In Avengers: Endgame the MCU handed Earth’s mightiest heroes a nearly impossible task: stop Thanos, undo the Snap, and somehow survive. Thanks to some clever time travel, a few tragic sacrifices, including Tony Stark’s heartbreaking end, the Avengers ultimately won. But here’s the thing, as cosmic as Thanos is, he was never unbeatable. Remember, he’s a Titan, not a god. Even with the Infinity Stones.
Across decades of Marvel comics, there are plenty of characters — heroes, villains, and everything in between — who have either beaten Thanos or easily could. With the Multiverse wide open and characters from every corner of Marvel canon potentially on the table, it’s worth asking: who else could have defeated Thanos if they had shown up in Avengers: Endgame? Well, here’s 10 picks who could have taken the genocidal Titan down.
1) Sentry
This is such an obvious one. Known as Marvel’s version of Superman on steroids, Sentry, aka Robert “Bob” Reynolds, is one of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe.
He has the power of a million exploding suns, and his strength, flight, and invulnerability are just the tip of the iceberg. In fact, Sentry once tore Ares in half during the Siege storyline and fought Hulk to a standstill in World War Hulk. In Dark Avengers, Norman Osborn used Sentry as a living weapon of mass destruction, further proving just how catastrophically powerful Reynolds can become under the wrong influence.
You also get a 2-for-1 deal with Sentry seeing as he also doubles as The Void. This multiplies his destructive potential and taps into reality-warping powers. If he’d gone up against Thanos the outcome could have been very different, especially if The Void was in play. With enough motivation (or instability), Sentry might have ended Thanos before the Snap even happened. We’d just have to worry about the fallout, especially if The Void decides to take over completely.
2) Dormammu
Fans of Doctor Strange got a glimpse of Dormammu in the 2016 film, but comic readers know that this fiery demonic entity is far more dangerous than what we saw on screen. Dormammu is not bound by physical limitations, and it took the combined efforts of Doctor Strange, Eternity, and countless other cosmic entities just to slow him down.
Thanos might wield the Infinity Gauntlet, but Dormammu is the dimension and a god in his own right. Unless Thanos had pre-emptively stolen all magical artifacts and power sources, Dormammu would crush him easily, and likely absorb his soul just for fun.
Dormammu has faced the likes of Galactus and even challenged the Living Tribunal indirectly through dimension-wide threats. In The Eternity War, the dark cosmic god proved he could override reality itself when strengthened by artefacts like the Evil Eye or when allied with beings like Umar or Mephisto.
3) Mephisto
Marvel’s version of the Devil, Mephisto is not just a trickster or sorcerer; Mephisto is a cosmic-level manipulator with immense magical and reality-warping abilities. He possesses godlike strength, immortality, shapeshifting, and the power to manipulate time, space, and memory without the need of a little Infinity Stone to do it. He’s also nearly impossible to kill. If someone manages it, he simply reappears within his own realm.
In the 1991 comic Infinity Gauntlet, Mephisto actually sided with Thanos, but only to manipulate him and seize the Gauntlet for himself. Mephisto’s specialty is deception and corruption. If he had decided to intervene in Endgame, he could have convinced Thanos to unmake himself or altered reality to trap him in a torment loop forever. He’s a master strategist with ambitions that rival even the Mad Titan’s. But, if Mephisto had defeated Thanos, we might have ended up with something even worse than the Snap.
4) Ego the Living Planet
Let’s talk scale. Ego, as portrayed by Kurt Russell in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, was already planet-sized and immensely powerful. But in the comics, the living planet is a full-fledged Celestial-level entity with mastery over cosmic energy. Ego can control matter, project energy, and regenerate himself almost endlessly. He’s been known to devour entire civilizations and can manifest avatars to attack threats directly.
He has gone toe-to-toe with Galactus and survived. In Thor Vol. 1, #132-133, Ego battles the God of Thunder, forcing Odin to intervene with the power of the Young Gods. The only reason he hasn’t conquered more of the galaxy is his often erratic, narcissistic personality, not a lack of ability. Thanos may be strong, but he’s no match for Ego. With cosmic awareness and a god-complex to match, Ego’s ability to warp his own planetary body into a weapon would give even the Black Order nightmares.
5) Scarlet Witch (at Full Strength)
The Wanda we saw in Avengers: Endgame was not ready. She certainly wasn’t her Scarlet Witch form at that point. But what if she had been? In Marvel’s comics, Wanda can reshape reality with just a few words. She has even erased all mutant life during the House of M comics. That’s millions of people, removed in an instant.
