Characters that should be more powerful

[Sutekh]

1. Redwing.

Quite possibly the last character I'd expect to get developed! Very cool!

I had a similar notion to upgrade Agatha Harkness's old familiar, Ebony, who had been shown in the past to be able to transform into a giant black panther, and rumored to possibly be a demon, actually was a demon cat-person, part of the race that Tigra gained her powers from, and had been familiar to witches and sorcerers before Agatha, including Victor Von Doom's mother...

[Of Atlantis]

Namor. Namor use to be one of the most powerful character in the MU. One for the few characters at Marvel that can solo the Hulk and win. But recently Marvel has been chumpojg him out a bit.

This. He's slowly been losing strength for decades, to the point he's losing to the Thing in water despite having putting up a fight for the entire FF on land multiple times. Incredibly inconsistent writing.

[CryNotWolf]

Black Bolt

I can't believe Black Bolt was ever brought down to the point where he was manhandled by Emma Frost. Twice. We're talking about a guy who used to be able to trade blows with guys like the Hulk. His screams became whimpers, using it with reckless abandon and never actually accomplishing anything with it. Him using his voice was supposed to be a big deal, not his first response to anyone that threatens him.

[sunofdarkchild]

Iron Man. While Stark's ability to build super-tech outside of the armor has been absurd (an anti-Phoenix gun?), the armor itself seems like it's been low-balled considering how much it's improved over the years. I remember my father's old comics in which they went on about how the silver centurion armor was twice as powerful as the previous armor, which was far beyond the previous models itself. And then the Neo-Classic armor came about and blew the silver centurion model out of the water in all respects. If the armor made him a class 100 back in the 80s and each revision is twice as strong as the last, then things like him losing a 1 on 1 to Captain America in Civil War should never happen. Iron Man really should be invincible against most foes by now. It's like seeing the PS4 struggle to run an early PS2 game when he struggles against certain opponents.

[Exciter]

Galactus, as noted.

Storm also often seems to be taken out by threats she should easily be able to defeat given her powers.

Swarm as a villain is treated usually as a joke, but a villain made up of thousands of bees should be a formidable opponent.

[JackDaw]

Who do you think should be more powerful than they are currently and why? Also, how powerful would you want them?



I think The Thing and Human Torch (Johnny) need to be more powerful.

Ben used to be able to hang with the big guys like Hulk, but now he gets downed in one hit... That shouldn't happen and he should at least be able to give Hulk a good fight.

I think Johnny should be the primo Marvel fire elemental, when most people think of flame superheroes Johnny is usually one of the first heroes that come to mind. I think his power should also be the best in that category.

Those two being stronger would also stop the Fantastic Four being over-reliant on Reed saving the day all the time, which is a problem with the FF.

My favorite character, Invisible Woman, seems to be naturally growing in power as time goes on so I'm fine with how she's been depicted in power.

Whole heartedly agree with you about Ben and Johnny. (Although as I've often said, my ideal for Ben would be to make him really, really fast, rather than substantially increase his strengh.)

One strange aspect in Johnny's case is that my gut feeling is that Uncle Stan wrote him doing a wider variety of feats than most modern writers...that if anything his skilled use of his powers has declined over the years rather than increased.

I'd also like to see Johnny and Ben's "other" skills given more prominence. In original run Johnny was a very skilled mechanic, who built stuff for Reed. And it should be clear that Ben is the pilot because he's miles better at that than the others, not just because he fancies doing it.

[Astroman]

Ben Grimm (as others have said he should be one of the strongest)

Dr. Strange (I long for a day when a writer who can plot a good high-level magic series/character takes over the reins... it's been far too long since there has been a really good mind- and reality-bending adventure there).

Carol Danvers (I'd love to see more of her Binary power set get used).

Thor (as others have said, he's a God, not just a guy with a hammer).

[Techno_Knight]

Dr. Strange (I long for a day when a writer who can plot a good high-level magic series/character takes over the reins... it's been far too long since there has been a really good mind- and reality-bending adventure there).

>current Marvel
>writting Magic correctly
>OP at that

You're better off waiting for Miracleman to be finished.

[Astroman]

>current Marvel
>writting Magic correctly
>OP at that

You're better off waiting for Miracleman to be finished.

You're probably right.

