10 Most Powerful MCU Super-Soldiers After Thunderbolts*

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)

has introduced some incredible new heroes in Thunderbolts*

with a team that includes several super soldiers, but not all super soldiers are created equal. While Marvel Comics does include a wide array of super soldiers, they are not necessarily a whole category of hero as they appear to have become in the MCU. These movies have used the super soldier serum to explain the creation of several heroes and villains, leading to a whole lot of serum-enhanced supes.

However, Marvel has been careful in how the serum appears to be shared, and how the experience has varied from person to person. Obviously, Red Skull and Steve Rogers stand out as two of the original super soldiers, but the compound created by Dr. Abraham Erskine was mostly destroyed after Steve received his dose. And ever since, countless scientists have been trying to recreate the effects with varying results.

10

Karli Morgenthau

Karli Morgenthau and two of her Flag Smashers in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

One of the most recent recipients of the serum is Karli Morgenthau, a young woman who acts as a leader to the Flag Smashers, and, along with the others of her group, she took the serum to fight against the reintegration of people returning from the blip and taking other people’s homes. Karli is strong, and she is intelligent, but she is also messy, and her emotions get in the way of her powers.

Karli is also not someone who had extensive training, or a military background before taking the serum. Despite this, the super-soldier compound does enhance her strength to a point where she can easily overpower non-enhanced individuals. Despite this, she comes in lower on the list, and she has a lot to learn before taking on other more experienced super soldiers.

9

Red Guardian

Red Guardian smirking while standing in a spotlight in Black Widow

Alexei Shostakov was a widely beloved hero and icon in Russia when he was younger. As such, he was given the immense privilege of becoming their Red Guardian, Russia’s answer to Captain America. And just like Captain America, as the Red Guardian, Alexei became a prop for his country’s propaganda.

While Alexei is strong, and he had the backing of the government and intense training, he is in a unique position, having been given a lower-grade quality of the serum. Alexei ages at a regular pace, and while he possesses immense strength, he also has weaknesses that are not as obvious in other super soldiers. Despite this, he continues to display incredible superhuman strength.

8

John Walker

John Walker's US Agent speaking to Yelena Belova in Thunderbolts* trailer

John Walker was a decorated and celebrated soldier who was officially named as the successor to Steve Rogers after his disappearance. Walker was viewed as a war hero, and a stand-up candidate who had all the right qualifications to pick up the shield, according to the government. However, Walker is less stable mentally than several other super soldiers.

He received the same dose as Karli Morgenthau, but combined with his skills and experience, Walker was granted powers that far exceed ordinary men, and allow him to go toe to toe with more seasoned super soldiers. However, his anger and frustration often leads to his own downfall. Walker has potential, but he needs to step out of his own way to fully realize it.

7

Red Hulk

Captain America- Brave New World sH๏τ of Red Hulk shouting in front of fire — Image via Marvel Studios

Thaddeus Ross, formerly a high-ranking military official, and most recently the President of the United States, has a serious grudge against heroes. This likely stems from his pre-existing relationship with Bruce Banner, a man who dated his daughter, Betty Ross, and became the monstrous Hulk through lab experiments gone wrong. Ross has had a lot of time to grow and change in the MCU, but as was shown in Captain America: Brave New World, much of that was orchestrated and manipulated by The Leader.

For years, Ross has been ingesting a chemical compound laced with gamma-irradiated materials, and a substance which was developed while trying to recreate the original super soldier serum. However, with The Leader’s incredible intellect, he engineered this strain to make Ross into something much closer to the Hulk he despised. As a result, Ross transformed into the H๏τ-headed Red Hulk. And while he is powerful in this state, he’s one of the least stable Hulks in the MCU.

6

Abomination

Abomination speaks in The Incredible Hulk

On the other hand, Emil Blonsky was an elite soldier employed by Ross when Banner was on the run in an effort to capture the beast. Blonsky was given a more refined dose of the super soldier serum to allow him to compete with the Hulk, which served him well. However, greedy and desperate for more power, Blonsky overdosed with a lot more serum, turning him into the monstrous creature known as Abomination.

