10 MCU Characters Who Aren’t as Powerful as Their Comic Book Counterparts

The iterations of the Marvel Comics characters featured in the Marvel Cinematic Universe are beloved around the world, and for very good reason. But, for some, their comic book counterparts are far stronger than their live-action versions. To be fair, comic book power-scaling is far different than the one featured on the big screen, and that makes a huge difference. Still, some characters were severely weakened for the cinematic universe.

Whether it be because of the plot, the strength of other characters, the difficulties of portraying their sheer might, or other mysterious reasons only Marvel Studios knows, some MCU characters don’t even hold a candle to their comic counterparts. Sometimes, the nerfing of these figures has truly upset fans, but it’s quite understandable for others, as their actual power would reduce conflict and make things too easy for some heroes. Still, these MCU characters are vastly overpowered by their other selves.

10 Antonia Dreykov/Taskmaster

Played by Olga Kurylenko

Taskmaster is an absolute fan-favorite character from the Marvel Comics books due to how much of a treacherous foe he is. While the version of the character in Black Widow studied footage of the Avengers to learn their moves, the iteration from the comics has Photographic Reflexes, a power that allows him to look at any movement and immediately be able to perform it without any training or practice.

Due to this and his mastery of traditional martial arts, Taskmaster can easily predict anyone’s movements, causing those who face him to resort to entirely new and random fighting styles in hopes of catching him by surprise. He also happens to be a master of pretty much all the weaponry he wields, which includes close-combat and long-range artillery. None of these incredible abilities translated to the big screen, making the live-action Taskmaster one of the MCU’s most wasted characters.

9 Ultron

Played by James Spader

The Ultron (James Spader) found in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has already caught a lot of flak. Whether it’s the mouth in his design or the way he was written, many have come to dislike this version of the character. But the complaints don’t end there and a lot of issues come from the way his abilities were adapted to the big screen. The artificial intelligence in the comic books is one of the greatest Marvel Comics villains of all time. On a surface level, the robot from the comics is much stronger and faster than the one from the movie.

But, it gets deeper than that; on the page, Ultron can shoot radiation and plasma beams, manipulate electromagnetic radiation into electricity, and even technoform, meaning he can transform his body into different weapons and other tools). Not to mention, the Ultron from the MCU has pretty much disappeared from the continuity when the one in the books is always around with a backup, allowing him to essentially never truly be destroyed.

8 Kang the Conqueror

Played by Jonathan Majors

Another one of the greatest Marvel universe villains of all time was brought to the screen in a pretty lackluster manner when it came to his power levels. In fact, Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors) from the films didn’t conquer much of anything. In the comics, the Avengers typically have an incredibly hard time beating Kang. For example, when they faced the time-traveling madman in Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Kang not only wiped the main team from existence, but he also summoned armies from all across time to fight for him, invading New York City.

When he appeared in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, he didn’t put up the same fight. He may have controlled the timeline in Loki, but again, he was taken out pretty quickly there, too. For a supposedly powerful foe, Kang was taken out pretty easily and made to look pretty weak. Compared to the likes of Thanos (Josh Brolin), Kang doesn’t match up very well.

7 Gorr the God Butcher

Played by Christian Bale

With the legendary Christian Bale, Marvel Studios had a major responsibility to give him a character that meant a lot and was written well. Unfortunately for both parties, Thor: Love and Thunder didn’t exactly utilize him to the degree he could have been. Gorr the God Butcher ended up being the best part of the film but was still severely wasted, and, sadly, his power was not shown off very well.

Gorr gave Thor (Chris Hemsworth) quite the run for his money in the Marvel Comics saga “God Butcher.” He has around three thousand years of intense combat mastery and has even gone as far as to torture a god of torture at one point. At the end of the day, Gorr is vastly more powerful in the comics and gave Thor far more of a challenge. There was a lot of talking about Gorr’s power in Thor: Love and Thunder, but not enough showing.

6 Mantis

Played by Pom Klementieff

One of the most lovable characters in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise is the innocent and gentle Mantis (Pom Klementieff). To her credit, she’s still quite strong in the MCU, a testament to how powerful she is in the comics. She, of course, has all the abilities she has in the Marvel Studios franchise, with far more cherries on top.

