The 10 Most Powerful Marvel Characters Introduced After 1999

The Marvel Universe is home to some of the most powerful comic characters. Since the beginning of the Marvel Age in 1961, readers have been introduced to many powerful heroes and villains, from heroic gods to humans able to crush planets to cosmic conquerors and primordial beings of the universe.

Marvel is continuously pushing the boundaries of their own universe, introducing new and more powerful characters to expand the world. While many of the publisher’s most famous characters have been with them since the beginning, the 21st century has brought in many new and powerful players that have fundamentally changed the structure of Marvel forever. Fans of the MCU know powerful characters like Thor and Captain Marvel, but many new characters in the comics are much stronger than any on-screen representation.

10 Miles Morales Is A New Spider-Man for a New Generation

First Appearance: Ultimate Fallout #4 (2011) by Brian Michael Bendis, Jonathan Hickman, Nick Spencer, Billy Tan, Clayton Crain, Mark Bagley, Salvador Larroca, and Sara Pichelli

Miles Morales was originally part of Marvel Ultimate 1610 Universe and became Spider-Man after Peter Parker’s death. Miles properly came into the main 616 universe after the events of 2015’s Secret Wars event and has since become one of Marvel’s most enduring and respected heroes. Equipped with all the powers of Spider-Man, Miles also has new abilities that make him more powerful than Peter Parker in many ways.

In addition to having the wall-crawler’s powers, Miles can also generate bioelectricity, which he can channel into lightning blasts and camouflage himself to be nearly invisible. Miles Morales has become an essential part of the Marvel universe and has transcended Peter’s shadow into an all-new Spider-Man for the 21st century.

9 X-23 Takes Over as the New Wolverine

First Appearance: NYX #3 (2003) by Joe Quesada, Jen-Francois Beaulieu, Joshua Middleton, and VC Chris Eliopoulos

Laura Kinney is a clone of Wolverine created by an organization called the Facility to create the perfect killing machine. Using Logan’s DNA, the Facility succeeded when Laura was born and given the name X-23, with adamantium claws implanted in her hands and feet to help her as an assassin. Laura eventually escaped the Facility and found Logan, who took her in as his daughter and trained her to be one of the best of the X-Men’s new generation.

While Laura has her own adamantium claws, the metal doesn’t coat her entire skeleton like her father’s, making her more agile and covert in her approach to conflict. Laura has become one of the most deadly and respected of the young Mutants, having been trained by Wolverine, the X-Men, and Avengers Academy.

8 The Sentry Struggles With Power

First Appearance: The Sentry #1 (2000) by Paul Jenkins, Jae Lee, Jose Villarrubia, and Richard Starkings

The Sentry, aka Robert Reynolds, was a high school student with schizophrenia who took an experimental version of the Super-Soldier Serum developed by the Facility, which gave him superhuman abilities. Due to his schizophrenia, Reynolds manifests his powers into two personalities, The Void and the Sentry, who are in constant conflict with each other. Reynolds eventually conquers his evil Void persona and begins a superhero career as the Sentry.

Depending on his mental state, The Sentry’s powers are nearly limitless, with his potential power level being said to equal a million exploding suns. With his powers being fueled by the sun, Reynolds has several superhuman abilities, including flight, super strength, intelligence, speed, and durability, and he can create energy projectiles. The Sentry has walked the line between hero and villain in the comics, but his feats of power have become legendary in the Marvel Universe, with his full potential still yet to be realized.

7 Vulcan May Be One Of The Most Powerful Mutants

First Appearance: X-Men: Deadly Genesis #1 (2005) by Ed Brubaker, Trevor Hairsine, Garry Leach, Kris Justice, Brad Anderson, Val Staples, and Dave Lanphear

Vulcan is the brother of Cyclops and Havok, who was born into slavery by the Shi’ar. Vulcan escaped the Shi’ar and came to earth, where he was recruited into a secret first iteration of the X-Men and seemingly died on their first mission. However, Vulcan survives in Earth’s orbit before being awoken by the events of M-Day. Beginning as a villain to the X-Men, Vulcan has since reverted to good and was welcomed into Krakoa as part of the Summer’s family.

Vulcan is an Omega Level mutant who can manipulate and control massive amounts of energy. The current limit of his ability to absorb energy is unknown, and he also has superhuman strength and durability and is nearly immune to all psychic attacks. Using his immense powers, Vulcan overthrew the Shi’ar Empire. As their new Emperor, he led them on a conquest through space and defeated powerful heroes such as Black Bolt and Adam Warlock.

6 Hope Summers is The Mutant Messiah

First Appearance: X-Men #205 (2004) By Mike Carey, Chris Bachalo, Tim Townsend, Brian Reber, and Corey Petit

Hope Summers was the first mutant born after M-Day after the Phoenix Force impregnated her mother. Due to the circumstances of her birth, Hope was believed to be the Mutant Messiah that would either bring salvation to humans and mutants or destruction. The young mutant was taken in by Cable and trained in the far future before returning to the present day and joining the X-Men.

