Here are 10 Captain Marvel scenes that show why Carol Danvers is the MCU’s strongest Avenger, including moments from Avengers: Endgame and What If…?.
Captain Marvel is arguably the MCU’s strongest Avenger, and there are a few scenes that prove it. In-universe, Carol Danvers has been a superhero since 1995. However, Captain Marvel only joined the MCU in 2019. The Captain Marvel film revealed Carol Danvers’ origin story and set up its titular character to be the MCU’s most powerful Avenger.
In addition to her solo movie, Captain Marvel appeared in Avengers:Endgame, during which she became an Avenger. Debates about who is the MCU’s strongest Avenger often come down to Wanda, Thor, and Captain Marvel, especially after Phase 3. However, it must be noticed that Wanda, the Scarlet Witch, is no longer an Avenger. With that established, here are 10 moments that prove Captain Marvel is the MCU’s powerful Avenger.
10Captain Marvel’s Powers Came From An Infinity Stone
The Marvel Cinematic Universe’s overarching story was built on the Infinity Stones. Some of the most important events in the MCU are directly tied to the Infinity Stone, and a few MCU heroes only have their powers because of an Infinity Stone. That includes Scarlet Witch, Vision, and Captain Marvel. Wanda and Vision both rank high in the list of strongest MCU characters, which exemplifies the power of the Infinity Stones. In fact, an argument can be made that Vision was the strongest Avenger during Avengers: Age of Ultron. Likewise, Wanda is one of the most powerful MCU characters in general.
Carol Danver’s powers came from the Space Stone, the Infinity Stone placed inside the Tesseract. Pietro, Vision, and Wanda show that the combination of an Infinity Stone with a sentient being can lead to highly powerful heroes. Captain Marvel could have become a weapon of mass destruction at the hand of the Kree Empire. Fortunately for the galaxy, Danvers decided to use her powers to help people rather than serve the Kree Empire.
9Captain Marvel Defeated Yon-Rogg’s Starforce
In the comics, the Kree are among the most powerful Avengers villains. While the MCU’s Kree did not get to be Avengers villains, it can be assumed that the Kree Empire is as powerful in the MCU as they are in the comics. Carol Danvers’ origin story saw her as a part of Yon-Rogg’s Starforce, a team of elite Kree warriors that answered to the Supreme Intelligence. Danvers was not the most experienced member of the team, nor was her training complete. Even still, Captain Marvel defeated all members of Yon-Rogg’s Starforce, including Yon-Rogg himself.
8Captain Marvel Fought Ronan The Accuser’s Fleet By Herself
Ronan the Accuser, who died in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), was revisited in Captain Marvel (2019). Despite his limited role in the MCU, Ronan is a quite strong Marvel villain. In addition, as the enforcer of the Kree Empire’s rules, Ronan had a formidable fleet at his disposal. Captain Marvel was able to take on Ronan’s fleet by herself, dodging every attack thrown at her. Danvers destroyed each of the individual scout ships and then proceeded to fly through Ronan’s main cruisers. A fleet of that scale was an Avengers-level threat, but Danvers took care of it.
7Nick Fury Contacted Captain Marvel During Thanos’ Snap
When people began to turn into dust, Nick Fury’s first instinct was to contact Captain Marvel. How much Fury knew of what was happening during Avengers: Infinity War was never addressed, but the man behind the Avengers Initiative thought of Carol Danvers when the world was in absolute chaos. Not only did Captain Marvel inspire Nick Fury to create the Avengers, but she was also at the top of Fury’s list of heroes who could save the day in a time of crisis. Granted, Captain Marvels didn’t help during the Battle of New York, but Fury never stopped trusting her. Fortunately, Danvers was not snapped and answered Fury’s call.
6Captain Marvel Immobilized Thanos
Avengers: Endgame subverted audiences’ expectations and killed off Thanos in the first few minutes of the film. Unfortunately, now that Thanos had already used the Infinity Stones to destroy the Infinity Stones, attacking the Mad Titan was of no help. However, seeing the surviving Avengers easily defeat Thanos was a highlight of the film. The key to defeating Thanos so quickly was catching the villain with his guard down. Even still, the Avengers only succeed at capturing and killing Thanos because Captain Marvel immobilized the Mad Titan.
Thanos was weakened and hurt after using the power of all six Infinity Stones twice. Still, the fact that Caron Danvers was strong enough to immobilize Thanos while the other Avengers attacked exemplifies just how powerful Captain Marvel is. As a comparison, not even the Hulk could keep up with Thanos in a fight. Avengers: Endgame’s Battle of Earth would showcase the true extent of Captain Marvel’s power, but the film’s opening sequence casually established how strong Danvers is.
