8 Most Powerful Characters In MCU Phase 5

MCU Phase 5 is gearing up to be an action-packed era for Marvel Studios, with a slate packed full of some remarkably powerful characters. Phase 4 came to a close in November 2022 with the releases of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, wrapping up perhaps the most divisive chapter of the franchise so far. Despite coming under scrutiny, Phase 4 got the ball rolling for the MCU’s Multiverse Saga, laying the foundations for Phase 5 to cement some established characters while also introducing new heroes, villains, and settings in projects such as Thunderbolts, Blade, and Ironheart.

Phase 5 of the MCU will see the return of many characters who haven’t been seen since the final battle in Avengers: Endgame, with the likes of Ant-Man, Captain Marvel, and Nick Fury all coming back into the fray. Phase 5 will lead directly into the build-up to the climactic Phase 6 crossover films Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars, so several new characters are billed to appear in the next couple of years whose power sets are simply off the charts. Here are some of the most powerful characters set to appear in MCU Phase 5.

Kang The Conqueror

The Infinity Saga’s primary antagonist, Thanos, left some big shoes to fill, as he threatened the fate of the entire universe, but now, thanks to Kang the Conqueror, the fate of the multiverse is at stake. A variant of Kang was introduced early on in MCU Phase 4, greeting Loki and Sylvie in the Loki season finale as He Who Remains, the overseer of the Sacred Timeline and the Time Variance Authority. He Who Remains appeared to be a gentler, more compassionate version of Kang while the Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania trailer debuted a murderous and terrifying incarnation of the villain.

Kang’s variant in the upcoming Ant-Man sequel expresses how many Avengers he’s killed over his lifetime, and he isn’t fazed about going toe-to-toe with Scott Lang and his allies. Kang’s genius-level intellect and command over time make him a formidable foe, and glimpses of this have already been mentioned in the MCU as He who Remains spoke about his more evil variants forging a massive multiversal war before he put an end to it. With Kang usually pitted as a regular enemy of the Fantastic Four, it will certainly be a challenge for the MCU’s Avengers to take down this impressive supervillain.

The High Evolutionary

Chukwudi Iwuji is set to make his MCU debut as the High Evolutionary in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, being introduced as the creator of the enhanced Rocket. Born as Herbert Edgar Wyndham, he became enamored with the work of Nathaniel Essex, who would go on to become the mutant supervillain Mister Sinister. Wyndham became obsessed with genetic engineering and designed formulas and apparatus to enable him to enhance lower lifeforms into humanoid, sentient species.

Branching out into the stars, the High Evolutionary became an extremely powerful being, seemingly having complete control over his own genetics and those of other species. Even though the Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 trailer seems to be setting up Adam Warlock to be the film’s antagonist, the High Evolutionary will also have a huge part to play, and he will probably continue on afterward since he harbors so much power. Chukwudi Iwuji has described his portrayal of the High Evolutionary in the MCU as “narcissistic, sociopathic, and very charming,” only adding to the sinister nature of the character.

Adam Warlock

Many Marvel fans have been desperate to see Adam Warlock enter the MCU after a brief mention of the character was teased during the post-credits scenes of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Finally, in October 2021, Will Poulter was cast as Adam Warlock in the MCU. Adam is a supremely powerful ally to the Avengers in Marvel Comics, but the character is being set up to be a villain during Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. This fits with the already established storyline since the Sovereign created Adam to be the perfect foe for the Guardians after their battery betrayal.

In the comics, Adam Warlock frequently bears the Soul Stone on his forehead, akin to Vision’s hold over the Mind Stone. Adam is also a member of the Infinity Watch and is affiliated with the Guardians of the Galaxy. Despite not being able to hold the Soul Stone in the MCU, since Thanos destroyed it during Avengers: Endgame, Adam will surely have an impressive range of powers. This incredible superhero will likely play a key role in several upcoming projects in the Multiverse Saga and beyond.

Matt Murdock, a.k.a. Daredevil

Through three seasons of the Netflix series, Daredevil proved that Matt Murdock is a very powerful hero, despite being blinded in a childhood accident. After the cancelation of Marvel Television’s Netflix shows, Daredevil was confirmed to be joining the MCU proper in various projects such as Spider-Man: No Way Home, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, and Echo, leading up to his monumental 18-episode solo series, Daredevil: Born Again. The MCU’s new Matt Murdock, still portrayed by Charlie Cox, has already proven his amazing skill at hand-to-hand combat while fighting alongside Jennifer Walters, a.k.a. She-Hulk.

