Marvels of MarvelHow well do you know your favorite characters from Marvel Comics? Here's everything you need to know about the heroes and villains from the pages of every group from the Avengers to the X-Men.
August 10, 2022 7.6K votes 1.9K voters 173.8K views
Over 1.9K Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of The Strongest Cosmic-Level Threats According To Marvel Comics
Voting Rules
Vote up the villains that pose the biggest threat to the Marvel universe.
Marvel Comics' Silver Age began as a relatively grounded superhero publishing house in 1961. Before long, the Fantastic Four and others became involved in a multiverse of madness that saw the discovery of different dimensions and threats from outer space! Characters like Eternity were introduced in 1965, and others, including the Silver Surfer and Galactus, came the following year. The cosmic element of the Marvel Universe changed things, and even the strongest of the Avengers couldn't handle things on their own.
Threats weren't simply coming from beneath the Earth or faraway lands - they came from the cold blackness of space, and humanity was ill-equipped to deal with them. Fortunately, the heroes banded together, taking down threats like Thanos, Galactus, and Ego the Living Planet, but it wasn't easy. Cosmic threats are a whole different category for Marvel's superheroes, as they pose dangers unheard of on Earth. When a planet, solar system, or the entire universe is threatened, you know you're dealing with some off-the-scale characters.
This list features the strongest cosmic threats based on their official stats. Marvel Comics rates its characters on a scale from 0-7 for durability, energy, fighting skills, intelligence, speed, and strength. Characters with a seven in any of their stats top the scale, while those with a zero lack that ability or characteristic - basically, everyone reading this has zeroes across the board. Take a look below at the strongest cosmic threats, according to their representations in the comics, and be sure to upvote your favorites before you go!
Official Marvel Stats: Durability: 7 Energy: 7 Fighting Skills: 7 Intelligence: 7 Speed: 7 and Strength: 7
Powers: Mastery of the Power Cosmic
Overview: Galactus goes by a lot of names, but to most, he's simply known as the "World Devourer" because that's what he does. Galactus has been around since before the universe came into existence, and his origin is somewhat complex. Before this universe existed, there was a preceding universe, and Galan was the only being to survive its destruction. Before the Big Bang created the current universe, Galan, a scientist, merged with the "Sentience of the Universe," becoming Galactus when the new universe came into existence.
His purpose is to travel the cosmos, wielding the Power Cosmic and devouring planets to continue existing. In effect, Galactus is a force of nature, albeit an incredibly destructive one. He employs heralds to travel the cosmos and find planets for him to devour. He was thwarted by his herald, the Silver Surfer, when he attempted to subsist on Earth and has since been a villain, anti-hero, hero, and a bit of everything all in one. His powers are unimaginable and hard to describe beyond saying he's a master of the Power Cosmic. Still, he's known to create life, endow beings with a fraction of his power, travel the cosmos, eat entire worlds, and much more.
Official Marvel Stats: Durability: 7 Energy: 7 Fighting Skills: 7 Intelligence: 7 Speed: 7 and Strength: 7
Powers: Omnipotence, Omniscience, Omnipresence, and Immortality
Overview: The Living Tribunal is a being that ensures a balance exists between all the realities that make up the Multiverse. It stands as the judge of entire realities, including the primary universe of Earth-616 and every alternate universe imaginable. This essentially means the Living Tribunal isn't limited to a single cosmic scale, as it has mastery over all cosmoses in the Multiverse. The Living Tribunal first appeared in Strange Tales #157, where it informed Doctor Strange that it planned on destroying Earth because its people had the potential for great evil.
Earth is spared when the good Doctor convinces the Living Tribunal to change its mind, though this requires a series of trials. Over the years, the Living Tribunal has reappeared during significant events in the Marvel Universe, where it stands in judgment over whatever is happening. There isn't a limit to the Living Tribunal's powers, and it can even regulate the Infinity Gems, ensuring they cannot all be used simultaneously. Despite its grand multiversal cosmic powers, the Living Tribunal is an agent of Eternity and functions on behalf of that entity throughout the Marvel Multiverse, of which it is the embodiment.
Official Marvel Stats: Durability: 5 Energy: 6 Fighting Skills: 3 Intelligence: 4 Speed: 7 and Strength: 2
Powers: Time travel, Genius-level intellect, Skilled Tactician and Hand-to-hand Combatant, Resistance to Radiation, Access to Advanced Technology, Highly Advanced Battle Armor that grants: Enhanced Strength, Energy, Hologram and Force-field Projection, a 30-day supply of air and food, and the ability to control other forms of technology
Overview: Kang was a 31st-century scholar named Nathaniel Richards. He was a descendant of Reed Richards's father Nathaniel and was fascinated with history. His study of history led him to uncover Doctor Doom's time travel technology, which he used to travel to ancient Egypt. While there, he established himself as Pharaoh Rama-Tut, but the Fantastic Four traveled back in time and defeated him. He eventually meets Doctor Doom, who may also be one of his ancestors, and designs armor based on Doom's, taking on his iconic purple and green look.
