With Avengers Infinity War in theaters and ten years of movies leading up to it, the size of the MCU is unparalleled. In a world that is filled with as much action as we’ve seen, fights happen. Sometimes, you need an extra edge — and there’s nothing better than years of training, experience, and a little quick thinking to help you out in a fight. We took a look through the MCU and picked out 10 of the best fighters. Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean the most powerful character, and it doesn’t necessarily mean the most effective character — we were looking for fight experience and training. Basically, we looked at it like this: if the character’s superpower was not a factor, how effective would they be in a fight?
There are a few characters that were difficult to leave off the list, so here a few honorable mentions: Iron Man (whose only fight training seems to be boxing lessons from Happy), Groot (who is more of a pacifist most of the time), Ant-Man (uses his size more than hand-to-hand combat), and Drax (who is completely underused in the MCU). That all said, we took the time to narrow down our top 10 best fighters in the MCU.
10. PUNISHER
A Special Forces agent, Frank Castle appeared first in the second season of the Netflix series Daredevil. The character was so well-received that a spin-off series was quickly green lit. He’s got years of training and combat experience, and we see it all put to great use. He fights against Daredevil and is able to capture him. He takes down organized crime in New York City on his own. He fights his way through wave after wave of prison inmates. And that’s just in a few episodes into someone else’s show. In his own, we see him taken to the edges of brutality. He’s beaten to within an inch of his life but still manages to come back and defeat Billy Russo, another former member of the same dark ops group Frank worked for.
That Frank was selected for this elite group shows that he was already one of the best soldiers in the armed forces.
Everything that we see after that is just further proof. He uses a lot of guns, sure, but we’ve seen how effective he can be in hand-to-hand combat, as well. We’re definitely looking forward to seeing more from the Punisher in season two of the Netflix series.
9. THE WINTER SOLDIER
A soldier from World War II, Bucky Barnes has been frozen several times over, getting thawed only for brainwashing, therapy, training, and special missions over the decades. He’s been behind some of the most high-profile assassinations throughout the years, including Tony Stark’s parents. He first appears in Captain America: The First Avenger, returning in Captain America: The Winter Soldieras a villain, and finally breaking his brainwashing in Captain America: Civil War. He’s stood up to Cap, Spider-Man, Black Panther, and Iron Man. Considering that his robotic arm is the only thing about him that would be considered super, that’s pretty impressive.
He’s able to catch Captain America’s shield and throw it around as effectively as Cap himself. He’s a legendary assassin whose very existence was under question — that’s how effective he was at killing without getting caught. He’s single-handedly taken down super soldiers and dozens of cops in Civil War. As Cap’s friend and ally in World War II, Bucky was already impressive. After Hydra brainwashed him and trained him further, he stepped up a few levels. Given his own brain back, it’s easy to imagine that Bucky will be a force to be reckoned with in Avengers: Infinity War.
8. ABOMINATION
Let’s state the obvious first: Hulk beat Abomination in The Incredible Hulk. We get that. The Hulk was able to defeat the Abomination in the finale of the movie because the Hulk’s power is tied to his anger. The angrier he gets, the more powerful he becomes. Thus, when the Abomination’s actions threatened Betty Ross, Hulk had just the drive he needed to defeat Abomination once and for all. However, we also ranked Hulk way lower on this list than the Abomination, and up to that point, Hulk was getting destroyed by the Abomination.
There’s a reason for that, and it’s probably the same reason that Nick Fury was originally told to recruit Abomination for the Avengers instead of the Hulk.
The Abomination, prior to his transformation, was Emil Blonsky, the best soldier America had in the modern day, with more training and field experience than any other. He was given a dose of Super Soldier Serum, though not exactly what Steve Rogers had been given. It still enhanced his strength, speed, and reflexes. Once the Abomination was formed, all of that knowledge and enhancement was even further enhanced. If he hadn’t pissed off the Hulk by putting Betty Ross in danger, Hulk might not have walked away from that fight.
7. DAREDEVIL
On Netflix, Daredevil was the first shot at a Marvel show, and it was a huge success. Daredevil has taken on a sort of Iron Man role in the Netflix part of the universe, holding a reputation that other heroes discuss and providing the strongest leadership presence when they all team up in The Defenders. He’s fought Kingpin, Punisher, Elektra, and several members of The Hand. Fortunately for him, he has some heightened senses and has developed a sonar ability after having been struck blind. Nonetheless, his combat abilities are impressive, and probably the strongest of the Defenders. His fighting is better even than Iron Fist, whose entire backstory is all about his kung-fu training. That says something.
Daredevil was trained by Stick, who is a member of the Chaste, a group dedicated to fighting the Hand. The Hand are the main enemies of the second season of Daredevil, Iron Fist, and The Defenders.They are highly trained ninjas who spend their lifetimes training in mystic combat arts. For Daredevil to succeed in fighting them, even with help from Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist, is quite impressive indeed. That he’s doing it all while blind? Well, that’s just amazing.
6. ELEKTRA
Elektra Natchios appears in the second season of Daredevil and ends up being the main adversary of The Defenders. She was trained by Stick and the Chaste, but was prophesied to become The Black Sky, the leader of the Hand. She’s fought and killed several Hand members, including some of their strongest leaders. She’s also fought against Daredevil and all of the members of the Defenders. Of course, for Daredevil, the fight is personal; they have a romantic past. However, Elektra seems to lose this memory once she dies and is reawakened as The Black Sky.
With a lifetime of training under Stick, she’s already got more experience than almost anyone.
