The heroes of the Marvel Universe have a rough job. They battle some of the most terrible villains ever imagined, often with nothing less than the entirety of the universe resting on their shoulders. These threats take everything the heroes have to defeat but the heroes are always up for the challenge, even if they have to bring in help to defeat these terrible threats.
Being a superhero isn't easy and sometimes, it doesn't matter how powerful or skilled they are- their foes often outgun them. There have been plenty of times over the years where the real thing that saved the day was sheer luck.
10 Magneto Not Destroying Human Civilization Even Though It Was Within His Power
Magneto is one of the most powerful people on the planet. His magnetic powers have allowed him to defeat entire teams of heroes completely on his own and his helmet protects him from telepathic assault. Magneto's powers are pretty devastating and he could easily destroy human civilization with ease.
From massive electromagnetic pulses to reversing the polarity of the planet, Magneto could do any number of things that would completely devastate human civilization to such an extent it would never recover. If he really put his mind to it, no one could stop him, so the heroes of the Marvel Universe are lucky that he hasn't decided to end it all on a whim.
9 The Non-Mutant Heroes Being Able To Jump Into Onslaught's Energy Cloud
Onslaught's attack on the Marvel Universe has some devastating consequences and the heroes of the Marvel Universe only defeated the villain because they were lucky. Onslaught's power was frightening and he had kidnapped Franklin Richards in order to tap into the young mutant's reality-altering powers. His armored form kept shifting and once it was destroyed, he became energy.
Here's where the luck comes in- the non mutant heroes of the Marvel Universe were able to jump into the Onslaught energy cloud and absorb it so the X-Men could attack them, destroying Onslaught. The fact that this worked is extremely lucky.
8 Hope Not Being Corrupted By The Phoenix In Avengers Vs X-Men
The Phoenix Force has always caused more trouble than it was worth and this was definitely the case in Avengers Vs X-Men. The Phoenix Force and possession of it caused a war between the two teams, with Cyclops eventually becoming Dark Phoenix. He would be defeated and the Phoenix would find another host- Hope Summers.
Hope did the right thing, working with Scarlet Witch and giving up the power to reignite the mutant race. The lucky part, though, is that she even did that. The power of the Phoenix had corrupted just about everyone it touched and the fact a teenager was able to use it wisely was extremely lucky.
7 Weakening Sentry Made It Possible To Take Down The Void In Siege
Siege saw the end of Norman Osborn's Dark Reign but could have easily ended all life on Earth if the heroes hadn't defeated the Void, the Sentry's dark side. Early in the battle, Ares switched sides, attacking the Sentry. The two battled and the Sentry was able to tear Ares in half. Killing the God of War took a lot of the Sentry's power, though, and this was the key to the heroes' victory.
Without this one act, the Void would have been much more powerful and easily able to overcome the hero, as shown in the Siege What If... issue. A hero's death is rarely lucky, but it definitely was this time.
6 The X-Men Were Able To Hold Out Against The Sentinels
Days Of Future Past showed fans a dark future, one where the Sentinels had taken over the Earth and killed just about every hero except for a ragtag group of X-Men. The X-Men were able to send Kate Pryde back in time using the Sentinels' own technology to prevent the whole thing from happening, a touch and go affair to say the least.
The Sentinels had been killing everyone for years and had worked up all kinds of countermeasures for dealing with attacks. The fact the X-Men were able to hold out against them long enough to send Kate Pryde back in time definitely had a lot to do with skill but they were also very, very lucky that the Sentinels didn't overwhelm them before they could succeed or kill them years before.
5 The Fantastic Four Beating Galactus For The First Time
Galactus coming to Earth was one of the most harrowing days in the Fantastic Four's career. Everything they tried was for naught; the World Devourer and his Herald, Silver Surfer, were too powerful for them and even when Surfer agreed to help them, they still couldn't affect Galactus very much. The team was only able to triumph because the Watcher decided to help them, a very lucky occurrence.
Without this lucky break, the FF never would have gotten the Ultimate Nullifier, the only weapon powerful enough to scare Galactus. With it, they were able to turn back Galactus, saving the planet and making a friend forever in the Watcher.
4 Doctor Doom Saving The Marvel Multiverse
Without Doctor Doom and Reed Richards being roommates in college, the Marvel Multiverse would have been destroyed by the Incursions. Basically, it goes like this- if Reed and Doom had never met in college, Doom never would have asked for Reed's help in building the machine that caused the injury to his face, either figuring out how to make the machine perfectly and never injuring his face or messing up the machine even more and dying.
If either of these things would have happened, Doctor Doom would have either never existed (if he died) or his life would have been very different. Either way would have put him on a different path, but both paths would have had the same result- the destruction of the Multiverse either because he didn't exist to save everything or his different path in life would have made him a man who couldn't or wouldn't stop it.
3 Wolverine Remembering The Previous Universe And Being Able To Locate Layla Is A Massive Stroke Of Luck In House Of M
In House Of M, the only reason the heroes were able to get their memories back hinged on two big lucky breaks- Wolverine remembering the previous universe and then him finding Layla Miller. If he didn't remember the previous universe, he never would have fought against S.H.I.E.L.D. If he didn't do that, he never would have found Layla.
Even finding Layla herself was massively lucky because her powers allowed them to give everyone their memories back. If only one of these things happened, the House Of M universe never would have ended and the odds of both happening were astronomically lucky.
2 Keeping The Original Captain Around In Secret Empire Saved The Day
The catalyst behind Secret Empire was Kobik de-aging Captain America and changing his past, making him a lifelong Hydra agent. The lucky part is that Kobik also kept a version of the original Captain America around as well, without whom the whole thing would have been for naught. Hydra Cap had beaten the heroes at every turn and at the end, the heroes needed someone worthy of Mjolnir to beat him, as he had gotten his hands on the fragments of the Cosmic Cube that started the whole thing.
Jane Foster was taken out and Thor Odinson wasn't worthy, so without the original Cap, the Cosmic Cube empowered Hydra Cap would have won the day.
1 Thanos's Self-Sabotage Allowed The Heroes To Reverse His Actions In Infinity Gauntlet
In Infinity Gauntlet #5, Thanos was able to defeat the cosmic beings and took on the role of Eternity, literally becoming the universe. Nebula used this moment to grab the Infinity Gauntlet from his soulless body and undid everything he had done.
This one mistake all happened because, as Adam Warlock would reveal later in the issue, Thanos's low self worth made it so he always sabotaged his own schemes because he doesn't feel worthy of the power he sought out. Without this psychological foible, Thanos never would have lost and spread even more carnage throughout creation.