Marvel Comics often features heroes with complex morals, but the Thunderbolts are a prime example. This team, made up of both anti-heroes and villains, has changed a lot over time, sometimes using their powers for good and other times for evil. Originally, the Thunderbolts were actually a group of villains posing as heroes as part of a scheme to defeat the Avengers. Since then, the team has transformed into different groups – sometimes a government-backed team operating in a gray area, and other times a collection of former villains trying to turn their lives around. Over the years, many powerful Marvel characters have joined the Thunderbolts, making them a truly formidable force.
Throughout its various versions, the core idea behind the Thunderbolts has remained the same: they’re willing to do what other heroes aren’t to protect the world. With their powerful skills and willingness to take drastic measures, they can eliminate any danger they face.
10) Abomination
Emil Blonsky, known as Abomination, is the Hulk’s greatest enemy and possesses comparable gamma-powered strength and frightening abilities. When Kingpin became mayor of New York City, he outlawed superheroes and formed the Thunderbolts – a team meant to enforce his rules. Abomination served as the team’s powerhouse, consistently demonstrating greater physical strength than the Hulk in his normal state and even nearly defeating him multiple times. He’s also proven stronger than other powerful heroes like She-Hulk and Namor. However, unlike the Hulk, Abomination’s strength doesn’t increase with his anger, limiting his overall destructive capacity.
9) Atlas
Erik Josten, originally known as the villain Power Man and later as Atlas, was a founding member of Baron Zemo’s Thunderbolts. He continued with the team even after they rebelled against Zemo and became heroes. Atlas is powered by ionic energy, which allows him to grow to immense sizes – over a hundred feet tall – dramatically increasing his strength and resistance to damage. At his largest, he’s demonstrated incredible feats of power, including defeating a weakened Genis-Vell, destroying massive starships, and throwing Iron Man over 200 miles. The ionic energy also allows Atlas to transform into pure energy, granting him abilities like flight, energy control, and even immortality.
8) Red Hulk
Given his intimidating name – Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross – it’s no surprise Red Hulk naturally took charge as the leader of his own Thunderbolts team. His background in the military gives him strong tactical skills, and his gamma-powered strength makes him one of the most powerful beings to ever command the group. Red Hulk is incredibly strong, having almost defeated the Hulk and even knocked out powerful figures like Thor and Kukulkan. He can also boost his power by absorbing energy and unleash intense heat, destroying everything around him. While not quite as strong as the Hulk, Red Hulk can still go toe-to-toe with incredibly powerful opponents like Galactus’s Heralds.
7) Overmind
Grom, also known as Overmind, is an incredibly powerful alien being with immense telepathic abilities. Even the Watcher considers him a danger to the entire universe. During the Civil War event, he joined Iron Man’s side as part of the Thunderbolts Army. Overmind is strong enough to defeat heroes like Power Princess with a single blow, and his telepathy allows him to battle even cosmic-level beings such as the Stranger. He can cause widespread insanity, instantly induce brain death, or even control the minds of an entire planet. However, Overmind isn’t all-powerful; he struggles to control the minds of exceptionally strong and intelligent opponents like Quasar and Hyperion.
6) Hyperion
As a big comic book fan, I’ve always been fascinated by Marvel’s take on Superman-like characters, and Hyperion is definitely one of the most powerful – and terrifying. There have been a few different versions, but the one from Earth-4023 really stands out. This Hyperion wasn’t a hero; he was a full-on dictator who took over his entire world, beating every single hero in his path – even teams like the Avengers and Fantastic Four! Seriously, alternate versions of powerhouses like Thor and Hulk couldn’t even slow him down with his insane strength, speed, healing, and heat vision. He eventually showed up on our main Earth and pretended to be a good guy, joining the Thunderbolts. Predictably, he double-crossed them and almost destroyed the whole team. They only managed to win by using a secret weapon – a radioactive poison implanted in his neck as a last resort. It’s a brutal story, but it really shows just how dangerous this version of Hyperion is.
5) Juggernaut
Cain Marko, known as Juggernaut, is a tremendously powerful being fueled by the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak. Originally an enemy of the X-Men, he later joined their ranks and even became a key member of Luke Cage’s Thunderbolts team, serving as their strongest fighter. Once Juggernaut starts moving, virtually nothing can stand in his way. He possesses limitless strength, endurance, and resistance to damage, allowing him to fight and defeat incredibly strong opponents like Thor, the World War Hulk, Cosmic Ghost Rider, and King Hyperion. His helmet shields him from mental attacks. Juggernaut is capable of overwhelming the entire X-Men team by himself, smashing through solid rock for miles, creating earthquakes with a single punch, ripping apart realities, and, remarkably, even defeating the immensely powerful god who grants him his abilities, Cyttorak.
4) Ghost Rider
Johnny Blaze, known as Ghost Rider, became a key member of Red Hulk’s Thunderbolts team, and was arguably its most powerful fighter. As the vessel for the Spirit of Vengeance, Zarathos, Ghost Rider possesses incredible demonic powers, capable of devastating enemies and even destroying large structures like skyscrapers. He can travel at impossible speeds on his Hell Cycle and generate explosions strong enough to harm even incredibly powerful beings like the World War Hulk. What makes Ghost Rider especially dangerous is that many of his attacks bypass normal defenses, directly harming a person’s soul – including his signature Hellfire and the terrifying Penance Stare. The Penance Stare forces individuals to feel all the pain they’ve inflicted on others, and it’s proven to be unstoppable, even affecting the powerful sorcerer Brother Voodoo. If Johnny fully relinquishes control to Zarathos, Ghost Rider’s power increases dramatically, allowing him to rival even multiversal threats like Mephisto.
3) Star
Let me tell you about Star, formerly Ripley Ryan – she’s incredible! She started as a reporter who wasn’t a fan of superheroes, but an experiment changed everything, turning her into a Kree-human hybrid with strength rivaling Captain Marvel. But it didn’t stop there! She merged with the Reality Stone and now… well, she can literally warp reality! That means she can give herself any power she needs – super strength, flight, energy blasts, teleportation, you name it. She can even change her shape or read minds! Because she’s so powerful, Kingpin recruited her to the Thunderbolts to fight Knull and his Symbiote army. Honestly, with her ability to bend reality and basically unlimited powers, she’s been a game-changer in this fight!
2) Genis-Vell
Genis-Vell, a clone of the original Captain Marvel, was designed to be even more powerful than his father. Equipped with the Nega-bands, he’s a cosmic hero capable of incredible feats – easily destroying spaceships, traveling millions of times faster than light, and unleashing devastating energy blasts. A battle with the powerful hero Sentry once put entire planets at risk. After becoming cosmically aware and losing his mind, Genis-Vell inadvertently helped the villain Entropy destroy and rebuild the universe. He later regained his sanity and joined the Thunderbolts, hoping to make amends for his actions. Despite his immense power, Genis-Vell’s unstable mental state makes him a threat to those around him.
1) Kobik
The Comic Cubes are incredibly powerful objects capable of altering reality, and Kobik came to be when pieces of a shattered Cube combined to form a young girl. After S.H.I.E.L.D. tried to weaponize her, Winter Soldier saved Kobik and brought her onto the Thunderbolts team. Essentially, Kobik is a child with the power of an all-powerful god, able to control time, space, reality, and even minds. She’s demonstrated this power by changing Graviton’s past, creating a star, bringing people back to life, and even trapping Avengers teams in miniature snow globes. Because of her immense power, even a simple outburst from Kobik could threaten the entire universe.
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2026-01-05 22:18