In Marvel Comics, as a child, Matt Murdock is exposed to a radioactive substance that blinds him but grants him other remarkable abilities including superhuman agility, heightened senses, and an echolocation radar sense that enables him to see in his own way. While his abilities in the MCU haven’t really been called superhuman, they certainly make him a terrifying hero for any villain to go up against, especially when his emotions get the better of him, and he becomes even more brutal. Daredevil is certainly one of the more powerful street-level heroes that Marvel Studios has introduced.

Wilson Fisk, A.K.A. Kingpin

Daredevil’s most notorious adversary is Wilson Fisk, a.k.a. the Kingpin. Portrayed brilliantly by Vincent D’Onofrio in Daredevil, the actor reprises his role in the MCU starting with the Hawkeye Disney+ series. Kingpin was shown to have incredible power in Daredevil, but the new MCU version seems to have even more strength and brutality than his Netflix counterpart. He took many shots from Kate Bishop but was still able to fight and even survived Echo shooting him in the face.

Aside from sheer physical strength, Wilson Fisk also has a huge amount of power and control over other human beings, particularly in the world of underground criminals, and even in the political world. One Marvel Comics storyline saw Wilson Fisk become Mayor of New York, a direction that Marvel Studios could be taking with the character. His control over people as powerful as Kate Bishop’s mother, Eleanor, for instance, enables him to move in the shadows and practically do whatever he wants to without consequence, although that certainly garners the attention of superheroes such as Hawkeye and Daredevil.

Carol Danvers, A.K.A. Captain Marvel

Despite being one of the most powerful characters in Marvel Studios’ roster, Captain Marvel is still a fairly new MCU hero, only being introduced in 2019’s Captain Marvel, though that movie took place in the 1990s. Marvel Studios came under a bit of criticism for sidelining the character in Avengers: Endgame, but they were perhaps proven right when she did turn up and almost took down Thanos and his army single-handedly. Carol Danvers’s power is unimaginable, since she was gifted remarkable abilities after being exposed to the full force of the Tesseract’s cosmic power.

Danvers’s next appearance in the MCU will come during 2023’s The Marvels, which will see the powerful hero fight alongside Kamala Khan, a.k.a. Ms. Marvel, and Monica Rambeau, who was granted abilities after entering the Westview Hex in WandaVision. It will be interesting to see these two newer heroes share the screen with a being as powerful as Captain Marvel, since her powers are, frankly, far more impressive than either of them. Even so, Brie Larson’s personable portrayal of Captain Marvel adds a humble flare to the character, even though she is stronger than basically any other.

Samuel Sterns, A.K.A. The Leader

After his last appearance, in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk, Tim Blake Nelson has been confirmed to be reprising his role of Samuel Sterns in the MCU Phase 5 project Captain America: New World Order. This will see him in his final form as the Leader, a super-intelligent villain from Marvel Comics who is normally pitted against the Hulk but will go toe-to-toe with Sam Wilson as the new Captain America. It’s about time Marvel Studios gave audiences a pay-off to this storyline, which started almost 15 years ago when Sterns got some of Bruce Banner’s blood into a wound on his head, teasing his transformation into the Leader.

The Leader’s incredible abilities include superhuman intelligence, telepathy, telekinesis, the ability to manipulate gamma rays, and even the ability to bring himself back to life. Though it’s unclear what interpretation Marvel will bring to the Leader in the MCU, these powers combined make him an extremely powerful enemy to many heroes. Nelson’s previous performance in The Incredible Hulk certainly brought intelligence to the character, so it’s exciting to see what changes he has gone through over the last decade and a half.

Contessa Valentina Allegra De Fontaine

This is where things get interesting, since Julia Louis Dreyfus’s Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine has no superhuman abilities whatsoever — at least, none that MCU viewers have seen. Even so, she is still one of the most powerful characters in the MCU going into Phase 5, if just for her position in the government and her influence over others. Her debut in the MCU came during The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which saw her recruiting John Walker to a mystery team, now revealed to be the Thunderbolts, and rebranding him as U.S. Agent after the Captain America moniker was stripped from him.

In Black Widow’s post-credits scene, Valentina was shown to have recruited Yelena Belova and tasked her with taking down Clint Barton, whom she claimed killed her sister, Natasha Romanoff. This proved that Valentina certainly has dark intentions, made even more terrifying after Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’s reveal that she is, in fact, the Director of the CIA in the MCU, meaning her power is so significant that it is almost incomprehensible. Going into Thunderbolts in 2024, Valentina has set herself up to be one of the most sinister villains in MCU Phase 5.