The Avengers lineup has changed time and again over the years—and the current lineup in 2022 is far from clear cut. We have the Young Avengers, the Dark Avengers, the Original Avengers—but who is the strongest of them all?
I’ve put together my own arbitrary rules to rank the 10 strongest Avengers from the MCU. I’ve kept it to those that are currently active, because otherwise this list would still be ongoing in 2122. Please feel free to fight me about my choices in the comments.
10) Captain America
Unlike many Avengers, Sam Wilson has one special trait: actual training. Having served in the US military and then in the Avengers under Steve Rogers, Sam has actually worked his way through the ranks and proven himself time and time again.
What’s perhaps most impressive is that he has no special powers, no serum, no magical help. It’s Sam, his wings, his strength, and his smarts. That’s my Captain America!
9) Shang-Chi
Trained as a world-class assassin since childhood, Shang-Chi is incredibly skilled at martial arts. Not only does he have the raw aggression of his father, his aunt has also trained him in the defensive strategy of his mother’s people. Now with the Ten Rings in his back pocket, he has the mythical powers to back up his tactical mind and ass-kicking moves.
8) She-Hulk
To be clear, I am not judging Jennifer Walters’s strength on her courtroom skills. Despite adamantly saying she’s not an Avenger, She-Hulk is still facing down baddies like Titania, and fighting the good fight. During Jen’s fight with her cousin Bruce Banner at his lab in Mexico, Jen seems pretty fairly matched with him, perhaps even outranking him.
I’ve placed her below Banner here simply because she doesn’t have the desire to fight. Every battle she’s been in has been forced—and if she doesn’t have a stomach for battle, I have to see that as a weakness for an Avenger.
7) The Hulk
One of the few OG Avengers left, Smart Hulk is a double threat now that Bruce has integrated his two personalities, combining his own intelligence with Hulk’s brawn. Even without Banner, the Hulk faced down the worst that Sakaar could throw at him in Thor: Ragnarok.
My only reservation about this new Hulk is that, without the unrestrained ferocity of the original Hulk, can Smart Hulk really fight in the same way? We haven’t seen him tested against anyone but She-Hulk so far, so only time will tell.
6) Valkyrie
She’s got political power, she’s got physical power, she’s got queer power; this King is smashing it left, right, and centre. Valkyrie can fight her battles one-handed, with a large drink in the other. On Earth, she has the power of gods, but even out in space, she’s rarely bested.
Plus, she rides a winged horse. That instantly doubles your strength points just for sheer aesthetic.
5) Thor Odinson
Before Thor: Love and Thunder, Thor had everything on his side: god strength, lightning powers, and centuries of battle training. Now he’s got one extra power: dad strength.
Seriously, though, there are very few people who can hold their own with Thor. He has a Thanos-killing weapon and enough raw power to level armies single-handedly. As Avengers go, he’s one of the very best.
4) Doctor Strange
Doctor Strange is a master of the mystic arts, only losing out to the position of Sorceror Supreme due to a ‘technicality.’ Although he may have been killed a few times over in Doctor Strange and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, his quick-thinking tactics have helped him face down Dormammu, defeat Thanos, and imprison and contain Thor and Loki without disturbing his tea.
Plus, fighting Dormammu saw him spend what some fans believe was centuries honing his battle skills. He’s definitely who I’d want on my side facing down a world-ending threat.
3) Spider-Man
This might be a controversial one, but hear me out. Spider-Man: No Way Home saw Peter Parker in a whole new dimension: the Mirror Dimension. He was able to use his mathematical skills to outwit Doctor Strange, a sorcerer who put Norse gods in their place, keeping him trapped there for most of the film. In my book, being able to best someone makes you automatically stronger than them (and I make the rules on this list).
Spider-Man’s strength is often underestimated as well; he catches serum-powered Bucky’s vibranium arm with barely a wince and a quip at the age of just 16. As we move into an era of an older Spider-Man with Tom Holland, on his own in New York City, I’m keen to see how this raw strength and intelligence matures.
2) Captain Marvel
Even if Carol Danvers isn’t around much, it’s her who turns the tide of battle in Avengers: Endgame. She holds her own with Thanos in hand-to-hand combat for longer than Thor, Iron Man, or Steve Rogers, and takes down his enormous warship single-handedly.
Danvers is also trained by both human and Kree military, making her a skilled tactician capable of defending several planets across the universe, if her hints at where she’s been since the ’90s are anything to go by. Plus, she did all of this while being crushed by the weight of sexist Marvel fans. Killing it.
1) Scarlet Witch
Even before Wanda Maximoff accessed her full powers as the Scarlet Witch in the finale of WandaVision and then entered her villain era in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, she was the only Avenger capable of holding her own with Thanos.
She literally began to rip him apart with her magic in Avengers: Endgame, and then went toe to toe with the best of Wong’s magicians in Multiverse of Madness. It was only the emotional impact of her children that finally made her stop. Basically, the only person who can stop Wanda…is Wanda herself. Enough said; she’s at the top of this list.
(featured image: Marvel)
