Armed with the Infinity Gauntlet, there was nothing anyone could have done to stop the Mad Titan from wiping out half the living population of the universe. If the Avengers couldn't stop him, no one could, right? Well, Michael B. Jordan, who played Killmonger in Black Panther, would disagree with you. He stated that if Killmonger was to face Thanos, he would emerge the victor. Maybe not in a single battle, but over the course of that little war. Whether or not you believe that, it raises an interesting question. Would any of the villains that preceded Thanos have stood a chance against him and the Infinity Gauntlet?
We think so. In fact, we're giving you a list of some heavy hitting supervillains who were absolutely capable of taking down Thanos as depicted in Avengers: Infinity War, some might have done so single-handed. Since it's possible that the near future will see MCU characters finally meeting with the likes of the Fantastic Four or the X-Men, thanks to the Fox/Disney merger, we're also going to include a few villains to which Fox currently has the rights, who would definitely be able to take Thanos down... or at least put up a longer fight. If Thanos' defeat isn't all that final in Avengers 4, maybe there's a chance we'll see these villains fight him. One can always hope...
15 MCU: DORMAMMU
If you're looking to defeat someone capable of destroying half the universe, you'd probably want to turn to someone whose very existence revolves around consuming entire worlds. Dormammu was just that god-like entity who might have defeated Thanos easily. We'll never know, because of the deal he struck with Doctor Strange, who used the Eye of Agamotto (which was really the Time Stone) to trap him in a time loop.
Without the time stone, Dormammu would undoubtedly have been able to take on Thanos, even with all the other Infinity Stones. Of course, seeing as how Dormammu is a being without a single sympathetic feeling in his immaterial body for anything in our universe, saving our universe would never have interested him. One way or another, he'll devour it; halved population or not.
14 MCU: ULTRON
The reason why this superintelligent android might have been able to stop Thanos is because he understood the Mind Stone and was an elusive opponent as far as superhuman beings went. He could transfer his mind into another body and utilize the technology around him to gain an advantage. If you're like Thanos and your armies need to move about through space without a Space Stone, you're going to have to rely on complex technology.
If Tony Stark had been successful in the Ultron project, the evil robot might have actually been able to protect Earth, and by extension, the Time and Mind Stones from Thanos' grasp. Too bad he turned into a malevolent, world-ending machine and had to be put down.
13 MCU: EGO
To mere mortals, the concept of a world-ending titan might seem like a daunting thing. Maybe Thanos would seem less frightening for a world that could physically fight back. Ego was a celestial, capable of bending matter and reshaping his reality without the use of any of the Infinity Stones. What Thanos could only accomplish using his gauntlet, Ego could do on a whim.
If the Guardians of the Galaxy hadn't destroyed Ego so soon, perhaps he might have ended up saving half the universe from eradication. Peter might have even been of greater help, since he too would have possessed god-like powers. Unfortunately, as his name suggests, Ego probably would not have cared about anyone else enough to fight Thanos anyway.
12 MCU: HELA
The vengeful daughter of Odin set out to conquer Asgard immediately after being released from exile. Without Odin to stop her, Hela took over with very little effort. She destroyed Mjolnir and defeated Thor more than once. They might have all been asgardians, but Hela was in a league of her own, which makes it entirely possible that -- were she to have faced up to him -- she would have been able to defeat Thanos.
She had no qualms when it came to removing limbs or lives, so there's no doubt that she would have done whatever it took to remove that gauntlet from Thanos' hand. We'll never know, since Hela was ultimately defeated when Surtur's sword came crashing down on her.
11 MCU: SURTUR
Speaking of the fire demon, Surtur, aided by the eternal flame, might have also been able to destroy Thanos with just a swing of his sword, as he did with the entirety of Asgard. Even Hela's necroswords had little effect on the ruler of Muspelheim. If Thanos had attacked the Asgardians before the destruction of Asgard, if Surtur had encountered the Mad Titan, Power Stone or no, Thanos would have fallen.
But the fire demon had just one purpose and that was to cause Ragnarok. He fulfilled his destiny and turned to ash along with the city. He would have indirectly saved the universe as well, if not for Loki and the god of mischief's greed.
10 MCU: LORELEI
Hiding in the expanded universe beyond the films is Lorelei, an asgardian who has mastered the ability of controlling men with just her voice or touch, if necessary. She once threatened Asgard by amassing an army of enthralled men, but was defeated by Lady Sif.
We saw Mantis briefly subdue Thanos as Iron Man, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange and Drax tried to pry the gauntlet from his grip. If Mantis can do that, a powerful asgardian like Lorelei would have had no problem. She might have even been able to stop Quill from ruining everything. It's uncertain what her fate was after her second defeat at the hands of Lady Sif. Surely the MCU will think of a good reason for not having her around... or just ignore her existence completely.
9 MCU: GLENN TALBOT
Unlike the rest of the villains on this list, Talbot was actually a good guy before absorbing copious amounts of Gravitonium. The element warped Talbot's mind and gave him an incredible amount of power. He could control gravity around him and absorb his opponents.