She has chaos magic strong enough to rewrite existence. If the Scarlet Witch had gone full House of M during Endgame, she could have easily removed Thanos from reality entirely. And unlike some cosmic beings, her human connection and emotion-driven power source make her even more dangerous when backed into a corner.
She’s also defeated cosmic entities like Chthon and Mephisto and once took on the Avengers and X-Men simultaneously. In Avengers: Disassembled, she altered the fabric of probability and reality so catastrophically that the Avengers were nearly wiped out overnight.
6) Phoenix (Jean Grey or Rachel Summers)
The Phoenix Force is the cosmic embodiment of life, death, and rebirth. When it bonds with mutants like Jean Grey or Rachel Summers, the result is devastating. Jean as the Dark Phoenix destroyed entire star systems, and Rachel once held the entire Phoenix Force and wielded it without going full evil. Having that level of control over the cosmic entity means she could burn Thanos down to atoms.
Thanos may think he’s inevitable, but to Phoenix he’s just another pimple on the cosmos’s butt. The Force allows for incinerating enemies on a molecular level, as well as granting foresight, making it likely that Jean or Rachel would see Thanos coming before he even made his first move.
7) Lockjaw (Yes, Really)
Lockjaw is a giant teleporting bulldog who works with the Inhumans. He’s adorable, wildly overpowered and just the goodest boy. Okay, hear us out — the big slobbery pup could be perfect in a pinch. He can teleport across dimensions, manipulate energy, and sense reality shifts. He can transport entire teams, warp time, and evade detection by even the most powerful beings.
Now, we haven’t specified that each character on our list is fighting the Titan solo. With that in mind, Lockjaw could easily be the Hail Mary move against Thanos. He could just teleport Thanos into a black hole. Or the Negative Zone. Or even better, into Dormammu’s clutches. With Lockjaw on the team, there’s no battlefield advantage for Thanos, and nowhere he can hide. In fact, Lockjaw once teleported the Hulk mid-rage, and that alone proves that even the simplest solutions can be the most effective.
In Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers, he assembled a team to retrieve the Infinity Gems and proved capable of resisting their corrupting influence, something even Thanos couldn’t manage.
8) Thane
Talk about a family worthy of Jerry Springer. Thane is Thanos’ own biological son, and arguably even more dangerous. Introduced in Infinity #4, Thane has the power of death itself in one hand, and the ability to freeze people in a “living death” with the other.
He has, in fact, defeated Thanos once already in the comics. He used his powers to trap his father in amber, leaving him alive but permanently frozen in a hellish state. Given the chance, Thane could do it again. With cosmic backing or strategic help from others like Ebony Maw, Thane could eliminate Thanos without ever throwing a punch.
In the Thanos: A God Up There Listening arc, Thane embraces his destiny and taps into cosmic awareness, signaling that his potential could eclipse even his father’s if guided properly.
9) Squirrel Girl
If Rick and Morty has taught us anything, it’s to not underestimate squirrels. And if you’re familiar with the Marvel meme-legend that is Squirrel Girl, then you already know she’s canonically undefeated. Squirrel Girl, aka Doreen Green, has taken down Doctor Doom, Galactus, MODOK, and Thanos. She defeated him in GLX-Mas Special #1, a win so unexpected that even Uatu the Watcher had to confirm its legitimacy.
Squirrel Girl’s power set includes super strength, agility, squirrel communication, and plot armor so thick it borders on reality-warping. She’s a walking deus ex machina with a fluffy tail. She’s also a member of the Great Lakes Avengers and once defeated Ego the Living Planet using nothing more than wit and squirrel cunning. In Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, she outsmarts villains rather than overpowering them, and always wins.
10) Mar-Vell (Captain Marvel)
Before Carol Danvers took the mantle, Mar-Vell was the original Captain Marvel.
As a Kree warrior, his powers were boosted by cosmic energy, granting him super strength, speed, and energy manipulation. His encounters with cosmic threats like the Supreme Intelligence and the Beyonders prove that he could have gone toe-to-toe with the Mad Titan, and walked away.
Mar-Vell also had an intimate understanding of universal balance and once sacrificed himself to prevent intergalactic war. His death in The Death of Captain Marvel is still one of the most powerful stories in Marvel history. He’s a hero strong enough to beat Thanos, but wise enough to decline godhood.
If he’d been in Endgame, his strategic mind and cosmic awareness might have helped outmaneuver Thanos, especially if he accessed the full power of the Nega-Bands or the Cosmic Cube. In fact, the idea of even Danvers’ Captain Marvel not defeating Thanos in the movie is a little suspicious.