Despite becoming a wild beast, Blonsky retained control in this form, with his anger and hatred enhanced. This led to him using his incredible military skills to fight the Hulk, and he became a nearly unstoppable creature. However, once again struggling to handle his intense emotional reactions, Blonsky’s Abomination was defeated and detained.

5

Bucky Barnes

Image of Sebastian Stan's Winter Soldier holding a gun in battle in Captain America Winter Soldier (2014)

Bucky Barnes was captured by HYDRA after being separated from Steve during the final days of World War II. While everyone ᴀssumed Bucky had died, Bucky miraculously survived, and was further healed through being given a dose of super soldier serum by HYDRA. HYDRA then kept Bucky as a brainwashed ᴀssᴀssin, giving him the code name, The Winter Soldier, and sending him on countless missions over decades.

Bucky received one of the most pure and potent samples of the serum, which turned him into a seemingly timeless killer who didn’t age. Bucky’s incredible military prowess and decades of experience put him high on the list of super soldiers, though he has been known to lose a fight or two to more powerful heroes.

4

Captain Carter

Captain Carter in Earth-838's Illuminati in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

Captain Carter hails from another part of the Multiverse, but she was seen in the MCU when she appeared as part of the Illuminati in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. This group of heroes comprises of some of the most intelligent, powerful, and spectacular heroes from across the Multiverse. However, Wanda Maximoff made short work of them due to her incredible command of Chaos Magic, and her use of the Darkhold.

Despite her swift death in the MCU, Captain Carter is one of the most impressive heroes in the MCU. This character can be seen partaking in several adventures in the animated What If…? series, where she often takes on a leadership role, and saves not just her own reality, but multiple realities. However, she does have her weaknesses.

3

Steve Rogers

Chris Evas As Steve Rogers Captain America Looking Angry In Avengers Endgame

Red Skull may have been the first super soldier, but Steve Rogers was the person who was made to receive the serum, just as much as the serum was made to enhance and create extraordinary heroes. Steve was the ideal candidate for the serum, not because of his power, or his ability to fight, but because he was determined, motivated, and had his heart in the right place. Unlike many others listed above, Steve was always a worthy hero.

And with his heart of gold, Steve was able to become the Captain America that the world needed in World War II, and again in 2012 and beyond when trouble brewed. Steve was someone who never gave up, and this made him uniquely impressive and capable of completing seemingly impossible missions.

2

Hulk

Hulk looking at the screen angry in Avengers Endgame

However, Bruce Banner is also a genius whose work led to the creation of a gamma-irradiated chemical that turned him into the Hulk. This may have been a lab accident, but there is no doubting that the Hulk is one of the most incredibly powerful beings in the entire MCU. And with the parтιтion between Banner and Hulk initially causing these two parts of the man to act independently, it made the Hulk seem even more instinctive and animalistic.

However, when Banner blended his personality with the Hulk’s body, they became a whole new beast. Now, Smart Hulk appears to have taken a serious hit in terms of power levels, but that may be largely due to Banner’s restraint. Banner spent years holding back, only to eventually combine with the Hulk. He is not a violent man, and he appears to be struggling to scratch the surface of the Hulk’s true power. But that doesn’t mean he won’t figure it out eventually.

1

Sentry

Bob with bulletholes in his shirt in Thunderbolts*

At the top of the list, there is one new experimental hero who was introduced in Thunderbolts* whose immense power appears to dwarf everyone else on this list. Bob Reynolds was an addict with no aim in life, until he was invited to participate in a study that promised to change his life. While every other candidate in those trials died, Bob survived, and his newfound powers are nearly limitless, being compared to the power of 10,000 exploding suns.

Bob can fly, move at super speed, exert super strength and more as Sentry. However, there is also a darker half, like Hulk, which Bob cannot control. The Void comes with even more powers, literally altering reality, and creating visions in people’s own minds. Sentry is one of the most mysterious and most powerful new heroes in the MCU, and, since his introduction in Thunderbolts*, he now stands tall as the most powerful super soldier, though he has almost no control over his powers.