Eternals producer Nate Moore was recently asked who could stand up to Brie Larson's Captain Marvel and pointed to Angelina Jolie's Thena as a contender. However, Moore believed that Thena would put enough of a fight against the half-Kree warrior due to her extensive experience and powers bestowed onto her by the godlike Celestials.
Moore was quick not to count Danvers out completely, stating that her powerful Binary form would still give Thena trouble. However, this kind of topic has been discussed among fans for years among various characters in Marvel, which famed comic book writer Stan Lee himself addressed in 2013:
"So one question I'm always asked. Who would win in a fight? Who would win in a fight if Galactus fought The Hulk, or if Thor fought Iron Man? And there's one answer to all of that. It's so simple, anyone should know this. The person who'd win in a fight is the person that the scriptwriter wants to win!"
It seems that Marvel Studios has this same philosophy; it apparently doesn't keep any hardline hierarchy of power charts on hand for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as Nate Moore explains.
The Hierarchy of Power in MCU
During an interview with Comicbook.com during a set visit, Eternals producer Nate Moore was asked whether there was an established hierarchy among all the heroes.
Moore laid out that "[the Eternals are] obviously stronger than humans," meaning that heroes like Hawkeye and Black Widow wouldn't stand a chance against them:
"I mean, look, they're obviously stronger than humans so I think, you look at our amazing heroes, like Hawkeye and Black Widow wouldn't have a problem."
One concern was not making the Eternals "too godlike" as it would "risk of them being less relatable," but that hasn't been a problem for characters like Thor:
"We didn't want [the Eternals] to be too godlike, because I do think you run the risk of them being less relatable. Although I guess, Thor has managed that pretty well."
Although Moore did confirm that "we don't necessarily have a ranking system" at Marvel Studios, the Eternals "occupy their own pocket" and that eventually, when they do encounter other heroes, it'll be something "fun" to explore:
"But we don't necessarily have a ranking system. We do think [the Eternals] sort of occupy their own pocket, and I do think down the line, if and when they were to intersect with other characters, that's a fun thing to sort of investigate."
The Writers Decide Whose Strongest, Not the Characters
As Stan Lee said, who wins in a fight doesn't depend on the characters but the writers for those characters. As fans have already seen in What If...?, a fight between Thor and Captain Marvel is still debatable despite her seemingly losing her battle against him with lines like "If I exert my full powers, I blow a crater in this planet."
Even in shows like WandaVision, this same topic came up when characters like Monia Rambeau mentioned how Wanda could have killed Thanos herself, along with Agent Woo saying the same about Carol Danvers. So, even Marvel Studios itself doesn't have a fully dedicated power level chart to reference when writing these characters.
Like the comics, all that matters is that Marvel makes the fights between these characters satisfying and engaging, no matter who wins.
Fans will see for sure how powerful the Celestials' warriors are when they see Eternals in theaters on November 5, 2021.
