MCU Post-Endgame Power Rankings

Last year, Avengers: Endgame, well, ended the game, at least for Phase Three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Now that Black Widow has been delayed until November, we’re currently in a holding pattern with the MCU.

With six months to go until Phase Four begins, at least in movie theaters, I’ll take this opportunity to assess how the various Avengers and some of their friends are doing in the aftermath of Thanos’ demise.

Here are the MCU power rankings during this brief intermission between Phase Three and Phase Four.

1) Captain Marvel

The applicable videogame term here is OP. Carol Danvers has attained so much power that she FLEW THROUGH AN INTERGALACTIC WARSHIP!!! Without breaking a sweat, she breached the hull and brought down the monstrous vessel.

Marvel’s producers are emphatic on the point that Captain Marvel is the most powerful character in the MCU right now. The plot of her next film likely involves reducing her superhero abilities. Otherwise, she’s too strong to seem in danger in a movie. And that’s a problem.

Still, for right now, it’s good to be Carol Danvers.

2)    The Falcon Captain America

Everyone has a favorite Marvel movie, and mine is Captain America: The Winter Soldier. The film hooked me from the start with a charming introductory scene wherein Steve Rogers met Sam Wilson. Marvel’s producers loved that scene so much that the climactic moment in Endgame references it.

Now, Wilson has leveled up. No, he hasn’t gotten any stronger per se, but he wields the most potent symbol in superhero cinema. He carries the Vibranium shield signifying that he is Captain America.

When The Falcon and the Winter Soldier debuts on television, Wilson will become the most significant Avenger.

3)    Loki

Okay, the frenemy of the Avengers may not seem like someone you’d rank highly. However, let’s think about it in these terms. Ten minutes into Avengers: Infinity War, this dude was dead.

Now, thanks to some time travel and alternate realities and whatnot, Loki is very much alive! And he has the Space Stone! Also, he’s about to star in his own solo television series, something only one other Avenger can match.

4)    Spider-Man

Speaking of the no-longer-deceased, Peter Parker broke everyone’s heart when he died young on a faraway planet. Thankfully, he’s back now, albeit at a high cost. Parker no longer has his mentor.

Thanks to some behind-the-scenes Hollywood politics, Spider-Man is still in the MCU, though. And that’s what matters most. Plus, everyone knows that he’ll eventually become the leader of the Avengers. Tony Stark all but said it would happen someday.

5)    The Hulk

Con: Just had his arm nearly disintegrated.

Pros: Chicks dig scars. Also, Professor Hulk seems like he’s on the verge of becoming Instafamous. It never hurts to have groupies.

6)    Black Panther

This one’s a mulligan of sorts. In Black Panther’s first year on the job, his entire country got wrecked by alien invaders. Thanks to the magic of time travel, that may not have even happened now. It’s unclear.

Every world leader wishes that they got this type of do-over after a crisis. Still, is it wrong to think that Killmonger would have been a better wartime consigliere?

7)    Hawkeye

And here’s the other MCU character who will get a solo television series. Of course, that’s a bit misleading. The title of the series may refer to the next Hawkeye, not the current one.

As such, Clint Barton has probably taken a demotion. Still, his family’s alive again, which is great news since he seems to really love his wife and precisely one of his children.

Hawkeye does need to write quite a few apology letters to the families of a bunch of people he remorselessly murdered, though.

8)    Shuri

In the time since Black Panther’s release, the cries for Shuri to take over the mantle have only gotten stronger. She’s going to be a significant player in the MCU one day soon. And I can’t wait.

Come on, EVERYONE wants her to run Wakanda.

9)    Bucky Barnes

Bucky’s kinda stuck in the middle of the MCU right now. I mean, is he even an Avenger?

The good news is that the Winter Soldier has befriended the people of Wakanda, which seemed impossible during the events of Captain America: Civil War.

The bad news is that Bucky’s best friend is gone, presumably forever. Now, Barnes is stuck in a pending bromance with a dude he has treated like a younger brother for a while now.

