Siblings seem to be a recurring theme throughout the Marvel world, so we thought we’d compile the top five most powerful siblings in the Marvel comicbook and cinematic universes.
1. Thor and Loki
Of course, we must begin with Thor and Loki, the most popular brothers and frenemies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Though they are not blood-related (Loki having been adopted by Odin and Frigga), they were raised as brothers and brought up to rule Asgard together. However, now with Asgard destroyed, its inhabitants settled on Earth under the rule of Valkyrie, Thor off to the galactic spaceways, and Loki off through time itself, Asgard doesn’t figure heavily into their current fates.
Still, as the God of Thunder, Thor not only has immense strength and durability, and a powerful hammer (Mjolnir) or two (Stormbreaker), but he’s a god who can summon storms, lightning and thunder, as he demonstrated so ably in Thor: Ragnarok. As for Loki, not only is he intelligent and tricky, he’s also the most accomplished sorcerer in all Asgard, having learned at the feet of his mother, the unparalleled sorceress and queen, Frigga. And he’s so popular, as played by Tom Hiddleston, that he has his own series coming up on Disney+!
Between the upcoming Loki series on Disney+ and the 2021 release of Thor: Love and Thunder, we’ll see plenty more examples of how these two might well be the most powerful siblings in all of Marveldom assembled.
However, for the rest of the mightiest siblings we need turn to the comicbook universe:
2. Invisible Woman and the Human Torch
First there are Susan Storm Richards, known as Invisible Woman, and her younger brother Johnny Storm, the Human Torch. As original members of the Fantastic Four, cosmic rays imbued them with the powers of invisibility and flame, respectively. Sue started out slow, most often using her powers defensively or for stealth, but over the decades she mastered the ability to solidify the air into powerful, nigh impenetrable, force fields and pioneered countless creative uses for them.
As her husband and FF leader Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic, and their number one arch-nemesis Dr. Victor Von Doom have both conjectured, she’s probably become the most powerful member of the quartet.
Johnny Storm can burst into flame, fly, and control and absorb flames. He’s a cosmic-powered energy battery, able to generate enormous amounts of flame energy at will, which would only occasionally peter out (often when it was most convenient for writers to have him run low). Reed has conducted experiments over the years that prove The Human Torch is one of the most powerful generators of raw energy in all the Marvel Universe.
Now our list pulls from the large population of Merry Mutants that fill the Marvel Universe. Mutants are born with the mysterious X-gene which gives them powers, so it’s not surprising the X-gene reoccurs in groups of siblings, such as:
3. Cyclops, Havok and Vulcan
The Summers boys: Scott, Alex and Gabriel, respectively known as Cyclops, Havok and Vulcan. These three sons of Christopher “Corsair” Summers all manifest powerful energy powers derived from their X-gene. Cyclops emits solid energy beams from his eyes, and this power is on continuously, only stopped when he closes his eyes or if he wears special ruby quartz lenses as his glasses or visor. He and Alex bailed out of a crashing plane as children, but their parents were swept up by the mysterious Shi’Ar galactic empire before their deaths. As orphans, they were raised with no family but one another, though Alex was eventually adopted.
Professor Charles Xavier located Scott via Cerebro, his mutant detecting device, and trained him to control his eye-blasts and become the leader of the X-Men. Scott combines natural leadership abilities, plus innate tactical and geometric genius, to lead his team and precisely use his powerful eye beams in combat.
Alex also has some leadership ability, but he was never as extensively trained as Scott, having been discovered by the X-Men well into their young career. His ability to generate powerful waves of energy from his whole body must be contained by a special suit. Fortunately for the brothers, their powerful energy blasts cannot harm one another, but they are devastating to anybody else.
There is a third brother, Gabriel, who was the reason the Shi’Ar kidnapped their parents in the first place. Christopher’s wife Katherine was pregnant, and though she died in the crash, the Shi’Ar saved her unborn baby and raised the boy in secret so that even his surviving father never knew. Vulcan emerged with immense energy controlling powers and eventually rose through sheer power and tactical ability to become Emperor of the Shi’Ar. His fall from power was as spectacular, and his brothers Cyclops and Havok had a bit to do with that as well.
4. Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and Polaris
Our next set of siblings consist of Wanda Maximoff and Pietro Maximoff, the fraternal twins known as Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, and their long-lost sister, Lorna Dane, better known as Polaris. Born mutants, all three were eventually discovered to be the children of Magneto, though Lorna’s mother was not the same woman as Wanda and Pietro’s mother, making Lorna their half-sister. The Scarlet Witch has powerful reality altering hexes, and if her will is strong enough, she can change the face of all of reality itself, as seen in the House of M storyline. Originally a villain with a heart of gold, she’s often served as a heroic Avenger since.
Quicksilver is perhaps the fastest being on the planet, and he bears a striking resemblance to his father Magneto, though it took years for anyone to realize the biological connection. His personality is acerbic, and he’s as often played the role of villain as hero. He has served as an ally of the Inhumans when he was married to Crystal of the royal family and he’s also served heroically as a member of X-Force.
Finally, there is Polaris, who but for her green hair, has powers which are the most similar to her father, Magneto, and mastery of magnetism itself is no power to sniff at. She’s also often served as an ally of the X-Men and as a member of X-Force.
Of course, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, though Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are siblings with similar powers to their comicbook counterparts, their mutant origin is never acknowledged or explored. Might this aspect be finally explored in upcoming movies now that Marvel Studios owns the rights to the X-Men characters? Tragically, Quicksilver loses his life in Avengers: Age of Ultron, although his comicbook counterpart is still with us. Will Pietro be “back” in the upcoming WandaVision series for Disney+? Only time will tell.
5. Professor X and the Juggernaut
Fifth on our list are siblings whose relationship is similar to Thor and Loki. They are Professor Charles Xavier of the X-Men and Cain Marko, alias the Juggernaut. Charles’ mother remarried, and her husband Kurt Marko already had a son, Cain. As step-brothers, Charles and Cain never got along, though ironically they served together in military combat.
During that war, Cain discovered the powerful Crimson Gem of Cyttorak and becomes imbued with super-human strength and invulnerability. Unfortunately, Cain first used his immense power for crime and profit, but over time and through trial and error, he eventually became an ally and served alongside the X-Men, though he’s no mutant. His power level, however, is acknowledged as equal to the Incredible Hulk, and his only vulnerability is to psionic attack, so naturally he designed a helmet that shields from that.
As for Professor X, as Charles Xavier came to be known, he is the founder of the X-Men and by any measure, the most powerful telepath on Earth. He’s also a man of will and vision, dedicating his every action to establishing peaceful co-existence between human and mutant kind. This often places him in direct opposition to Magneto, whose harsh background has convinced him only enforced peace by applied mutant power is the answer. Though they aren’t blood related, the step-siblings Professor X and the Juggernaut complete this list of the five most powerful siblings of the Marvel Universe.