He goes by a few names over the years but ultimately becomes Kang the Conqueror after he takes over Earth in the 41st century. Over the years, Kang has been a hero, a villain, and a threat to all of time and space. Unlike others on this list, Kang has no superpowers, as he's a 31st-century human. Still, he's a genius with access to incredibly advanced technology that makes him a significant threat to the Avengers of the 20th century, the planet of the 41st century, and all of the ancient world. He's able to find and use technology from any time period, making him an incredibly difficult villain to defeat.
Powers: Nigh Omnipotence and Nigh-absolute Immortality
Overview: The Celestials have been a part of the Marvel Universe for so long that their origins have remained the stuff of legend. Eventually, it was revealed they were created from the First Firmament, the omnipotent intelligence that was once the universe itself. It created life to keep it company, and it did so in two forms. One that beloved it, while the other rebelled against it. The rebellious beings wanted an evolving universe, which they would evolve within, so they created superior cosmic beings capable of creating their own universes, which would evolve. These became the Celestials.
To most of the universe, a Celestial is known simply as a "space god," and that's pretty much what they are. They're massive beings, averaging around 2,000 feet in height. They can easily move planets throughout the cosmos, create pocket universes, and create life (or destroy it) at will. The only way for a new Celestial to come into existence is to consume the entire mass of the Black Galaxy or by implanting a Celestial egg within the core of a planet, where it can mature for millions of years. Once born, they consume their world, so their power isn't truly measurable, ensuring it tops the scale.
Overview: The Beyonder isn't as he appears and is the sum total of a multiverse known as the Beyond-Realm. He became aware of the Marvel Universe when a lab technician accidentally accessed the Beyond-Realm, resulting in a small amount of energy passing through and endowing him with infinite powers, becoming the Molecule Man. When this happens, the energy remaining in the Beyond-Realm becomes sentient and curious about its neighboring reality, ultimately becoming a being known as the Beyonder.
The Beyonder's curiosity compels him to create a planet called Battleworld, where he places most of the superheroes and villains of Earth to have them fight against one another and observe the fight between good and evil. After this event, called the "Secret Wars," he walked the Earth to learn more about humans. Eventually, he decided to launch a second Secret Wars, putting the heroes and villains through a more refined process in "Secret Wars II." The Beyonder is the sentient personification of an entire dimension of realities, and his powers are infinite and beyond-dimensional. He can do anything he thinks of, making it incredibly hard to defeat him.
Powers: Vast abilities to Manipulate Matter and Energy, Powerful Psionic Abilities: Telepathy, Telekinesis, Life-force Manipulation, Cosmic Awareness, and Prescience
Overview: Jean Grey is easily one of the most powerful Mutants in the Marvel Universe, as she's one of a small number of Omega-level Mutants. Her immense power ultimately draws the Phoenix Force to Earth, where it possesses her. The Phoenix Force is an immortal manifestation of the force of life and passion, and it is the nexus of all psionic energy of all realities in the multiverse from the past, present, and future. It is one of the most powerful and feared forces in the universe, and it's drawn to powerful psionic beings, hence, its interest in Jean Grey.
When she's imbued with its power, she transforms into the Dark Phoenix and cannot control herself. With the Phoenix Force's power, she can travel through space at unimaginable speeds, and in one event, she devours all of the energy from the D'Bari star system, killing more than 5,000,000,000 sentient beings in the process. That's one example of the incredible power brought by the Phoenix Force, and it's just a drop in the bucket. Ultimately, Jean Grey had to commit suicide to rid herself of the powerful cosmic entity, but that wasn't the only time it inhabited her over the years.
Overview: Eternity doesn't appear on this list because it is the sum total of the universe and, therefore, cannot threaten the cosmos. If Eternity exists, it cannot threaten itself. Still, despite being the all-encompassing power of the Universe and Multiverse, Eternity falls below the One-Above-All in the hierarchy of cosmic beings. The character, if you want to call it that, was created in 2004 and was given the appearance of Jack Kirby as an homage to the man who created much of the Marvel Multiverse. It is the sole creator of all forms of existence in the Marvel Multiverse and stands above all else.
The Living Tribunal falls just below the One-Above-All and has said that it represents the being whose power dwarfs that of Eternity. The One-Above-All is primarily mentioned throughout the comics, but he has been interacted with directly by the Fantastic Four. When the Thing's soul is trapped between life and death, the FF cross paths with the One-Above-All. It returned the Thing to life, promising that there were more wonders for the team to discover. The One-Above-All is effectively the one true god of the Marvel Universe, which is why he looks like Kirby. The writer/artist created many of the characters on this list, making him a literary god where Marvel Comics is concerned. To be fair, the One-Above-All isn't really a threat to the cosmos either, but it's too incredible a character to keep from the list!
