One of the most highly-debated topics to come out of Avengers: Endgame is the question of who is the strongest Avenger in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Fans love to argue about their favorite superheroes, and when you factor in power-sets, the discourse goes to a completely different level. With over 20 films in the MCU and an ever-growing roster of heroes, it can be tough to decide who stands at the top of Earth's Mightiest Heroes' totem pole. The Incredible Hulk and Mighty Thor are founding members of the Avengers, and two of the names that immediately come to mind. There are also characters introduced after 2012's The Avengers to consider, with Scarlet Witch and Captain Marvel at the top of the list.
All of our frontrunners had the opportunity to go one-on-one against Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, though their success rates varied. Thor took his opportunity to redeem himself after not going for Thanos' head in Infinity War, and Captain Marvel certainly left the Mad Titan scrambling when she hit the battlefield. However, the Avenger who really took it to Thanos and left audiences screaming and clapping for joy was a Mjolnir-wielding Captain America.
Avengers: Age of Ultron was the first film to tease the possibility of Steve Rogers lifting Mjolnir when he displayed the ability to slightly move it during a party at Avengers Tower. The moment may have gotten a chuckle out of audiences, but Cap's time to shine finally came years later when he teamed up with Iron Man and Thor to face Thanos during the Endgame climax. With the villain preparing to deal a lethal blow to Thor, Cap charged in with his broken shield and Mjolnir to save the day.
Now, you might be wondering why this feat signifies Captain America is the strongest Avenger. For starters, it all goes back to Mjolnir only allowing those it deems worthy to lift it in battle. Captain America is the Sentinel of Liberty and always stands for what is right, no matter the odds stacked against him. He was willing to sacrifice his own life to save others even before he was given the super-soldier serum in Captain America: The First Avenger. These virtues obviously resonated with the Asgardian hammer enough to almost let a mere mortal pick it up in the second Avengers film, and with its master facing near-death, it selected Cap to guide it against Thanos.
A Super-Soldier God of Thunder is the ultimate cheat code of superheroes. One half of Cap is enhanced with the Asgardian magic of the gods and the other is human evolution at its absolute peak, which makes for an impressive combination. Cap has the best strategic mind on Earth to go with being the top fighter with or without a weapon. Even without Mjolnir, Cap was able to hold his own against the Mad Titan. However, once he summoned Mjolnir to his outstretched hand, it truly became a one-sided fight for the ages. Cap not only proved his worthiness to lift Mjolnir, he also demonstrated expert mastery of the weapon by summoning lightning down from the heavens to throttle Thanos.
We never got the opportunity for Hulk vs. Thanos Round 2 in Endgame, though we do have Professor Hulk to thank for bringing the dusted heroes back to life with the Stark Gauntlet. However, with Hulk's damaged right arm, it more than likely wouldn't have been a fair fight. The next contestant to challenge Captain America for the title of Strongest Avenger is Thor, who couldn't gain an inch of ground against Thanos with both Mjolnir and Stormbreaker. Of course, some of that can be chalked up to Thor being out of shape after the five-year time jump earlier in Endgame.
Yet, the biggest challengers to Cap's title also happen to be powered by Infinity Stones. Hydra used Loki's scepter -- containing the Mind Stone -- to experiment on Scarlet Witch. As for Captain Marvel, she owes her powers to an encounter with the Tesseract/Space Stone in her 2019 solo film. Both heroes take Thanos to the limit, and Scarlet Witch had the greatest incentive to best Thanos since he murdered Vision to obtain the Mind Stone. Sure, using the Infinity Stones as a power battery gives Scarlet Witch and Captain Marvel an edge, but would all that power be enough to allow them to lift Mjolnir?
For our money, neither topped what Captain America was able to accomplish by raising Mjolnir over his head to become the Super-Soldier God of Thunder, aka the Strongest Avenger in the MCU.