On the page, she can astral-project like Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), control plants, shoot fire blasts, has precognition and even has a great healing factor. Outside of her powers, Mantis is also a master martial artist, giving her more than enough capabilities to hold her own. There’s a good chance the battle on Titan in Avengers: Infinity War would have ended differently had Mantis been able to use her comic book powers.

5 Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver

Played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson

In short, Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver’s (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) powers in Avengers: Age of Ultron were far duller than the iteration of the character found in the comic books. In The Avengers sequel, the speedster can run pretty fast — not fast enough to dodge bullets, though — and has a degree of enhanced strength and durability.

In the comics, Pietro is a whole other beast. He has far more of the typical powers of a speedster, including super-fast learning, super strength, the ability to always sense the magnetic pull facing north, phasing through solid mass, and more. Fans are unsure why the quick-moving Avenger was made so weak compared to the source material; maybe it’s because he was always meant to die. Whatever the reason, this long-dead MCU character should certainly come back, this time at full strength.

4 Odin Borson

Played by Anthony Hopkins

Anyone who has even the slightest knowledge of Norse mythology knows that Odin has about as much power as one can have. While the Marvel Cinematic Universe also treats the Allfather with respect, his power is very much downplayed compared to what he can do both in the comics and other iterations of Norse myth in general.

In a lot of other versions of the mythology, Odin is a borderline omnipotent figure, and his power is pretty much unimaginable to the human mind. The Odin Force is an astoundingly powerful entity of magical energy. A lot of these abilities see to also be true in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, even if they’re never shown. Moreover, the iteration of the character on the big screen has accomplished much less than his comic book counterpart, largely settling to be a secondary figure in Thor’s story.

3 Adam Warlock

Played by Will Poulter

The version of Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is definitely played more for comedy compared to what he’s like on the page. What many movie fans may not know is that the gold-skinned man actually played a huge part in the legendary “Infinity Gauntlet” storyline since his comic book self has a close-knit bond to the Soul Gem, one of the six Infinity Stones.

Both the comic book and live-action versions of Warlock share the obvious super-speed, strength, flight and durability. However, Marvel Comics’ Adam has a plethora of extra powers, including cosmic senses, resistance to freezes in time, telepathy, time-traveling vision, quantum magic manipulation and, genuinely, a few handfuls more of wild powers. During the “Infinity Gauntlet” story, he easily helmed the Infinity Gauntlet and obtained godhood. On the page, Adam Warlock is one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel universe, whereas he’s basically a spoiled child in the movies.

2 Thanos

Played by Josh Brolin

The fact that the version of Thanos (Josh Brolin) from literature is far stronger than the film universe is truly saying something because the MCU’s Mad Titan is absurdly strong. The Avengers struggled to face Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. In Avengers: Endgame, Thanos took on Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and beat them all down.

However, his comic book counterpart, even without the Infinity Stones, is almost a genuine god. He’s taken on (and even beaten at times) abundantly powerful Marvel characters like Galactus, Odin, and many others. He has around 30 different powers that could be listed, each bringing up his power level immensely. Thanos is one of the most powerful Marvel characters in the comics. The MCU’s of Thanos is mighty, but he might be a “puny god” compared to the one on the page.

1 Bruce Banner/Hulk

Played by Mark Ruffalo

If there is a character in the Marvel continuity that has been proven near-invincible, it’s the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo). Within the pages of Marvel Comics, the not-so-jolly green giant’s power is treated as essentially limitless. So long as he’s angry, the more rage he feels, the stronger he can get. Fans can find countless things comic book Hulk has done, and they’re absolutely mind-boggling.

The list of Hulk feats in Marvel Comics is just like his power: endless.

He once lifted 330 trillion pounds of weight, held up an entire mountain in the “Secret Wars” storyline, regenerated his entire body from his very skeleton, created a shockwave that was felt across multiple dimensions, and destroyed an asteroid bigger than Earth in one punch. The list of Hulk feats in Marvel Comics is just like his power: endless. One doesn’t have to look far to see why this iteration of the strongest Avenger could whoop his movie counterpart’s butt tenfold.

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