10 Marvel Characters So Overpowered They’d Need a Nerf Before Joining the MCU

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is no stranger to powerful characters. From Scarlet Witch rewriting reality in WandaVision to Kang breaking timelines in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Marvel Studios has steadily escalated the power scale. But even the mightiest MCU heroes would struggle against some of the characters lurking in the comics.

As the MCU explores bigger threats across the Multiverse Saga and beyond, some fans wonder if Marvel’s most godlike characters will ever make the jump to live-action. While that might sound exciting, it’s also a massive storytelling challenge. A character who can bend reality on a whim or wipe out galaxies without effort doesn’t make for a fair or emotionally compelling fight. To avoid turning the MCU into a cosmic cheat code fest, Marvel Studios would have to drastically tone down, or "nerf," the abilities of some of its most overpowered characters.

God-Tier Marvel Characters Who Might Be Too Much for the MCU

The One Above All

The One Above All is Marvel’s supreme being, an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent entity that sits at the top of the cosmic food chain. Essentially Marvel’s version of God, The One Above All created the multiverse, oversees all realities, and answers to no one.

This character rarely appears in the comics, and when it does, it's usually to impart wisdom or restore cosmic balance. Challenging or defeating The One Above All is impossible because they embody everything. As such, introducing this character to the MCU would instantly render any threat, from the likes of Doom to Galactus, completely meaningless.

Even the concept of stakes would collapse. It’s one thing to have a multiversal war, but when there’s a literal god watching from the sidelines, all tension disappears. The One Above All only works as a background presence or not at all in live-action.

Squirrel Girl

At first glance, Squirrel Girl might seem like a gag character. But in the comics, Doreen Green has defeated some of the most dangerous villains in Marvel history, including Doctor Doom, Thanos, and even Galactus. Yes, seriously.

What makes Squirrel Girl so overpowered isn’t just her super strength, agility, or her ability to communicate with squirrels. It’s that she always wins. Often, she triumphs through unconventional means like empathy, humor, or sheer unpredictability. That meta-level invincibility is part of the joke, but it also makes her unbeatable. Even in the Marvel Rivals video game, Doreen is a nightmare as an opponent.

In the MCU, her inclusion would likely require a total reimagining or a comedic Elseworlds-style appearance. Otherwise, she’d upend the tensions of any film she’s in just by showing up. 

Molecule Man

Owen Reece, aka Molecule Man, can control matter and energy at a molecular level, meaning he can literally rewrite reality. He’s beyond powerful and arguably one of the most dangerous beings in the multiverse.

His abilities were central to the Secret Wars storyline (2015), where he helped collapse and reshape entire universes. Molecule Man is also emotionally fragile, which adds an unpredictable element to his godlike power. If he were brought into the MCU at full power, he'd make even the most formidable foes look like ants. 

Marvel would need to scale his abilities way down, or explore him only within contained, high-concept stories. He could be a future villain in a Fantastic Four film. Wondering how? Read more about it here.

Franklin Richards

Franklin Richards is one of the most powerful mutants and characters in all of Marvel Comics. As the son of Reed Richards and Sue Storm, Franklin can create universes, alter reality, and manipulate cosmic forces at will. At his peak, he once created an entire pocket universe to save heroes during a multiversal crisis.

Notably, Franklin Richards debuted in the Fantastic Four: First Steps film. This gives Marvel Studios a perfect chance to introduce a younger, less developed version of him, leaving room for power growth over time.

To make him work in live-action, his abilities will almost certainly be nerfed to an extent, because a fully fledged Franklin Richards would have no competitor in the MCU.

The Marquis of Death

The Marquis of Death, formerly known as Clyde Wyncham, is one of the most terrifying villains in Marvel lore. He can erase timelines, defeat entire universes of heroes, and manipulate space-time with godlike ease. Even Doctor Doom served under him at one point.

Introducing a character like this would immediately outclass any villain the MCU has showcased so far. He makes Thanos look like a footnote. The only way to include him without ruining narrative balance would be through extreme limitations.

The Marquis could serve as a mythic threat in a multiversal saga, an off-screen boogeyman, or a final boss far down the line. But he’s simply too powerful to throw into the main continuity without nerfing him substantially.

Rune King Thor

While the MCU’s Thor has already showcased immense strength and power, Rune King Thor is on a completely different level. After undergoing a brutal ritual and gaining cosmic insight, this version of Thor becomes a god among gods, able to resist fate, destroy eldritch beings, and manipulate the fabric of the universe.

This isn't the Thor who cracks jokes with Korg. This is Thor as a metaphysical force, a Norse avatar with divine omniscience. If Rune King Thor entered the MCU, he’d immediately overshadow nearly every other character.

Mad Jim Jaspers

Mad Jim Jaspers is a reality-warping mutant with the power to twist universes to his will. In one timeline, he created The Fury, a nearly unstoppable killing machine, and turned the UK into a fascist state using his powers.

His most frightening trait is his instability. Jaspers is just as powerful as he is unhinged. His ability to bend logic and reality makes him a threat that defies standard battle rules. No one can truly outthink or outmatch him.

To bring him into the MCU, Marvel would likely tone down his reality manipulation or limit it to a particular dimension or story arc.

Proteus

Proteus, the mutant son of Moira MacTaggert, can manipulate reality and possesses near-limitless psionic power. He also needs new host bodies to survive, burning through them with his energy. This parasitic element adds horror to his immense abilities.

Proteus is chaos incarnate. He warps physics, rewrites matter, and defies conventional logic. In a cinematic setting, that could either be dazzling or disorienting beyond reason.

A heavily contained version of Proteus could make a fantastic villain in an X-Men project, especially now that the X-Men are set to feature in the MCU.

Legion

David Haller, aka Legion, is the son of Professor X and one of the most powerful and complex mutants in Marvel Comics. His mind houses hundreds of personalities, each with its own mutant power. Depending on which personality is in control, Legion can warp reality, travel through time, or destroy entire timelines.

He’s also deeply unstable, with his dissociative identity disorder shaping both his strengths and vulnerabilities. 

The FX series Legion gave viewers a grounded, psychological version of David Haller that intentionally held back on his full comic potential.

The MCU could take a similar approach, but with more balance, leaning a bit into his godlike powers without losing the emotional core.

The Beyonder

The Beyonder is a being from beyond the multiverse who once dragged heroes and villains into Battleworld for his own amusement. At full power, he surpasses cosmic entities like Eternity and the Living Tribunal. He’s essentially a god with a child’s curiosity, and that makes him dangerous.

In the comics, the Beyonder has been reinterpreted many times, ranging from an omnipotent force to a sentient cosmic cube. Marvel could choose a scaled-down version, especially with Avengers: Secret Wars on the horizon. He could be a pivotal character in Phase 7.