These team origin stories are not mutually exclusive; for instance, the X-Men encompass elements of all these narratives. Regardless of how each Marvel super-team originates, they share a common trait: immense power. But which ten teams stand out as the most formidable?

The Champions may not be the Young Avengers hinted at by the MCU in productions like “The Marvels,” but they exhibit a dynamic that could thrive in the live-action realm. This team aims to bring a refreshing, idealistic perspective to heroism. Featuring a sizable and somewhat fluid roster, their power is impressive, starting with a smaller initial lineup that highlights their capabilities. The original core included Ms. Marvel, Miles Morales (central to the “Spider-Verse” films), the cosmic hero Nova, Vision’s daughter Viv, and Amadeus Cho, a genius with Hulk-like abilities known as Brawn. This version also featured a younger Cyclops from the X-Men.

Forget about the Defenders as portrayed during the Netflix era; the comic book Defenders are a powerhouse. Or at least, some iterations of them are.

The Defenders have been a presence since 1971, when Doctor Strange recruited Namor and the Hulk to tackle a formidable threat. Eventually, the formidable Silver Surfer, master of the Power Cosmic, joined their core. With such a powerhouse lineup, they could easily rank among the top three teams—if not for a slight complication.

Forget the Netflix-era Defenders iteration of the team — the comic book Defenders are an absolute unit. Or, at least, certain versions of the group are. 

In one way or another, the Defenders have been around since 1971, when Doctor Strange managed to enlist both Namor and the Hulk to help him out against a dangerous enemy force. Soon, a fourth powerhouse joined the group’s core cast: the Silver Surfer, wielder of the Power Cosmic. If you take a look at the sheer power that quartet brings to the table, we might very well be talking about a Top Three team — if it wasn’t for one little hitch. 

The Defenders are notoriously uncooperative and far more informal than other groups on this list, which make their operations sporadic and potentially strained. Their roster is also tricky, since there are no facilities or membership cards. If you want to be a Defender and the other Defenders are cool with it, you’re effectively in. These factors have combined to a wildly fluctuating group that has never been weak, per se. However, after their early heyday, the Defenders have featured the underwhelming likes of U.S. Agent and Howard the Duck, which balances the scales a fair bit.

The Inhumans are the sort of group that could easily make a play for the top spot here, since they’re technically a genetically engineered race with diverse powers and impressive numbers. However, the majority of them live quite secluded lives, so as a superhero team, they can generally be thought of as distanced in terms of interacting with the world outside their own sphere of interest. 

That’s not to say even their smaller detachments aren’t powerful, though. “Marvel’s Inhumans” may have been a massive live-action flop, and the “Agents of SHIELD” Inhumans aren’t MCU canon, but regardless, Inhuman teams are perfectly capable of giving the X-Men a hard time in comics. What’s more, their method of acquiring their powers — Terrigenesis, which involves breathing Terrigen mists that reveal a person’s latent powers — can be used as a weapon known as the Terrigen Bomb, which can forcefully convert everyone with latent Inhuman lineage into one of them. 

Unfortunately, this voluntarily isolated group has a vulnerable point that all others on this list lack. Their comparative weakness to disease and contaminants means that, despite their numbers, they can’t match some of the other teams here. 

The Eternals are a group of incredibly powerful heroes who were created by the absurdly powerful cosmic beings known as the Celestials. They live virtually forever thanks to their access to a resurrection technology known as the Activation Chamber, and their power sets often seem well above your average hero. Some Eternals, like Ikaris, are absolute powerhouses — and it’s probably worth mentioning that major Marvel antagonist and the MCU’s biggest baddie to date, Thanos, is a deviant Eternal himself.

In terms of sheer power, then, the Eternals have a pretty clear shot at being among the absolute strongest team out there. They can even complement their individual powers with the Uni-Mind, a state that melds their minds together to create a singular, powerful energy entity with psychic abilities that are far beyond the combined might of the Eternals comprising it. However, the group’s downside is that they’re prone to in-fighting and can succumb to a madness-inducing condition known as the Mahd Wy’ry, which severely hampers their efficiency. 

The MCU has taught us that the Guardians of the Galaxy are the epitome of the little team that could. In James Gunn’s “The Guardians of the Galaxy” movies (and the Holiday Special), the team walks a tightrope between being portrayed as capable operators and borderline incompetent losers. Yet, over and over again, they demonstrate that they can save the day (and the galaxy) with sheer grit, willpower, and heart … and, if push comes to shove, some pretty nifty dance moves. 

The MCU Guardians have been able to hold their own against Infinity Stone holders, Celestials, megalomaniac gene-scientists, and Kevin Bacon. What’s more, the core group portrayed in the movies is just a small scratch on the true Guardians team capability. In the comics, the Guardians are historically a fairly large and powerful group. They’re also a natural port of call for Earth-based heroes who are looking to expand their horizons, which has led to some pretty impressive names flying the proverbial Guardians flag over the years. Team members have included names like Iron Man, Captain Marvel, and even Doctor Doom. 