She’s willing to kill for her cause, even before she’s reawakened as The Back Sky. Once she wakes up with the mindset of The Black Sky, she’s just about unstoppable. Only by collapsing caverns on top of her are the Defenders able to prevent her from succeeding in the Hand’s mission to mine the dragon bones that were stuck underneath New York City. If it takes a cavern collapsing on you to stop you from winning, then we’re pretty sure you qualify as an official powerhouse.
5. BLACK PANTHER
T’Challa, the king of Wakanda, first appears in Captain America: Civil War, as a guardian to his father, T’Chaka, who is king at the time. When his father dies in an explosion, T’Challa suits up as Black Panther to find the man responsible. In his search for justice, he faces off against Captain America, Bucky Barnes, and Falcon, among others. His suit allows him to run at super speed and gives him enhanced strength, which helps him to fight against Steve Rogers, despite his superior strength from the Super Soldier Serum. Eventually, T’Challa and Cap ended things on positive terms, and will presumably ally themselves together in Avengers: Infinity War.
He returned in Black Panther, where he assumed the throne of Wakanda, fighting M’Baku and Killmonger throughout the course of the movie to cement his place as the ruler of the isolated nation. As Black Panther, he is recognized as the nation’s greatest warrior and tasked with being one of the main protectors of Wakanda and its citizens. His suit helps, but his technique is what makes him truly powerful. T’Challa has a great mind, thinking outside of the box to win battles when he needs to. He is a wise and soft spoken leader who is able to walk the walk and talk the talk.
4. KILLMONGER
Erik Stevens was born in America, but has Wakandan blood and is a cousin to T’Challa. He may have grown up in the lower class of America, but once he learned of his heritage, Erik had a sharp focus. He worked his entire life to claim the throne of Wakanda so he could use Wakanda’s wealth to help those with African ancestry throughout the world. As an American soldier, Killmonger worked black ops, earning the nickname “Killmonger” for his deadly actions in combat.
He eventually manages to track down the nation of Wakanda and gain access with the help of Ulysses Klaue.
Once there, he challenges T’Challa for the throne, and defeats him mercilessly, throwing his body over the edge of a cliff and immediately beginning to bring his goals to fruition. T’Challa is eventually able to defeat Killmonger, but only by using the vibranium trains. In straight combat, Killmonger demonstrates that he is the superior fighter several times, and against several foes. Though he dies at the end of the movie, he goes out on his own terms. He could have been healed, but refuses, choosing to die a free man, rather than to owe his life to T’Challa.
3. CAPTAIN AMERICA
Coming in at number three is Steve Rogers, aka Captain America. We first saw Steve Rogers in Captain America: The First Avenger, where he fought Red Skull and managed to take down an entire Hydra fort almost singlehandedly. He continued to be the hero America needed in The Avengers, leading the team to victory against Loki and his Chitauri forces. He fought Winter Soldier in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Ultron in Avengers: Age of Ultron, and a ton of his former allies in Captain America: Civil War.
Yes, he has super strength, and that puts a lot of force behind his punches and kicks, but it takes skill, training, and technique to be able to fight as effectively in the first place. Steve’s clearly had tons of training with his iconic shield to be able to make it fly around the way he does, and that training must also apply to his fight training, as well. S.H.I.E.L.D. only takes the best and makes them better, as we’ve seen with the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents on this list. The difference between Cap in the modern day with advanced training and the Cap we saw in World War II is extremely noticeable.
2. BLACK WIDOW
Number two on this list is also the only member of the Avengers to have no real power, ability, or special weapon. She first appeared in Iron Man 2 and captured audiences everywhere with her fluid acrobatic combat and casual attitude. She’s snarky and doesn’t take anyone’s sass. She continued on in The Avengers, giving us an amazing fight scene while tied to a chair, fighting Hawkeye, and taking down a ton of Chitauri soldiers. She was also invaluable in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Age of Ultron, and Captain America: Civil War.
Whether she’s fighting friend or foe, Black Widow proves time and again that no one can fight her and expect to walk away.
We really need to reiterate: she doesn’t have any major special equipment that gives her a special ability, like Stark’s Iron Man suits, Bucky’s arm, or Falcon’s wingsuit. There’s no superpower, like Scarlet Witch. She has no enhanced abilities, like Cap. Natasha is just an extremely well-trained woman, who has been able to fight alongside gods and superheroes. That she’s done all of this as effectively as enhanced beings speaks to her abilities. She’s honestly an inspiration and we really hope she gets a solo movie sooner than later.
1. HELA
Our final slot on this list is reserved for the Goddess of Death, Thor’s sister Hela. Though she only appears in one movie, she leaves a mark on the MCU that will have repercussions that last for a long time. She was originally Odin’s executioner, tasked with eliminating his enemies and executing his war plans. With Hela at his side, Odin was able to conquer the realms and put them under Asgardian control. She returned in Thor: Ragnarok when Odin died and made it her immediate goal to take the throne and demand fealty or death from all Asgardians.
When she first arrives on scene, she defeats Thor and Loki, sending them off to Sakaar. She arrives in Asgard and immediately dispatches several of the warriors three, Thor’s legendary soldier friends. In her next battle scene, Hela is approached by the entire strength of the full Asgardian army. She destroys them all in a matter of seconds. It’s an incredible fight sequence, one of the best displays of fighting prowess in the entire MCU. She’s so powerful that Thor cannot defeat her — he needs to sic Surtur on her, sacrificing Asgard and allowing him to destroy it. She’s easily one of the most frightening villains in the MCU, and a lot of that has to do with the fact that she is literally the goddess of killing people. We’d expect nothing less.
GEMS FORUM 