Spider-Man got bit by a radioactive spider and now has the proportionate strength, speed, and agility of an arachnid, check. Bruce Banner survives a gamma explosion and now has a meaner, greener side to his personality, check. Nightcrawler teleports, check. Steve Rogers takes an experimental drink and is now a superhuman. Reed Richards drags three of his friends into space with him and they all get blasted with cosmic rays and are now superheroes, check times four... sort of? They’ve been around so long, and their powers are all fairly rudimentary, that it’s easy to understand what all of the Fantastic Four can do.
For every one of these easy-to-understand superheroes and their superpowers, there are dozens and dozens of other characters that have all kinds of powers that are hard to explain. Characters like Longshot and Domino who have luck powers might be understandable on the surface, but to show how that ability can even up the odds can sometimes be hard. What exactly can the Inhumans do? Be it on screen, or in the pages, here are 10 Marvel Characters With Powers Nobody Understands, Finally Explained.
10 Scarlet Witch
No matter if it’s the comics or in the movies, Wanda Maximoff is one of the most dangerous beings on the planet. Just be glad she’s (usually) on our side. She is a powerful sorceress who can virtually do whoever is writing her wants her to do.
With just a mere three words, she nearly wiped out all of Mutantkind. In the films, powered by the Mind Stone, she showcases a litany of telekinesis and telekinetic abilities that can alter reality and destroy Infinity Stones, and she nearly wiped out Thanos.
9 Legion
Leave it to the world’s most powerful mutant telepath to sire the world’s most dangerous and mentally unstable mutant. David Haller is the son of Charles Xavier and Gabrielle Haller. The X-Gene completely gobsmacked David in the face. Not only is he a mutant, but he also suffers from Split-Personality Disorder, and wouldn’t you know it—each personality has a different mutant ability!
He also can absorb people into him, giving him more alters and more abilities. He inadvertently created The Age Of Apocalypse. Anytime Legion tries to get all of his alters under control, something happens to set him off again, and it usually creates another alter in the process. There is no limit to what Legion can actually do.
8 Ghost Rider
Since the beginning of time, the Ghost Rider has been the flaming symbol of vengeance the universe over. Usually after suffering a great loss, a person will agree to a pact with the devil or Mephisto in order to save their loved one. In return, they’re possessed by the demon Zarathos.
He is able to conjure up anything he can think of using Hellfire, generally motorcycles, hot rods, biker chains, and, in one instance, a Woolley Mammoth! Usually, the Rider’s greatest weapon is the Penance Stare. Essentially, the flaming skull can make you feel a ton of regret for past transgressions, so long as you feel responsible for your actions.
7 Galactus
The world eater Galactus has been one of the Marvel’s most powerful entities since he first appeared in Fantastic Four #48 in 1966. While he is continuously convinced to not consume our planet, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have some immense power.
Not only does he wield The Power Cosmic, but he also gifts his heralds with a mere piece of that power. That small piece makes beings like the Silver Surfer infinitely more powerful than anyone else on Earth. The Power Cosmic allows the former Galen all kinds of powers, ranging from teleportation to recreating dead worlds and destroying star systems simultaneously.
6 The Infinity Stones
We all know that the combined might of the six MCU Infinity Stones can wipe out (or restore) half of existence, but what does each stone actually do individually? The Space Stone (Tesseract) can be used to open portals and wormholes. Both S.H.I.E.L.D. and H.Y.D.R.A. uses the stone to further their research and weaponry. Loki’s scepter housed the Mind Stone, which helped to create Vision and gave powers to the Maximoff kids.
The Aether was the Reality Stone, and it allowed Thanos to turn his enemies into all sorts of weird shapes. Had the Guardians not stopped Ronan, he would have used the Power Stone to destroy Xandar. Dr. Strange guard the Time Stone and uses it to see all of the possible futures that can happen from giving it to Thanos. Lastly, and most importantly, the Soul Stone requires a sacrifice, but as of yet it hasn't been revealed what the Stone actually does.
5 Hope Summers
The first Mutant born after the events of M-Day would have to be something incredibly special. She was hunted down by the Marauders, so Cable did for her what was done for him. He took her into the future to protect and train her.
She is immune to Rogue’s touch and even cured her of a disease. She can mimic any mutant ability so long as she’s close to that mutant and can cancel out their powers. With Cable’s training and her abilities, she’s aptly named, and she's a mutant who can help the entire race.
4 Captain Marvel
In the movies, we’ve seen the sheer power of Carol Danvers: she nearly killed Thanos and took out one of his massive creatures. Considering Kevin Feige has stated that she’s the most powerful character in the MCU, then we haven’t seen anything yet.
Captain Marvel has photon blasts, flight, and the ability to create “White Holes,” which allows her to tap into the power of the entire electromagnetic field of energy. If she looks sort of like a Super Saiyan, it’s because she kind of is one, constantly pushing herself to new, untapped power levels.
3 Mojo
The Marvel Universe’s answer to Jabba The Hutt, Mojo is one of the strangest villains in the X-Men canon. He’s also one of the most powerful.
Driven insane by centuries of electronic waves, Mojo rules his own world: Mojoworld, a place where slaves are made to fight in gladiatorial combat. His flying platform is filled with all kinds of lasers, and he’s immune to Rogue’s knockout absorption touch—something even Captain Marvel had no defense for.
2 Slapstick
If only Jim Carrey hadn’t done The Mask all those years ago. He could have signed up to play Slapstick instead. He’s Marvel’s answer to DC characters like Mr. Mxyzptlk.
When you’re transported across over 3000 dimensions and sent to fight some evil clowns as your origin story, you’re bound to have some wild powers. Which Slapstick does: his powers pretty much equal that of a cartoon. So, he can do just about anything to hurt bad guys and have just about anything done to hurt him to no effect.
1 Iron Man
Besides his wealth and technical know-how, over the years Tony Stark has found ways to actually give himself powers. He is now a technopath.
He has rewritten his DNA in order to not only have a healing factor, but he can also now interface with all kinds of communication satellites in order to control any and all pieces of technology.