing Series |
Werewolf by Night #5 |
Jason Loo and Sergio Dávila |
Single Issue of Ongoing Series |
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Carnage spent the last few years redefining his powers and place in the Marvel Universe. Starting out by consuming a range of D-list villains, Carnage collected their under-utilized powers and used them to hunt versions of Venom across the multiverse, even slaughtering another reality’s version of Knull, the King in Black. Most recently, Venom #30 (Al Ewing, CAFU, Rafael Pimentel) saw Carnage ascend to true godhood, challenging Eddie Brock for his rulership over all symbiote life. This challenge will result in the upcoming Symbiosis Necrosis event, where a symbiote battle royale will act as the ultimate Venom vs Carnage face-off.
Catch Carnage now in… |
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Series |
Creative Team |
Type of Comic |
Carnage (2024) |
Torunn Grønbekk and Pere Pérez |
Ongoing Series |
Venom (2021) |
Al Ewing, Torunn Grønbekk, Ram V., Bryan Hitch, et al. |
Ongoing Series |
Carnage (2022) |
Ram V., Rogê Antônio, Fransceso Manna, et al. |
Ongoing Series (Concluded) |
Thor has finally unlocked the knowledge of the All-Power, allowing him to do pretty much anything…
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