Still, all of this is better than being a brainwashed assassin. So, we’ll call it a win.

10) Peter Quill

Out of everyone here, I might feel the worst about Peter Quill. Have you ever seen that movie, She’s Out of My League? Yeah, Star-Lord lived the real version of that.

Dude somehow seduced the daughter of a warlord to join his ragtag team and go on outer space adventures together. Also, he got her to fall in love with him.

Now, Gamora has amnesia, which places Quill in a 50 First Dates scenario. Seriously, what are the odds that he gets her to fall in love with him again? Especially with…

11) Thor

Thor’s hit bottom. He failed the people of Asgard, put on 150 pounds, and watched his brother die in front of him.

Since then, the God of Lightning has ceded the title of ruler of Asgard to Valkyrie. He’s left Earth to travel with Star-Lord and the Guardians of the Galaxy, which means he’s a fat, bitter man stuck with a bunch of strangers.

Friends, that’s a lousy sitcom premise. None of these superheroes could be happy about it.

12) Pepper Potts

Pros: Now the richest widow in the MCU. Owns all Iron Man suits. Single but not quite ready to mingle.

Cons: Widowed single mother suffering the kind of heartache that no one should ever endure.

My greatest hope for the MCU is that they allow Potts to meet somebody, preferably when she stars in Iron Man 4. What, you hadn’t thought of her as the star? Again, she OWNS ALL IRON MAN SUITS!!!

13) Ant-Man

After saving the entirety of humanity, is Ant-Man still on parole?

Well, even if he did get a Presidential pardon, he still has to live with the fact that he’s Ant-Man.

14) Dr. Strange

Okay, Dr. Strange proved instrumental in the victory over Thanos. He prophesied exactly one scenario out of billions wherein the Avengers won. Then, he made it come true.

All that sounds lovely. Good for him. Unfortunately, Strange now has to go back to his real life. There, he’s apparently dumped, has made a mortal enemy of his former friend, is a total dick, and is about to enter something called the Multiverse of Madness.

Then again, I’m starting to wonder if we’re all living in the Multiverse of Madness right now.

15) Steve Rogers

I couldn’t decide whether to mention the former Captain America or not. On the one hand, everyone misses him and hopes that he may return to the MCU one day.

On the other hand, Steve Rogers has earned his happily ever after. We all want to believe that he’s dancing the nights away with Peggy Carter and hanging out in all those jukebox restaurants from American Graffiti.

16) Drax the Destroyer

Really hasn’t destroyed that much.

17) Groot

Groot’s got it the worst of anybody in the Guardians of the Galaxy. After all, literally nobody wants to relive puberty, especially not as a tree.

18) Black Widow

Pros: Saved the day with several acts of superheroism. Will star in the titular movie that (finally) tells her origin story. Redeemed herself from whatever mysterious backstory we’ve yet to learn but know happened. Rocked all manners of pleather outfits and hair colors/wigs.

Cons: *sniffle* Well, you know…

19) Scarlet Witch – broken inside and out, let without a country, a boyfriend, or a twin

Among the Avengers, nobody has suffered more than Wanda Maximoff. Seriously, think about it.

Throughout her appearances, Scarlet Witch has:

• Watched her homeland get destroyed
• Gotten betrayed by Ultron
• Watched her twin brother die
• Gotten placed under house arrest by her boyfriend
• Been Attacked by her supposed teammates at an airport
• Become a wanted criminal in several countries
• Killed her boyfriend
• Gazed in horror as her boyfriend gets brought back to life and then killed again

And, according to Marvel, for her next trick, Maximoff will “enter a sitcom-themed dimension.” Scarlet Witch is the Job of the MCU.

20) Thanos

Thanos is no-longer-living proof to be careful what you wish for. He got everything he dreamt of having. For a time, he wore a bejeweled glove and claimed enough power to bend the universe to his will.

Now, both his daughters hate him, and he’s died twice, once by decapitation and once by dusting. And those Avengers punks stole his jewels, too! Jerks wouldn’t even let him live out a simple life as a farmer.