Time to re-read all my Essential Dr. Strange collections.

[DragonsChi]

This. He's slowly been losing strength for decades, to the point he's losing to the Thing in water despite having putting up a fight for the entire FF on land multiple times. Incredibly inconsistent writing.

Yeah. Therr use to be a time when Namor would litterally one shot Thing. Now guys like Luke Cage give him trouble. Just werid....

[Strangefan]

Obviously I think Doctor Strange, for the same reasons listed. Although he isn't going to even be Sorcerer Supreme by the end of the year. If only this was a journey for him to return to his higher levels, but I have no faith in Marvel. As for Strange appearing younger than he is, back in his second run (I think it was the second) he was taken by the Vishanti to fight in a war that lasted 5000 years, I forget the name, been a while since I've read them. He did not age because the Vishanti caused him to basically age a day, and they sent him back in time with only a few months gap between then and the time he left. Sadly, no one ever wrote any stories about his experiences in a Multiverse war, or even a one shot of him spending time in the Vishanti's library, which he had a throw away line in one of the comics. He really should have no magickal equals, as he has vastly more experience than probably even some of the gods. Off soap box now.

I was very upset when the Living Tribunal was nerfed to make the Beyonder crap seem more powerful. There should be set power levels. The One Above All, and then Living Tribunal. The rest they can take up and down the power elevator as the writers wish, but somethings should be inviolate.

SubMariner-I remember him being formidable, now unless you have a Phoenix in your pocket you apparently aren't allowed to have power. The writers seem to forget that he lives easily in conditions that should crush steel like a beer can. The guy is durable as hell.

Thing should be just a step below Hulk, IMHO, with his tenacity taking that gap even a little closer. Hulk being stronger, just because he has an endless vat of rage is not acceptable to me, but I deal with a lot of patients with emotional problems, and really dislike the idea of anger=power.

Cyclops should be a great deal more powerful than he is, the guy has experience, as well as power levels.

There are many more, but I am tired of typing.

[Michael Watkins]

Living Laser - during Siege, they had Luke Cage punch him and Bucky shoot him with a gun. c'mon!! do you think Luke could punch out Spectrum? he's made of laser. they made a big deal, after his original transformation, to show that he couldn't feel anything.

[dzub]

Yeah. Therr use to be a time when Namor would litterally one shot Thing. Now guys like Luke Cage give him trouble. Just werid....

His fight vs Thanos was the last respectable bout he had tbh

[GrandEleven]

Most of he upper Pantheon, but especially The Living Tribunal. Secret Wars couldnt have happened without some PIS on his part but then to be killed off by order/chaos ... he's lost status. Most the Pantheon needs to be refreshed, really.

[Chainsaw Vigilante]

Black Bolt.

He's been nerfed like mad by Charles Soule.

Darn right, he's generally been gimped significantly in recent years (in terms of character as well, written terribly out of character), even changing his electron based voice attack into a purely sonic based one. Read the Black Bolt centric issue of the Jenkins/Lee Inhumans series and then his recent appearances and it's like a whole different character. This was a character that faced off against a version of Graviton that was a cosmic living black hole entity that could create miniature black holes, and not only did Black Bolt contain those mini black holes in force fields, but turned a boulder into anti-matter to use as a weapon against that version of Graviton. Not to mention he's faced off against Gladiator, Maelstrom, Vulcan, ripped a darn supermassive hole in the fabric of reality, etc.

Dr. Strange has had a similarly rough treatment in recent years.

Most of he upper Pantheon, but especially The Living Tribunal. Secret Wars couldnt have happened without some PIS on his part but then to be killed off by order/chaos ... he's lost status. Most the Pantheon needs to be refreshed, really.

As much as have enjoyed some of the stories by Hickman (his FF), and Ewing (The Ultimates, more specifically the second series/second half), their version of the cosmos never really fleshed with the classic version. Their versions of The Living Tribunal were part of the multiverse, not apart from it, with Ewing's in particular being an abstract judgment system within Eternity/multi-Eternity, not above it like he was previously.
I don't think things are too far gone, but they've changed so much that it's not worth it to an extent in the current climate where editorial and continuity means less than it did when the Gruenwald gang were around (and the spirit continued after Gruenwald passed for a while at least, until the early 2000's or so, until the Quesada era was in full effect).