The daughter of the Phoenix is an omega-level mutant with the ability to manipulate other mutant’s powers. Hope is so powerful that her birth sent out a telepathic shockwave that destroyed Cerebra, and she single-handedly reversed the effects of M-Day to allow new mutants to be born again. Summers also played one of the most crucial roles in Krakoa as part of The Five, tasked with resurrecting the mutants. Hope’s training and connection to the Phoenix Force make her one of the strongest mutants, and her power is nearly limitless.

5 Knull is the Ancient Dark God Of Symbiotes

First Appearance: Venom #3 (2019) By Donny Cates, Ryan Stegman, JP Mayer, Frank Martin, and VC Clayton Cowles

Knull is a primordial being who ruled in the black void of the universe before the Big Bang. Once the Celestials started to spread light throughout the universe, Knull waged war on them using his weapon, All-Black the Necrosword. In his quest to spread darkness across the galaxy, Knull created the symbiotes to use as his soldiers until they rebelled and trapped him in a prison of their bodies before being freed after the events of Absolute Carnage (by Donny Cates, Ryan Stegman, JP Mayer, Frank Martin, and VC Clayton Cowles).

The symbiote God is nearly all-powerful, and with his powers, he has been able to defeat Celestials, gods, and even the world’s greatest heroes in the King in Black event (by Donny Cates, Ryan Stegman, JP Mayer, Frank Martin, and VC Clayton Cowles). Knull’s position as the King in Black was usurped by Eddie Brock during the similarly-titled event, giving the lethal protector a serious cosmic upgrade.

4 The God Of Hammers Brings The Thunder

First Appearance: Mighty Thor #10 (2016) by Jason Aaron, Russell Dauterman, Frazer Irving

The God of Hammers, or the God Tempest, is an elder god and a sentient cosmic storm the size of an entire galaxy. Since the dawn of time, the God Tempest has grown and spread across the universe until reaching Asgard. It fought Odin for days until the All-Father eventually trapped it in a piece of Uru metal. Odin had the metal forged into the hammer Mjolnir, trapping the storm God for eons until it was finally freed after Jane Foster threw Mjolnir into the sun and came back as the God of Hammers.

The God Tempest is said to be the mother of thunder and so powerful that its winds could rip worlds from their orbit and turn moons to dust. Its thunder is also said to have made black holes tremble. Even while trapped insideMjolnir, the mother storm was still powerful enough to defy Odin, forcing him to put the enchantment on it for fear it would escape even in the hands of Gods.

3 The First Firmament Created The Multiverse

First Appearance: The Ultimates 2 #5 (2016) by Al Ewing, Travel Foreman, Dan Brown, and VC Joe Sabino

The First Firmament is the embodiment of the first universe to exist and the creator of the Celestials and their evil counterparts, the Aspirants. When the universe began, there was only the First Firmament, and as it grew lonely, it created the Aspirants, who then created Celestials to spread more life throughout the cosmos. The Celestials and the Aspirants eventually waged war on each other due to conflicting ideas on expanding life through the universe, which resulted in the First Fermament being shattered and creating the first Multiverse.

Being the universe, the First Firmament is omnipotent and has powers beyond comprehension. Along with immeasurable powers, the Firmament can never age or be killed since the concept of the cosmos changing comes from the Celestials. The First Firmament has also proved itself to be more powerful than its Multiversal half, Eternity, by being able to trap the cosmic being in chains and nearly devour the entire Multiverse.

2 The One Below All is Marvel’s True Devil

First Appearance: The Immortal Hulk #5 (2018) by Al Ewing, Joe Bennett, Ruy Jose, and Paul Mounts

The One Below All is the dark side of the One Above All and the ultimate personification of destruction and hate. The dark entity lives in the lowest point of reality, only able to access the Multiverse through a metaphysical Green Door, which manifests as extreme gamma radiation. When Bruce Banner was caught in the gamma bomb explosion, he opened the Green Door and created the Hulk by being exposed to the One Below All’s power.

Being the counterpart of all that is good in the world, the One Below All existed before the birth of the universe and even existence itself, with its powers limited by its destructive nature. Only able to destroy, the One Below All is the source of all evil in the universe. The One Below All is also the creator of all gamma-mutated creatures, being able to possess them and strengthen their power with anger and sorrow to inflict violence throughout the Multiverse and destroy the universe.

1 The One Above All Created The Universe With Love

First Appearance: Fantastic Four #511 (2004) by Mark Waid, Mike Wieringo, Karl Kesel, Paul Mounts, and VC Randy Gentile

The One Above All is the highest form of existence and a being of limitless love and compassion. In the beginning, the One Above All created itself and then made all life in the Multiverse, using the Living Tribunal to act on its behalf. While preferring to watch over his creations and experience life through them from the House of Ideas beyond space and time, the One Above All has intervened in the lives of mortals more than once and subtly aids others through the love and compassion that lives in everyone.

Being the creator of all life in the Multiverse, the One Above All is all-powerful and omnipresent, using love as its greatest source of power. The One Above All’s power exceeds all other cosmic powers and entities, including Eternity and the Living Tribunal. Using love and compassion, the One Above All watches over the entire Marvel Universe, constantly creating and expanding, with its only equal in power being the evil side of itself, the One Below All.