Most OP Marvel Characters

The whole concept of an overpowered superhero isn’t unusual, since the whole idea of a superhero is someone with extraordinary powers in the first place. When it comes to Marvel comic book characters, there’s a wide variety of different characters with all kinds of crazy abilities, but “overpowered” often refers to a being or entity that doesn’t die, doesn’t age, and has omnipotent and interdimensional knowledge.

Some of the characteristics that fit this description began as mortal beings and gained their powers in a variety of ways, such as through an accident or a series of experiments. Others originate in the dark or dangerous parts of the universe, and there are also those formless entities that seek out an ideal host. All of these and more are included in what is just a small selection of overpowered characters from the Marvel universe.

Scarlet Witch

The Power Of The Mind Stone

• Abilities: Augmented powers of Telekinesis, witchcraft, black magic, and access to more powerful energies such as chaos magic

The Scarlet Witch could be the most powerful character in the Marvel universe, who starts as a mere mortal. Wanda Maximoff and her brother Pietro Maximoff, also known as Quicksilver, were subjected to various trials and experiments on the part of HYDRA. They were both introduced in the comic book X-Men #4, released in 1964, and the character has gone through some changes over time, but remains as overpowered as always.

Her incredible powers came from her exposure to the Mind Stone, and although she was originally introduced as a mutant, a scientist known as the High Revolutionary has been introduced as a more recent explanation for her abilities. She’s appeared in various Marvel movies since being introduced in the movie Avengers: Age of Ultron and was the main character in the series, WandaVision.

The Hulk

Virtually Indestructible

• Abilities: Superhuman strength and almost total physical invulnerability, plus regeneration powers, power jumping, and shockwave generation

Another example of a human who was given superhuman powers as part of an experiment, Bruce Banner became the Hulk because of an accident in a lab as opposed to a deliberate series of tests. He’s also one of the oldest characters in the Marvel Universe, debuting in 1962 when fears about mutually assured atomic destruction were prominent in the public mind.

On a personal level, the Hulk was always intended to be a foil to the socially withdrawn and generally unfriendly Dr. Bruce Banner. The gamma rays that caused this dangerous and powerful mutation came from an experiment involving a new type of bomb, a moral lesson as much as a tragic backstory.

The Hulk has taken on several different incarnations, and while some, like Doc Green, are benign, others are even more deadly. He takes the place of War in the Marvel incarnation of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and the Immortal Hulk, also known as the Devil Hulk, is an embodiment of Banner’s worst emotions and is virtually indestructible.

The Living Tribunal

An Omniscient Entity

• Abilities: Too powerful for most plotlines with its almost-omniscient consciousness and the ability to warp reality

The Living Tribunal is one example of many characters in the Marvel Universe that are so OP they have the potential to destroy a whole plotline. Live-action appearances of this mysterious and all-powerful force have been teased a few times, with the deleted scene in Avengers 4 being one of the most popular exceptions.

To nobody’s surprise, the Living Tribunal appeared as an antagonist in a series of Dr. Strange comic books, specifically “The Sands of Death” storyline from Strange Tales. His role in that plotline was one of neutral judgment, as opposed to a dangerous villain, giving the titular hero a limited time to prove that human life was worth preserving. The Living Tribunal not only has the power to judge anything in the universe, but also to pass and carry out the sentence.

Galactus

A Being Who Consumes Planets

• Abilities: Strong enough to challenge Thanos with the Mastery of Power Cosmic, which includes transmutation, telekinesis, resurrection, and a myriad of other godlike powers.

Galactus is yet another example of an overpowered entity that evolved from a mortal being, just not a human one, in this case. He began as Galan, a Taa-an space explorer, who merged with the Sentience of the Universe to become this massive superbeing that must consume planets to sustain his existence. He made his debut in The Fantastic Four #48 and was created to be one of the main antagonists in The Galactus Trilogy, a supervillain to destroy all supervillains.

It sounds like the makings of a permanent villain, but Galactus also appears as an ally in some cases, and is often connected to appearances of the Silver Surfer, who warns of his approach. He was in the 2007 version of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, and again in the upcoming remake, The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

Phoenix Force

Made Famous Through Jean Grey

• Abilities: Powerful psionic abilities, the power to resurrect, energy, matter, and life-force manipulation

Jean Grey was not the only mortal being that was a host for the entity called The Phoenix, but it was her strong psychic abilities that made her a likely candidate. The Phoenix is hard to define, but to put it simply, it is immortal, has no fixed shape, and is the nexus of all psionic energy in the universe.

The Phoenix can be either benevolent or destructive, and in the Dark Phoenix incarnation, it has the power to destroy several planets. It’s the embodiment of all creation but is also destined to be the final end of it, which seems to be what happens when it appears in Marvel media.

The entity is worshipped by several races as a god, and by the time it made contact with Jean Grey, she was already a powerful psychic capable of embodying its powers. Rachel Summers, her daughter from another timeline, was able to fight and subdue Galactus when she was fused with The Phoenix, an indication of its incredible power.

Franklin Richards

More Power Than His Parents

• Abilities: Teleportation, energy projection, immortality, various psionic skills, and the ability to create pocket dimensions

There was some speculation as to whether baby Franklin would be in the most recent version of the live-action Fantastic Four adaptation. Its subtitle is “First Steps,” which implies new beginnings, and fans were happy to find out he does make an appearance. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby thought it would be fun to write about two superheroes having a baby, and the result was one of the most OP characters in the lore.

Franklin Benjamin Richards first appeared in Fantastic Four Annual #6, 1968, and aged as the comics progressed, joining the team as a full-fledged superhero fifteen years later. He’d been using superpowers since he was a toddler, and by the time he was a teenager, he was already extremely powerful, and his powers continued to manifest and amplify.

The Beyonder

Strong Enough To Destroy The Tribunal

• Abilities: Reality warping and near omniscience, strong enough to destroy the Tribunal

The Beyonder started as an unseen but nigh-omnipotent being that’s a manifestation of the “Beyond Realms,” which is a separate dimension from the multiverse. This means that most of the rules that govern existence don’t apply to it, which gives The Beyonder godlike powers, except for the ability to escape from his home dimension.

This is provided by unfortunate lab technician Owen Reese in the Secret Wars series, when he opens a portal to this nether dimension to become Molecule Man. The remaining energy he released from the other dimension gained sentience and took form to manifest as the Beyonder.

The entity wasn’t evil or good, but it entertained itself by summoning various superheroes to Earth and making them fight each other. One of his most memorable appearances is as one of Deadpool’s targets in a spinoff story from Secret Wars 2.