The truth about Thanos’ Black Order starts earlier than their 2018 MCU debut in “Avengers: Infinity War,” but not by quite as much as you’d think. In fact, the Black Order didn’t make their comic book debut until 2013, but immediately established themselves as the group to beat. Powerful and deadly, the Black Order can operate as their own unit, as a superteam led by Thanos, or as individual generals who command their own forces. In addition, they have the standard supervillain ability to bounce back from seemingly certain deaths. They can be killed, defeated, or sucked into a black hole — chances are, they’ll turn up again. 

The comics version of the Order is also considerably more dangerous than the MCU one, which turned out to be relatively disposable. For instance, Corvus Glaive is a magnificent tactician and general along with his physical prowess, and he’s immortal as long as his weapon doesn’t break down. 

Arguably the most terrifying member of the team, Supergiant didn’t even make it into the MCU. This is probably a good thing, considering that she’s a ridiculously powerful parasitic telepath whose powers include taking over the bodies of many people at once, piloting them around, and outright eating their minds. What’s more, she can’t be harmed physically, which suggests that “Avengers: Endgame” might have ended very differently with her in the mix.  

We’re filing the Illuminati and the Cabal in the same folder because at their core they’re effectively the same thing: Loose alliances of the keenest, most conniving minds of Marvel heroes (Illuminati) and villains (Cabal), who gather to either solve or create one massive crisis situation or another. 

Both the Illuminati and the Cabal have power to spare. The former generally features Mister Fantastic, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and an array of other best and brightest minds of the superhero community. The Cabal, which is effectively a shadow offshoot of the Illuminati, was founded by former Illuminati member Namor, and has featured Spider-Man villain Norman Osborn, Emma Frost (who has also served in the Illuminati, because comics are fun), Doctor Doom, Loki, and others. 

Any of those characters can pose a massive threat to their opponents, so it’s no surprise the Illuminati-Cabal joint entry knocks at the doors of our top three. However, the unfortunate downside of both teams is that they feature plenty of staunch individualists, which results in plenty of disagreements. It doesn’t help that the Illuminati’s big swings tend to be incredibly stupid, especially by super-genius standards. For example, they once shot the Hulk in space and hoped that he wouldn’t find a way to come back angry. Guess what happened next? Yeah, he was a little cranky.

As the portrayal of Marvel’s first family in “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” showed, this is one super team that consistently figures out how to tackle threats that are far beyond the usual limits. Turned into superheroes by cosmic radiation, the Fantastic Four emerged with distinct and impressive power sets that make them work well as a team of superheroes. However, that’s only ever been one part of their gig. First and foremost, the Fantastic Four are explorers and adventurers. They get by on their grit, wits, and Reed Richards’ inventions, and they generally use their superpowers to complement their many missions instead of allowing them to take over the adventure.  

This combination of traits has made the Fantastic Four one of the mightiest heroic teams around. Their adventures tend to have absolutely massive stakes, and they have grown accustomed to clearing just about any bar — for instance, Reed once rebuilt the entire Multiverse. Their one big failing is that many of their adventures could have world-changing repercussions, so the comics often end up dancing very carefully around them and their abilities.

Huge roster? Check. Access to absurdly diverse power sets? Check. A strong sense of camaraderie that helps them defend themselves against all outside forces? Triple check, at least whenever the team members aren’t bickering with each other. 

The X-Men are both the spearhead of Marvel’s mutantdom and a highly-trained super team, brought together by Charles Xavier and then upheld by his successors whenever he’s dead or otherwise temporarily inconvenienced. The core team has gone through numerous line-ups over the years. Those changes have also sprouted numerous offshoot groups that together form a network of formidable X-teams that often operate independently … but they’re rarely able to resist a good team-up when the opportunity presents itself.

Apart from strength in numbers, many of the most powerful X-Men are game-enders in their own right. There’s also the fact that most X-Men are legitimate fighters, with survival instincts honed to perfection by a lifetime of persecution and training. As such, virtually any given line-up can function as a tactically sound special ops team that just happens to have a wide array of superpowers that complement each other. 

Cyclops, in particular, is historically so adept at battlefield tactics that his combination of spatial awareness and extreme strategic ability allows him to manipulate the fight as needed. His experience in relaying his tactical knowledge through the team’s telepaths means that any X-Men lineup with him at the helm has the potential to become a well-oiled machine that can run rings around their opponent.

Marvel’s flagship superhero team is also the most powerful, by virtue of both status and sheer power. While the X-Men habitually exist somewhere on the sliding scale between being loathed and barely tolerated no matter how many times they save the world, both the comics and the MCU versions of the Avengers are generally well-liked and respected enough to have genuine agency in the world’s events. 

The classic core members of the Avengers — Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, and the gang — are already powerful and versatile enough to handle most threats out there. However, when push comes to shove, they can summon just about any hero on Earth (and multiple ones who base their operations off-world) to create a small army of incredibly powerful heroes. The full list of Avengers members in the comics is a Who’s Who of the Marvel universe, and many Avengers card holders spend much of their time in other teams or as solo heroes. As with the X-Men, there are also multiple Avengers offshoots that are powerful in their own right, and can join the parent team if push comes to shove. 

The Avengers’ numbers game alone means that very few superhero groups outside the X-Men have an answer to them when they’re fighting at full force. As such, their arguably sole key weakness is being attacked when the available roster is caught off guard and unable to muster an adequate response — which, come to think of it, may be why the Avengers Mansion is such a magnet for supervillain sneak attacks.