With a little help, Talbot might have actually been able to defeat Thanos, as he intended. After all, before acquiring the Reality Stone and the Space Stone, Thanos didn't have that much control over gravity and if it turned against him as Talbot might have ensured, Thanos may not have succeeded in the end. Unfortunately, Talbot had to be defeated and Quake did just that by blasting him into space.
8 MCU: KILLMONGER
How much truth is there to what Jordan was saying about the character he portrayed in Black Panther? It might sound outrageous but, it's far from impossible. Killmonger is willing to do whatever it takes, sacrifice whomever needs to be sacrificed in order to get things done. For the most part, the Avengers were bound by the strength of their morality.
If it was up to Killmonger, Thor would have lost his head on the ship, Vision would have been dismantled along with the Mind Stone and Thanos would have had nothing to bargain with. Killmonger was ruthless and maybe that's the quality needed to defeat someone like Thanos.
7 FOX: APOCALYPSE
The ancient mutant known as Apocalypse was like a god amongst the ancient Egyptians. He would transfer himself into a new mutant body through the use of an ancient machine and through the process, gain new mutant powers. He had collected a lot of them. He had powerful telekinetic abilities and could effectively reshape his world by transforming both objects and people.
En Sabah Nur could defeat Thanos relatively easily. A little telekinesis here, a bit of matter manipulation there and Thanos would have never had the chance to get a third stone. As it stands, it seems incredibly unlikely that Apocalypse and Thanos will ever meet on screen, but never say never... especially in when it comes to superheroes.
6 FOX: DARK PHOENIX
The Dark Phoenix has really only appeared once in the X-Men franchise and when she did, she wiped out almost everyone on Alcatraz Island. Jean herself showed us the power of the Phoenix when she defeated Apocalypse, almost single handed because -- let's be honest -- while everyone joined in when Apocalypse was vulnerable, Jean could have very easily vanquished him on her own.
If she can take on someone like Apocalypse with that power, someone like Thanos, who requires the Infinity Gauntlet, would be no problem. Even if she faced him with all six of the stones. If Thor can, then so can the Dark Phoenix.
5 FOX: DOCTOR DOOM
Even in the poorly received Fantastic Four films, Doctor Doom was depicted as being the villainous equivalent of Iron Man. When faced with defeat, Doom rose up again, just like Tony Stark. He would have lost in a fight, one to one, but if you're fighting a being whose power you don't fully understand, you'd want a brilliant mind like Doom's on your side.
There's no doubt Doom would figure out a way to defeat Thanos. The only problem would be that he'd probably only do so to acquire the stones for himself. It isn't so much a question of whether or not Doctor Doom could defeat Thanos, but if he should.
4 FOX: MAGNETO
Let's assume that things wouldn't be that easy and that the Infinity Gauntlet isn't made out of a ferrous metal. Magneto would still prove himself to be a formidable opponent. He would have been more than capable of wiping out Thanos' army of Outriders in Wakanda, as well as Proxima and Corvus of the Black Order.
There are a good couple of years ahead before we start seeing any mutants encountering the characters of the MCU, so it's unlikely we'll ever see Magneto fight Thanos (depending on Thanos' fate in Avengers 4), but it's likely that if the two ever did meet, Magneto would be powerful enough to give the Mad Titan a decent thrashing.
3 FOX: JUGGERNAUT
You've probably heard it said that nothing can stop the Juggernaut. But does that include the power of an Infinity Stone? We saw how easily Thanos defeated the Hulk on the Sakaarian ship, but what about the Juggernaut as depicted in Deadpool 2? In the comics, the answer is a solid no. The movies hint at a different answer.
Thanos is powerful even without the stones and yet Iron Man was able to wound him. It was small, but it was still a wound. Juggernaut, with all his strength, would be able to pack more in his punch and possibly win. He'd need help to do it, but he could ultimately do it.
2 FOX: GALACTUS
The world eater that has technically appeared just once in the films has been said to wield an incredible amount of power. It's easy to believe, after all he created the Silver Surfer, who already displayed power enough to drastically alter the world around him in preparation for Galactus' arrival.
If Thanos encountered Galactus and the latter was depicted in a manner faithful to the comics, Thanos would quickly find himself out of his depth. He would need all six Infinity Stones to defeat someone like Galactus and we saw that in the 2003 comic book miniseries, Thanos, oddly enough, when Thanos was trying to do some good for the universe.
1 FOX: SHADOW KING
Throughout the last two seasons of Legion, we've seen just how elusive and powerful the Shadow King can be. Even one as powerful as the reality-shaping, master psychic David Haller, could resist the influence of the Shadow King. How could someone like Thanos hope to resist?
Make no mistake, the strength of Thanos' will is undeniable. It's just not strong enough to prevent a creature like the Shadow King from taking control. In much the same way that Thanos can play with perception and reality using the Infinity Stones, Amahl Farouk is capable of doing that to a single person with great ease. He can make Thanos see and think whatever he wants. Reality would escape him and he'd never be able to accomplish his horrific goals.