In just a few weeks, Avengers: Infinity War will be in theaters worldwide. For years now, we’ve known the big bad of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was Thanos and we’ve been collectively waiting for the time to come when the Mad Titan would lay siege on Earth and force every hero to team up. Like in the comics, this is going to be a all-hands-on-deck kind of situation. Everyone (excluding Marvel’s Netflix and ABC heroes) is going to be called in to help fight the fight that no single Avenger can fight alone. With Thanos’ quest to destroy half of the universe, odds are this will be one battle that will leave their mark on the MCU.
While people are pondering over who’ll survive Thanos’ campaign, folks should also be considering who is going to stop the malevolent Titan? Someone has to beat him! At least that’s the assumption. With such a plethora of heroes to choose from, it could be anyone. Granted some heroes are more powerful than others, but in a fight like this, it’s going to require more than brute force to beat Thanos and his minions. Today at CBR, we’re looking at which heroes in the MCU have the best (and worst) chance of taking down Thanos.
15 HAWKEYE
With nothing but a bow and arrow, Hawkeye often finds himself out of his league when dealing with aliens or homicidal robots. Even so, he’s proven capable of holding his own in the face of threats that are leagues above his pay grade. Having already spent oodles of time making trick arrows for any occasion, there’s always the chance he’s crafting one super awesome arrow specifically designed to take down living gods.
Hawkeye is also an oddity; we haven’t seen any mention or sight of him in any of the Avengers: Infinity War trailers. Where is he and what’s he doing if he’s not fighting Thanos? Is he being saved for an especially epic moment? It’s not outside the realm of possibility, but having Thanos getting defeated by an arrow would be an unsatisfying conclusion to many.
14 SPIDER-MAN
Peter Parker, the ever so amazing Spider-Man, is a relatively new addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The arachnid-based superhero might have the proportional strength, speed, and agility of a spider, but that doesn’t mean he’s anywhere close to being in league with Thanos. That said, Spidey will be donning the Iron Spider costume we saw at the end of Spider-Man: Homecoming, but that’ll only give him the tiniest sliver of a fighting chance.
Still, we’re not terribly worried for Spider-Man. Tom Holland is already on board with making a sequel to his last Spider-Man movie, so while Spidey isn’t known for delivering the smackdown on universe-threatening villains, he’ll definitely help out and save whoever he can and do whatever is necessary for his fellow heroes to beat Thanos.
13 LOKI
Ever the trickster, Thor’s half-brother Loki is known for having allegiances to one person only: himself. Though he might have found redemption in Thor: Ragnarok, we’ve seen before that it doesn’t take much for Loki to fall off the good guy wagon and become an instrument of chaos.
While Loki might not be as strong as Thor, he’s plenty powerful and can take care of himself in a scuffle. When Thanos comes knocking, it looks pretty evident that Loki, if only to save himself, is going to assist the Mad Titan. After all, Loki is the one with the Cosmic Cube, which he apparently hands over to Thanos. The hows and whys are a little unclear, but knowing Loki, he’s not going to make any outwardly bold moves against Thanos. If anything, Loki will bide his time to see who’s going to win, before he allies himself with anyone.
12 VISION
Just because Vision is one of the mightiest Avengers in both the comics and the Marvel Cinematic Universe, doesn’t mean he’s going to be winning the day against the Mad Titan. Sure, Vision’s synthetic android body is made of Vibranium (the stuff Black Panther uses to kick butt) and he’s powered by the Mind Stone, which allows him to fire intense energy blasts, but therein lies the problem.
Thanos needs the Mind Stone to make the Infinity Gauntlet whole, so he can bet he’s going to come to Vision’s door. In the trailer, we’ve already seen Vision having a bad day with someone, presumably Corvus Glaive, attempting to slice the stone out of his head. Even if Vision lives on to fight another day, the chances of him taking down Thanos are unlikely.
11 CAPTAIN AMERICA
The heart of the Avengers and the MCU, things are already looking bad for Captain America in Avengers: Infinity War. Despite being a guy who’s never once shied away from a fight, we get the sense his time is running out. Chris Evans has already said he’s pretty much done with the MCU and is ready for someone to take up the mantle of Captain America.
