Captain Marvel is out tonight and I have a feeling it is going to be great! It's about time Marvel has a movie starring a female protagonist (yes Black Widow technically starred with Captain America in The Winter Soldier) with kick-ass superhero powers. With this movie coming out though, it once again got me thinking about Endgame. With Captain Marvel now in the picture will she be able to beat Thanos? We saw Thanos handily take care of the Hulk with only one Infinity Stone. He also took down several heroes at once when the gauntlet wasn't even finished. I figure Captain Marvel, with all of her powers, could probably beat just Thanos the titan without the gauntlet, but what about with it? It's clearly broken at the end of Infinity War but can it be fixed or used again? Does it only have a little bit of power? Is another sacrifice needed in order to use the stones? Let's just say that in this fight though the Gauntlet is not broken (or can be fixed), like in the comic, and Thanos is going to fight with it on. Who can beat him? I have a solid list of people and I think you will agree with most of them.
1) The superheroine I started the post with: Captain Marvel. She is half human and half Kree. She can fly through space, has the power to shoot fire and beams out of her hands. She also clearly possesses strength far beyond that of any normal person. I'd say that she is truly the strongest Avenger (sorry Hulk and Thor).
So she has the best shot of any Avenger to beat Thanos one on one, even with his full powered Infinity Gauntlet. Obviously we'll learn more about her MCU canon powers tonight in her origin story. We also have to remember that after her origin story, she vanishes for 30 years. We have no idea what she's been doing between then and now. She could have been hiding away not improving her powers or she could be getting stronger and stronger.
She also has one other very important power and factor on her side. She has the unstoppable force of 90's grunge and hip-hop. This is truly her most valuable asset in the field of battle. It is like Starlord's soundtrack music. Once it gets going she gets into a zone and you can't beat her. Her biggest weakness though is that she has the power of Blockbuster Video on her side. If they couldn't adapt and survive the first quarter of the 21st century then there's no way they can beat Thanos.
2) Silver Surfer and Adam Warlock.
They are also two of the most powerful character in the Marvel Universe. Obviously they don't exist in the MCU yet but there are rumors that Adam Warlock will either appear in Endgame or the third Guardians of the Galaxy movie. He'll then help the Guardians revive Gamora if she doesn't come back at the end of the next Avengers movie. Silver Surfer, with his cosmic surfboard can travel through the universe and, in the Infinity Gauntlet comic, was the only one Warlock thought was strong enough to beat Thanos. Unfortunately, The Silver Surfer is terrible with his aim and screws things up royally.
Also neither are in the MCU and the Fox merger with Disney had not gone through yet as filming for Endgame wrapped so I have a feeling Silver Surfer will not make an appearance. Adam Warlock has an outside chance of being in the movie but I think this film will want to make the original Avengers crew saving the day - not have some new face show up and fix everything. Also Adam Warlock got rid of both his evil and good side when he wielded the Infinity Gauntlet which then created Magus, a foe even more evil and powerful than Thanos. Nobody wants that. Although that would be an interesting twist for a sequel way down the line (that's for a separate article though). So to recap. Two good candidates to beat Thanos, but not the best.
3) Nacho Libre. An uncontrollable will to win, the power of friendship with Esqueleto, the power of love from Sister Encarnacion, and the desire to save the orphans. He has all he needs to win right there. We all know that in order to wield the Infinity Gauntlet you need the strongest will possible. This is why only Thanos could do it and Nebula couldn't when she stole it. Nacho Libre fits all of these requirements perfectly. He also has an inhuman divebomb move where he can literally soar through the air. This creates the high-ground advantage and everyone knows what happens then...
4) Nebula. She stole the gauntlet from Thanos in the original comic when he wasn't expecting it. She's also still alive at the end of Infinity War. So it could happen again? Adam Warlock mentions how every time the Avengers beat Thanos in the past it was because he let them. Clearly he has some fundamental psychological flaw where he thinks deep down that he is not worthy of ruling the universe. They haven't really established that in the movies, but there is still time for them to do that in this next one. Perhaps he could regret what he did because he realizes that sacrificing one daughter was too painful and he can't lose another one.
Then obviously comes the problem that I mentioned before. She can't handle it and the gauntlet becomes susceptible to Thanos taking it again or either some outside, truly evil force steals it. What we have to remember is, despite Thanos's evil intentions, he thought that he was doing the right thing in order to save the universe. Some evil force who wants to wipe out everything or enslave everyone could then steal it from her creating even more problems. Thus I think he taking the gauntlet and beating him creates more problems than it solves.
5) Saitama from One Punch Man.
He can literally beat anyone in one punch, and above all, he is a gag character which means he cannot be beaten very easily. You need some crazy, comedic method to beat him. He needs to get hungry or bored or something. Physical bashing just simply won't do the trick with him. Because he is so unstoppable he is a great candidates to beat Thanos.
6) 2009-2011 problematic tweets and jokes. The dark days of Twitter when almost no one used it. They brought down Kevin Hart and James Gunn. We have already seen the devastating effect of bringing up someone's old tweets when it was clearly a different time and place. God forbid he had a standup career previously and used homophobic jokes or racist jokes then. We can't forgive then which means we will not forgive Thanos either. If those tweets come out then he is screwed. If they do come out though I guess he could snap and make them disappear...hmmm...yeah maybe they can't beat him unless more than half of the population of the universe know about them. He couldn't go past his plan to eliminate only half of the population. Then he goes back on his word and becomes even more problematic.
7) Some combination of Captain America and Iron Man sacrificing themselves/wielding the gauntlet and defeating him. Probably the most realistic end to this story which is why I won't talk much about it. Iron Man was the first character in Marvel comic history to fight Thanos (with the help of Drax) so it would be fitting for him to beat Thanos in the MCU as well. On top of that, Captain America and Iron Man have both wielded the Infinity Gauntlet before in the comics.
Personally, I'd like to this scene played out more:
A one-on-one battle between the two would be amazing. We got that with Iron Man and Thanos at the end of Infinity War but only briefly with Captain America as Thanos smashed him aside. I want to see how they fare against each other just one on one. I know Hulk didn't stand a chance in the movie, but I have a feeling a battle with Cap would be different.
8) The Jonas Brothers and their obsessive fan-base. Neither is powerful enough alone...but together they are unstoppable. I say this, without hyperbole, they were and are the biggest boy-band/group since NYSNC. You could say One Direction gave them a run for their money but the Jonas Brothers are just different. Hear how crazy everyone went when they were on the Late Late Show with James Corden. It's unreal. They are also all married to three powerful women which means they are three power couples. They have everything they need to beat anyone at anything. I know to never underestimate the J-Bros and their fans.
It literally sounds like a Beatles concert with girls screaming every time any brother does anything.
9) Finally, the biggest meme from late 2018 to the first part of 2019. The one and only true savior - Big Chungus. You may say that's a bit of a stretch but I have video evidence that he can beat Thanos:
Obviously the Reverse Uno card is critical to Big Chungus winning but if he can find it then I'd say it's game over for Thanos no matter how you put it. The only other one who can defeat Thanos or Big Chungus is the one Chungus faces after victory. That's a spoiler though so I won't say it here.
Those are all the people who I think can beat Thanos. So who has the best chance amongst them all? Probably Captain Marvel since she's actually canon. Don't underestimate any other candidates though. That will be your biggest mistake if you do.