5Captain Marvel Protected The Universe After Thanos’ Snap
Whereas the surviving Avengers regrouped on Earth to guard the planet following Thanos’ snap, Captain Marvel went back to space. Thanos’ snap affected the entire universe, which is why Carol Danvers did not stay on Earth. While this is not exactly a display of sheer power, it shows that Captain Marvel operates on a different level compared to the Avengers. For example, some of the most experienced Avengers, such as Captain America and Black Widow, had never left Earth before Endgame. The original Avengers were Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, but Captain Marvel is an intergalactic protector.
4Captain Marvel Destroyed Thanos’ Ship During The Battle Of Earth
“2014 Thanos” brought his entire fleet to 2023 during Avengers: Endgame’s Battle of Earth. Although this version of Thanos did not have the Infinity Stones, the Mad Titan is one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel universe regardless of the Stones. As a conqueror, Thanos had multiple alien armies and dozens of ships at his disposal. Interestingly, whereas the Avengers struggled to deal with the Chitauri’s fleet in The Avengers, Captain Marvel destroyed Thanos’ main ship as if it was nothing.
Carol Danvers may have missed the first few minutes of the Battle of Earth, but Captain Marvel changed the game as soon as she joined the fight. Similar to how Danvers fought Ronan’s fleet in the Captain Marvel movie, Captain Marvel flew through Thanos’ ship and destroyed it. It took only a few seconds for Captain Marvel to do what none of the Avengers had done and cause Thanos a major loss during the main battle. Except for Wanda, who caused Thanos to sacrifice a portion of his army, no other Avenger caused as much trouble for the Mad Titan during the Battle of Earth as Captain Marvel.
3Captain Marvel Almost Beat Thanos In Hand-To-Hand Combat
Destroying Thanos’ ship was not Captain Marvel’s most impressive feat in Avengers: Endgame. Toward the end of the Endgame’s final battle, right before Tony Stark stole the Infinity Stones from Thanos and added to his own gauntlet, Captain Marvel faced Thanos in hand-to-hand combat. The Captain Marvel vs. Thanos fight may have been quick, but it showed that Danvers was on the same level as Thanos. Endgame proved that, even with the Infinity Stones involved, a battle between Captain Marvel and Thanos could go either way. The same cannot be said about most of the Avengers.
Once again using the Hulk as a comparison, the Giant Emerald did not stand a chance against Thanos in hand-to-hand combat. Thanos beat Hulk with just a few moves, which shows just how impressive Captain Marvel was in Endgame. Likewise, Thor, a solid contender for the title of strongest Avenger, needed two magic hammers to go toe to toe against Thanos. Had it not been for the Power Stone, Captain Marvel could have defeated Thanos during their Endgame fight.
2Earth-838’s Captain Marvel Gave Scarlet Witch A Tough Fight
The rules of the MCU’s multiverse are still confusing, but Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness offered an interesting insight into an old Marvel power-level debate. Who is the strongest character in the MCU, Scarlet Witch or Captain Marvel, has been a topic of discussion ever since Phase 3 brought Carol Danvers into the franchise. A fight between Wanda and Carol has yet to happen, but Doctor Strange 2 delivered a Scarlet Witch vs. Captain Marvel battle. On Earth-838, it was Maria Rambeau, not Carol Danvers, who became Captain Marvel. Presumably, Maria Rambeau’s powers on Earth-838 are similar to Carol Danvers’ powers on Earth-616.
If so, Doctor Strange 2 adds to the idea that Carol Dangers is the MCU’s strongest Avenger on Earth-616. Wanda was now one of the most powerful beings in the MCU multiverse, strong enough to almost cause an Incursion. While none of the Illuminati survived Scarlet Witch, Earth-838 Captain Marvel gave Wanda a tough fight. Maria Rambeau was the last Illuminati member standing after Wanda’s attack at their base. In terms of the power scale, Doctor Strange 2 confirms that a Space Stone-powered hero can give a multiversal a tough fight.
1Captain Marvel Could Have Defeated Thor In What If…?
Another Captain Marvel feat from the multiverse happened in What If…?. “What If… Thor Was An Only Child” delivered a fight that audiences had been waiting to see for years, Captain Marvel vs. Thor. Despite being an alternate reality, it can be assumed that the power levels from this particular What If…? universe were similar to the ones from Earth-616. In fact, the only major difference is that Thor was raised as an only child. Neither Thor nor Captain Marvel wanted to hurt each other during their fight, but their clash eventually evolved into a real battle. What If…? made clear that Danvers could have defeated Thor had the fight continued.