Yet if time’s run out for the Star Spangled Avenger, Captain America isn’t going down without a fight. In the comics, Cap has an iconic last stand against Thanos. Will history repeat itself? Perhaps, but with Cap’s inherent goodness and overwhelming nobility that almost let him lift Thor’s hammer, maybe that’s the key to his survival. In the trailer, he and Thanos get up close and personal; what if Cap manages to turn the power of the Infinity Gauntlet against its user?
10 DRAX
In the comics, Drax the Destroyer was specifically created to do just as his name implies. He was meant to be the harbinger of doom for Thanos, and while he did punch out the Mad Titan’s heart in the source material, having internal organs flying across the screen is not the sort of thing Marvel films are known for. Regardless, we are of the opinion that Drax will play an important role in Avengers: Infinity War.
One of the strongest members of the Guardians of the Galaxy, and especially deadly with a blade (or two), it’s unclear what Drax’s history with Thanos is at this point. However, one thing’s for certain, he’ll relish the chance to fight someone of great strength. Hopefully, unlike in the first Guardians of the Galaxy, Drax will stay in control of his temper and help our heroes out in a big way.
9 SCARLET WITCH
If there’s going to be a wild card when facing the Mad Titan and his cohorts, it’ll be the Scarlet Witch. A potential contender for one of the strongest heroes in the MCU, she’s demonstrated a wide range of powers including mind control, force fields, and telekinesis. She hasn’t fully mastered her abilities yet, so there’s room for her to grow, but we’ve watched as she defeated the Vision all by herself in Captain America: Civil War. Additionally Scarlet Witch’s psionic abilities allow her to levitate and manipulate objects on a molecular level.
If Wanda Maximoff gets any kind of power-up and becomes like her comic book counterpart, then maybe she can alter reality enough to throw Thanos for a loop. It’s wishful thinking, but Thanos’ defeat will probably come from a more popular hero.
8 BLACK PANTHER
Ever since Black Panther debuted in Captain America: Civil War, T’Challa has demonstrated he’s one of the most capable superheroes in the MCU. While Captain America owns a shield made of Vibranium, a kinetic-force-absorbing metal, T’Challa wears an entire suit made of the stuff. The suit has incredible abilities and when it’s combined with T’Challa’s panther powers, he’s neigh unbeatable by normal people standards. Additionally, Black Panther has all of Wakanda at his beck and call.
We know Wakanda is going to fight Thanos and his forces; this’ll be one fight for the history books. In the comics, Black Panther’s beaten Thanos in seconds, creating a nifty little device that temporarily shut off the bad guy’s brain. Though it’d be cool to have Black Panther take out Thanos in mere moments, it wouldn’t make for much of a movie.
7 HULK
The “strongest one there is”, when it comes to pure, brute strength, there are few mortals in the universe that can match the Hulk. In the comics, Thanos has said there are only a handful of beings he actively tries to avoid fighting; the Hulk is one of them. We’ve seen Hulk defeat Loki with ease, take on Surtur the Fire Demon, and come this close to beating Thor. If the Hulk is pushed to the breaking point and his anger is fully unleashed, Thanos might have his hands full for a minute or two.
Unfortunately the Hulk’s primary means of attack is punching, with little finesse behind any of his moves. Thanos, who’ll probably have a couple of Infinity Gems by the time he encounters the jade giant, will be swimming in more power than the Hulk knows how to handle.
6 GAMORA
The Guardians of the Galaxy have a pretty impressive team and Gamora only helps to make her unit a mighty fighting force. Gamora has one advantage almost no one else does: she’s the daughter of Thanos. Okay, she’s the adopted daughter of Thanos, but that plays to her benefit. She knows the Mad Titan inside and out; if there were anyone with a reasonable plan to take Thanos down, it would be Gamora.
