Thor is the one Avenger in the MCU who has gone through the most change. While he started out as a haughty, selfish boy who wanted to be the King of Asgard, he has since grown into a reflection of the benevolent leader his father tried to be. With a new weapon and newfound wisdom after his time on Sakaar, Thor is shaping up to be one of the strongest superheroes in the MCU.
It’s crazy to think that Thor has gone through some changes that increased his power level. For those that remember the first Thor movie, he was already quite strong there. He waltzed into Jotunheim and was able to tackle Frost Giants with relative ease while the rest of his friends made way to the exit. Since then, Thor has only gotten stronger, with him channeling more powers in The Avengers and Thor: The Dark World to learning that he had a special strength inside him in Thor: Ragnarok.
By the time we see the God of Thunder in Avengers: Infinity War, he has become the most powerful Avenger to date. However, with all of the crazy feats he can do, it does beg the question: is Thor overpowered in the MCU? With him being able to turn the tides of war upon entrance, it makes one wonder about his power level in relation to the other Avengers.
While we love him as a character (especially due to his appearances in recent movies), here are 20 reasons that Thor is ridiculously overpowered in the MCU.
20 Flight
Flight is a crucial power that a lot of superheroes have. It allows them to travel anywhere nearly unobstructed as well as fight in ways that others cannot. One ability that Thor was given, thanks to the help of Mjolnir, was flight. He could soar through the air and dash at his foes with his hammer in hand. This power was taken away when Mjolnir was destroyed by Hela in Thor: Ragnarok, but it would later return to him in Avengers: Infinity War when he forged the Stormbreaker axe as a weapon that could take down Thanos once and for all.
19 Mjolnir
When we first meet Thor in the MCU, he wields the mystical hammer known as Mjolnir. It was forged in the heart of a dying star and, thus, boasts incredible powers. By swinging through the air hard enough, it caused him to fly. On top of that, the hammer was nearly indestructible and could tear through even the mightiest foe. The hammer could bust through Ultron bots without much struggle and was even powerful enough to make the Hulk stagger with the right amount of force behind it. All in all, it was a powerful hammer built with one of the most durable materials in the universe.
18 Stormbreaker
Mjolnir was an impressive weapon, but even it had its limitations. Hela managed to destroy it in Thor: Ragnarok, leaving Thor in need of a new weapon in Avengers: Infinity War. Going straight to the dying star himself, he forged the Stormbreaker axe with the help of Groot. The weapon seems to work hand in hand with his lightning powers, cutting through all sorts of Outriders without any effort. The axe is even strong enough to pierce through Thanos himself. If Thor had aimed for his head, the Mad Titan would’ve perished on the spot, but we all know how that went.
17 Can Beat The Hulk
In The Avengers, we got our first taste at what a battle between Thor and the Hulk would look like. It ended in a way that made it hard to guess who the stronger Avenger was. In Thor: Ragnarok, the two had a rematch on Sakaar where Thor began to discover his newer lightning powers. It was here that he managed to get several blows on the Hulk and even had the green giant on the ropes. The only reason he lost was because the Grandmaster intervened and activated his taser collar. Had the battle played out, we likely would’ve seen Thor on top.
16 Immense Strength
Being Asgardian comes with a lot of perks, one of them being increased strength. Despite their regular physique, Asgardians are much stronger than humans. They can leap incredible heights, run great distances, and lift heavy objects with ease. Thor is one of the strongest Asgardians to ever live, so imagine the feats he is able to accomplish. He was able to toss around the Guardians’ escape pod like it was nothing, hold together pieces of an intergalactic forge with his bare hands, and even knock the Hulk several feet in a single blow. While Stark refers to him as “Point Break,” he is the strongest Avenger.
15 Lightning
In Thor: Ragnarok, Thor was presented with a serious question from his father: was he Thor, the God of Hammers? True to his name, Thor unlocked a host of lightning powers that elevated him to new levels. Not only did he use them to bust through Hela’s skeleton Asgardians like they were nothing, but he also used it to defeat the Hulk. These powers also allowed him to summon the biggest lightning bolts the universe had ever known- much larger than the lightning he channeled through Mjolnir. The lightning can even attack foes while Thor is preoccupied in other fights.
14 His Weapons Return To Him
Part of what makes Thor’s weapons so effective is that he can simply stretch out his hand, and they’ll return to him. That was one reason why we was so strong in the first two Thor and Avengers films. He could throw his hammer around a battlefield, fight some enemies in hand-to-hand combat, then have it return to him for rougher attacks. The same can be said for the Stormbreaker Axe, which shot out from his hand during the battle of Wakanda and struck through several Outriders before returning to Thor’s hand. It does make for some impressive sequences, but it makes him overpowered.
13 Stronger Than The Infinity Stones
Thor’s quest in Avengers: Infinity War was all about getting revenge on Thanos for ending half of his people, his brother, and his best friend. He spent most of the movie trying to forge a new weapon that would give him greater power than he had with Mjolnir; power that would be enough to end the Mad Titan. When the God of Thunder finally came to Earth and came face to face with Thanos, he threw his axe, and it managed to overpower all six Infinity Stones at once. Thanos couldn’t do anything about it and had to take the injury to the chest.
12 Take The Heat From A Star
One of Thor’s most impressive, yet overpowered feats came in Avengers: Infinity War when he was creating Stormbreaker. Everyone was working together to get the forge working again, but the fires wouldn’t light enough to start melting the metal. Thor decided that he would be the one to stand in the path of the fire and hold the forge open long enough to keep the process moving. While the power nearly ended him, he was strong enough to survive the fire for the right amount of time for Groot to step in and finish creating the axe, which then allowed Thor to live.
