7 Superhero Movie Characters Stronger Than Sentry, Ranked By Power

Published Oct 18, 2026, 4:45 PM EDT Simon Gallagher has worked in movie and TV journalism for more than 17 years. He has written more than 6000 articles and reviews, and edited thousands more. He is an expert in the entertainment industry, particularly in the golden age of screen superheroes. Simon is also a Rotten Tomatoes approved critic. You’d be forgiven for thinking Marvel Studios hate god-tier superheroes, despite how many have appeared in the MCU. Time and time again, characters with incredibly high power ceilings have been nerfed after their first appearance or pushed aside entirely. Vision was basically robo-Jesus when he first turned up, and his transformation into a roll-neck wearing personal chef to Scarlet Witch was breakneck in its speed. Thor turned into a PTSD punchline, Hulk had performance issues, and G’iah, arguably one of the most powerful characters introduced in the MCU after Avengers: Endgame, was quietly sent off to work with the British. It’s like power is a dirty secret, probably because relying on infinitely powerful heroes removes all sense of dramatic tension. And then there’s Sentry, literally the MCU’s version of Superman (and debate rages over which is more powerful). The volatile hero, introduced in Thunderbolts* and set to return as part of Avengers: Doomsday’s sprawling cast, famously possesses the power of “a million exploding suns” and the handy loophole of his Void problem to keep him in check, which means he isn’t just a cheat code when Doctor Doom turns up waging multiversal war. Even with his almost unfeasible baseline of power, he’s not unbeatable: in fact, Hollywood has introduced a number of comic book heroes whose abilities meet, match, or outright beat Bob Reynolds' absurd levels. Not all of them may appear as powerful on first glance, but these seven superhero movie heroes are all stronger than Sentry. There are villains too, but we’re going with the good guys for this one. 7 Shazam He might be pitched as a more comedic hero, but Zachary Levi’s Earth's Mightiest Mortal boasts divine origins that give him a quite stunning biological advantage. Shazam is powered by the magic of Solomon, Hercules, Atlas, Zeus, Achilles, and Mercury - as if one god wasn’t enough - and as a result, he’s firmly in Sentry’s heavyweight division. In Shazam! Fury of the Gods, Billy Batson’s heroic alter ego shows this power level by absorbing raw celestial lightning to destroy an ancient dragon. He’s well-versed in taking down god-level threats, and taking major punishment isn’t an issue. Sentry might be god-like, but he’s not an actual god, which is what gives Shazam, the decisive advantage. He’s also historically shown weakness to mystical forces, and his command of the lightning of Zeus has been a leveller against Superman in the comics, and Sentry’s defences would struggle. 6 Scarlet Witch Credit: MovieStillsDB Elizabeth Olsen's Wanda Maximoff has gone through probably the most significant transformation in the MCU’s history, starting as a HYDRA experiment and ending up as a god-tier magical entity who had basically transcended her humanity entirely as a Nexus Being. She’ll be back, but it’s just not entirely clear when or where, and when she does, the MCU will regain one of its most impressively powerful characters who augmented her base-level Chaos Magic powers with the knowledge of the Darkhold. Her almost casual defeat of the Illuminati in ridiculously short order confirms exactly her threat level. Even in a physical powerhouse like Sentry, durability is completely irrelevant. Wanda’s command of Chaos Magic and reality-warping means she could simply rewrite his matter with a single thought, as she did to Mr Fantastic. He’s also vulnerable thanks to his mental fragility, and Wanda proved as early as Avengers: Age of Ultron that she was willing and capable of weaponizing a target’s psychological state against them. 5 Jean Grey We’ve now had three different versions of Jean Grey in movies, thanks to Famke Janssen, Sophie Turner, and now Sadie Sink, and all of them have shown immense power and capacity for darkness. Her power foundation makes her an Omega-level mutant - alongside the likes of Iceman, Storm, and Magneto - and then when you add in the Phoenix Force within her, she’s basically a walking apocalypse. Both versions of the Phoenix Saga showed her commanding ridiculous feats of power, including absorbing an exploding star in the most recent adaptation. As one of Marvel’s most powerful empaths, she’s already a huge threat to Sentry, whose mental state is his weakness, and then adding in her matter manipulation, and she’s a formidable double threat. 4 Martian Manhunter If Superman has admitted you’re the one DC Comics character he genuinely fears fighting, everyone should pay attention to your claims of supremacy. Despite Harry Lennix’s appearance as the Martian Manhunter, J’onn J’onzz was limited to a cameo in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, he’s still one of the most formidable powers DC has ever created. Had he gotten the chance to actually show his powers in the canceled Justice League sequels, we would have seen a hero as powerful as Superman with additional powers like the ability to phase through physical barriers. In other words, he doesn’t have to dodge attacks, he can simply become intangible. He’s also a telepath, and there’s a good chance he wouldn’t even need to throw a punch against Sentry to win. 3 Superman It’s no exaggeration to say that Superman is the blueprint. The Man of Steel set the benchmark for cinematic power, and it’s no coincidence that basically every subsequent hero is compared to him, including Sentry. In fact, you already think of Sentry as the MCU’s answer to Superman for that very reason. His durability is legendary, and his power ceiling is near-unmatched, and we’ve already seen him conquer death in the DCEU. Superman and Sentry’s battle could go either way, in all honesty, because it would be a mirror match. But Superman holds the psychological edge, and isn’t subject to Sentry’s inherent volatility, which shouldn’t be overlooked as a tactical advantage. This is a real clash of the titans, and it wouldn’t be over quickly, but Superman wins most times, if you don’t factor in the Void. 2 Odin It’s easy to forget how powerful Sir Anthony Hopkins’ All-Father was in the MCU in the face of what happened to him between Thor: The Dark World and Thor: Ragnarok (as well as his penchant for going for a nap), but he was still the real deal. Hopkins’ performance suggested a regal elegance and gravitas, but the Asgardian leader had unified the Nine Realms and consolidated his power through conquest (admittedly with Hela’s assistance), and that’s nothing to be sniffed at. He commands the Odinforce (it’s always a good sign of strength when there’s literally a power named after you), which is basically an infinite reservoir of divine magic, and is able to bestow and remove powers from Thor instantly as a moral test. Sentry may be a physical threat to Odin - though his Asgardian physical prowess shouldn’t be overlooked either, nor his command of Gungnir - but faced with an ancient god able to manipulate reality and time and capable of banishing foes as powerful as Hela with a single spell, he’s just no match. 1 Doctor Manhattan Dr. Manhattan is basically the other end of the spectrum to the question that underpins both Superman and Sentry: what if a god came to Earth with the power to be humanity’s savior, and doesn’t really care? Billy Crudup’s cold, disassociated performance as the tragic alter ego of Jonathan Osterman in Watchmen is a chilling reminder of what Superman could be, with even more formidable powers, and what Sentry wrestles with thanks to his internal conflict with the Void. Dr. Manhattan isn’t subject to normal power limits or conventions like time, can teleport across galaxies, and has doomsday weapon powers that give him control over quantum energy and subatomic matter. He’s essentially omnipotent and makes a mockery of the concept of physical power in conventional terms. Sentry exists within those limits, so he’s no competition to DC’s terrifying antihero.