She knows what makes him tick, along with his strengths and weaknesses. Though she might not be physically strong enough to fight Thanos one-on-one, Gamora isn’t called the deadliest woman in the universe for nothing. Known more for her assassin skills, Gamora could instruct her teammates on how to attack Thanos, while she waits for the right opportunity to strike and deliver a finishing blow.
5 ANT-MAN
Inexplicably, people often forget about Ant-Man and everything he brings to the table. Thanks to Hank Pym’s size-changing technology, Ant-Man is leagues more powerful than anyone gives him credit for.
Ant-Man’s suit allows Scott Lang to shrink, which increases his density, allowing him to hit with the same strength of his normal size. At the size of an ant, this means Ant-Man can punch with the force of a bullet. Additionally, he can control ants and carries the Pym Particle disks that can be used to shrink or grow something. If Scott is in a pickle, as seen in Ant-Man when he fought Yellowjacket, Scott can shrink down to the Quantum Realm and can presumably bring other entities down with him into the macroscopic world. It’s typically seen as a sacrifice play, but with his own movie coming out after Infinity War, Ant-Man might as well try and shrink Thanos.
4 THOR
Thanks to his recent power-up in Thor: Ragnarok, Thor boasts more power than ever before. From the trailer, we already know Thor and Thanos are going to throw down. While the shots we’ve seen don’t bode well for the God of Thunder, it’s been said that Thor is going to play a massive part in Avengers: Infinity War. If that’s the case, Thor might lose his first scuffle with Thanos, but he’ll be back for round two. Plus, we know Thor is getting a new hammer, so that just might level the playing field.
Even if none of that cuts it, it wouldn’t be good business for Disney and Marvel to kill Thor. After his massively successful last film, it’s likely Thor is going to stick around for a while. So although he might not beat Thanos alone, he’ll probably be crucial in taking the Mad Titan down.
3 DOCTOR STRANGE
There’s but a few heroes in the MCU who wield magic, but Doctor Strange, the Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme, is one of them! The key to Strange’s power is his control over time and space. Thanks to wielding the Infinity Stone of Time, Strange can reverse time, freeze time, and use time in all sorts of creative ways, like when he kept coming back to life after getting repeatedly destroyed by Dormammu.
If that wasn’t enough, we saw him teleport Loki into an endless limbo in Thor: Ragnarok; it was implied he could have kept him there forever. Now why couldn’t he do that to Thanos? Clearly there’ll be a reason why Strange doesn’t toss the mad god into a black hole, and it looks like one of those reasons is the villain Ebony Maw. Still, don’t count the good Doctor out. He’s one of Earth’s best chances.
2 IRON MAN
The hero that kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Iron Man might not be the heart and soul of the Avengers like Captain America, but he is the foundation from what everything was built upon. Tony Stark’s genius is second to none. The futurist that he is, ever since Tony had that nightmare Age of Ultron, he’s wanted nothing more than to avoid catastrophe. Thankfully, he has plenty of heroes to back him up and a spiffy new suit of armor.
Already one of the mightiest Avengers, with every suit of armor Iron Man only gets more powerful. The trailers have shown Iron Man fighting Thanos, and while the former ends up seemingly having a bad day, Iron Man could have a couple contingency plans nobody is aware of. Whether he beats Thanos or not isn’t the question, but rather how he’s going to help overcome the Mad Titan.
1 STAR-LORD
Everyone loves Star-Lord. The half-human scoundrel travels the galaxy and sticks it to the man, all the while saving us all from impending doom. Using only his wits, Star-Lord has faced off against the universe’s most evil individuals. From Ronan the Accuser, to his own Celestial father Ego, Star-Lord always finds a way to outmaneuver his opponents.
Already experienced with handling cosmic-level threats, it’s likely Peter Quill won’t balk an eye at the mention, or sight, of Thanos. Rather, he’ll do what he always does: make a couple snazzy quips and use his ingenuity and improvisation skills to think of a way to save the day. Though he might not have powers, it’s never stopped him before. Peter is the kind of guy that’ll distract Thanos with silly shenanigans; before the Mad Titan knows what’s up, Peter will have stolen the Infinity Gauntlet from under his purple nose.