11 Survive Explosions
Thanos’s attack on the Asgardian ship was so dangerous that it left everyone involved either perished or afraid for their lives. When Banner is sent to Earth, he tells Tony that Thor was ended by Thanos. After the Mad Titan left the ship, it exploded, ensuring that anyone on board perished. Thor was on the ship as well. However, when the Guardians of the Galaxy arrived, he seemed to be the only one who survived the explosion. It makes many people wonder if there is something that the God of Thunder can’t handle. An entire ship exploded with him on it, and he still survived.
10 Destroy A Planet’s Surface
If you needed any indication that Thor was one of the most powerful Avengers in the MCU, look no further than Thor. In the beginning of the film, he goes to Jotunheim with the a few of his friends and takes on the Frost Giants. While he is seemingly defeating them all by himself, he needs a move that allows him enough time to fly away and rejoin his friends. He simply raises his hammer, channels a bit of lightning, and strikes the surface, essentially destroying everything around him, including the surface of the planet. Yeah, he was a bit overpowered back then too.
9 No One Can Lift His Weapons
After Thor proved himself to be a haughty prince, Odin placed an enchantment on Mjolnir that made it so only those who were “worthy” could wield it. Thor uses this enchantment to get the drop on many of his adversaries in the MCU. In his battle against Loki, he places the hammer on the God of Mischief’s chest, rendering him unable to move. He does a similar thing in The Avengers, where he stops the Hulk by placing the hammer over his arm. No other person can wield the power that he has, which makes him much more threatening as a result.
8 Summon The Bifrost At Will
After Asgard was destroyed in Thor: Ragnarok, it seemed that there was no way to instantly teleport to other worlds. As Heimdall revealed in Avengers: Infinity War, there was still a method of activating the Bifrost. When Thor finally created the Stormbreaker Axe, it gave him the power to summon the Bifrost at will. Not only could Thor fly and defeat just about any opponent that stood in his way, but he can also teleport anywhere in the universe due to his new weapon. It cements Thor as one of the most effective protectors of the Nine Realms, as he can be anywhere in an instant.
7 Fly Through Monsters
It’s clear that Thor can fly and has incredible strength, but these two powers often intersect into some of his more impressive feats. In the first Thor film, the Warriors Three and Loki were being chased by a monster of Jotunheim. While none of them were strong enough to take it down, Thor was able to fell it in one swoop. All he had to do was fly through at top speed and jet himself right through its mouth. The momentum he carried as well as the durability of Mjolnir caused him to fly through the monster, leaving a gaping hole in its head.
6 End Armies Effortlessly
If there’s one thing Thor knows how to do well: it’s fight. No matter how many foes stand in his path or how many strong characters challenge him, he almost always comes out on top. He took on numerous Frost Giants in Thor and shocked an innumerable amount of Chitauri in a matter of seconds in The Avengers. There was a giant rock monster that wanted to end him in Thor: The Dark World, which he destroyed in just one move. When he entered the battle of Wakanda in Avengers: Infinity War, he immediately turned the tide of the war.
5 Prophetic Visions
Being connected to the magic of Asgard, Thor has been given visions and dreams that herald what the future holds. In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Thor had a vision about the end of Asgard as well as the placement of the Infinity Stones and what they meant for the future of the universe. In Thor: Ragnarok, he also mentions that he has visions of Asgard being destroyed, which caused him to go searching for Surtur to protect his home. These prophetic visions give Thor an edge on what challenges are ahead. It allows him to be prepared to fight back.
4 Skill With Multiple Weapons
When we first meet Thor, his weapon of choice is a hammer that he happens to use well in battle. Throughout the movies, though, Thor has to use a host of different weapons to get the job done, but manages to be good with just about all of them. In Thor: Ragnarok, he uses a host of new weapons but is still just as skillful as he is with a hammer. In Avengers: Infinity War, he wields Stormbreaker like he had been using it for centuries. Thor is extremely versatile and can use just about any weapon to fell even the mightiest foe.
3 Centuries Of Battle Experience
In the beginning of Thor, we learn that the God of Thunder is the oldest son of Odin. Despite looking like a young man in the film, Asgardians live much longer than typical humans, especially when they’re royalty. Thor is thousands of years old, and likely has centuries of battle experience to prove it. He has always had a love for fighting, and had hundreds of years to perfect his craft. This gives him an edge over many of the foes he faces, with many of them incapable of acquiring the same level of experience that he had. His experience is unmatched.
2 Go Toe To Toe With Thanos
There were several beings who fought Thanos directly in Avengers: Infinity War, all of them losing in the process. Iron Man put up the best and longest fight against the Mad Titan, but he got stabbed at the end. The Hulk got a few punches in, but not before he was knocked out like a chump. Thor, however, was ready for the fight after he had Stormbreaker in his hands. Not only was he able to get the drop on Thanos, but overpower him, despite having all six Infinity Stones at once. Thor even mortally wounded Thanos, who likely would’ve perished if it weren’t for having the Gauntlet in his grasp.
1 Beat Surtur In Minutes
Asgard feared Ragnarok for centuries. It was the prophecy of the end of Asgard. Thor was determined not to let his people perish, so he hunted down a way to try and stop it. His journey brought him face to face with Surtur, who was foretold to be the one to destroy Asgard for good. Thor went down to his realm and decided to face him head on. At the same time, he fought armies of Surtur’s goons and even a fire dragon and managed to win. He beat Surtur in just a few minutes, taking his crown back to Asgard and having it placed safely in Odin’s vault.
