10 Biggest Superhero Power Upgrades In Comic Book Movie & Show History

Some of the most satisfying parts of any superhero movie or TV show is the upgrades in power the protagonists are capable of achieving. From animated DC shows to the movies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, plenty of comic book movies and TV shows feature dramatic power upgrades for their characters. Watching the natural evolution of a hero as they get stronger is a classic trope of the genre that’s immensely satisfying every time, especially when the leaps in capability are quite significant.

Power upgrades in comic book media can come in many forms. In the case of heroes who are more magical or supernatural in their source of strength, there are all kinds of plot-related power-ups or emotional breaking points that can significantly increase the power level of a given character. For more martial heroes who technically have no powers, watching them naturally train to increase their strength and skills or even augment their technology to science-fiction levels of advancement can be just as fun.

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G’iah Becomes One Of The MCU’s Most Powerful Characters

Secret Invasion

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All in all, Secret Invasion is often maligned as the worst Disney+ Marvel Cinematic Universe show, and fairly so. Between the controversial retcons the series introduces and the lack of cohesion, there’s a lot to criticize about Nick Fury’s solo project in the franchise. However, at the very least Secret Invasion gave audiences one of the coolest comic book power ups thanks to G’iah the Skrull.

G’iah starts out as a villainous member of the Skrull Resistance to takeover Earth before having a change of heart.

While certain Skrull individuals, like the famous Super Skrull, who steals the powers of The Fantastic Four, have appeared in the comics, the MCU initially kept the alien race’s abilities in the realm of shapeshifting. G’iah starts out as a villainous member of the Skrull Resistance to takeover Earth before having a change of heart, battling fellow Super Skrull Gravik with the combined powers of Extremis, Drax the Destroyer, Ghost, Captain Marvel, Mantis, and a Frost Beast. This gave her a dramatic leap in power in a short amount of time.

9

Captain Carter Gets A Serious Power Upgrade

What If…? season 2

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What If…? might largely be an anthology series, but that doesn’t stop the show from indulging in a bit of a serialized overarching narrative. At the center of it is Peggy Carter’s Captain Britain, also known as Captain Carter, who becomes the new leader of the Guardians of the Multiverse. Though initially only armed with a shield and super soldier serum similar to Captain America’s, Captain Carter soon gets a tremendous upgrade through the powers of the multiverse.

Hopelessly outmatched by the powerful Strange Supreme, Captain Carter is outfitted with a litany of absurdly strong artifacts, allowing her to stand a chance. These include the Infinity Armor, Hela’s helm, and a special gamma-infused sword capable of slaying gods. With all this strength combined with her already impressive physicals and combat experience, Captain Carter quickly became one of the strongest heroes ever introduced to the MCU.

8

Loki Becomes The God Of Stories

Loki season 2

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One of the few MCU heroes capable of holding a candle to Captain Carter in power, let alone overshadow her, Loki’s ascendancy to the throne at the center of time in his own solo series is truly an impressive feat. Loki has never been a slouch in the power department as an Asgardian, skilled enough with illusory magic to be labeled as the God of Mischief. While he was able to threaten the entire planet on his own and necessitate the formation of the Avengers, Loki’s journey in his own series takes his strength to absurd new heights.

After finding himself slipping through time during his adventures among the Time Variance Authority, Loki is eventually able to use the untold centuries available to him to learn how to control his newfound time powers.

As if that weren’t enough, by the end of Loki the former trickster god takes a whole new divine title as the God of Stories, sitting at the center of time as a living Temporal Loom. Being the consciousness that weaves the very fabric of reality together, Loki’s heroic journey has led him to staggering nigh-omnipotence.

7

Falcon Throws Captain America’s Shield Without Super-Strength

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

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Becoming the next Captain America wasn’t easy for the hero formerly known as Falcon, with an entire series dedicated to the rocky transformative process. In filling Steve Rogers’ huge shoes, Sam Wilson has to train to the point of breaking in order to be worthy of the shield. In a stunning montage, Sam manages to learn how to throw and catch the intimidating vibranium weapon without hurting himself despite not having a super soldier serum of his own.

It’s quite satisfying to see an already impressive hero with no powers naturally increase his skills through practice. As a result, by the time he leads Captain America: Brave New World, Sam’s combined skill with the shield and the wingsuit is impressive enough to hold off the Red Hulk, whereas the old Falcon lost in a one-on-one fight with Ant-Man. Though it might not ascend to the highest cielings of power, this upgrade is one of the most significant in the entire MCU.

6

Invincible Increases His Strength By 138%

Invincible

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One of the more recent but significant heroes to increase their strength by a massive margin on the small screen is Mark Grayson, a.k.a. Invincible. The third season of Invincible has shown just how seriously Mark has begun to take his training after his harrowing encounter with Angstrom Levy, working closely with Cecil and the GDA to become a more capable hero. His training montage shows him bathing in lava, lifting glaciers, and flying to the moon and back to test his endurance, strength, and speed.

His newfound strength is so astounding that the GDA has to invent impossibly heavy machinery for him to lift.

As a result, Cecil explains that Mark’s speed increases by 65%, his endurance by 70%, and his strength by a whopping 138%. His newfound strength is so astounding that the GDA has to invent impossibly heavy machinery for him to lift. Even if he can still barely hold his own with fully-grown Viltrumites, Invincible’s awesome boost in power in season 3 is one of the most significant ever depicted in a comic book TV show.

5

Scarlet Witch Unlocks Reality-Warping Power

WandaVision

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Emotional damage can often be the catalyst that many heroes unlock their strength through, including some of the MCU’s most powerful magic users. When she’s first introduced in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Scarlet Witch is only capable of telekinesis and minor telepathy, creating hallucinations in the minds of her victims. While this power on its own is nothing to scoff at, nearly bringing the Avengers to their knees, it’s just the beginning of what she’s capable of.

WandaVision explains how the lingering trauma of Vision’s death allowed Wanda to subconsciously unlock the latent chaos magic within her first brought out by the Infinity Stone she was experimented with. With this newfound power, Scarlet Witch is able to overwrite the reality of an entire town, controlling the minds of its citizens and even conjuring entirely new superpowered beings into existence, like a new version of Vision and her children, Billy and Tommy. Though her status as a hero gets murkier, Wanda’s bump in power is one of the most significant of any superhero property.

4

Shuri Eats The Heart-Shaped Herb

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

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While previous Black Panthers like T’Challa presumably got dramatic upgrades from eating the mysterious Heart-Shaped Herb themselves, the effects of it aren’t shown on a heroic character until Shuri in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Initially, Shuri is more of a supporting character, the Q to Black Panther’s James Bond responsible for crafting all sorts of unbelievable gadgetry. Still, Suri occasionally jumped into the superhero fray with her dual panther head blasters, doing so in both Black Panther and Avengers: Endgame.

Letitia Wright's Shuri and Chadwick Boseman's T'Challa greet each other in her lab in Black Panther

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Do you want to see Shuri or a new T’Challa lead Black Panther 3?

While Shuri is currently the MCU’s Black Panther, a new report has claimed that Marvel Studios is going to recast T’Challa. That could lead to both characters appearing in Black Panther 3, which is in the works. I would like to see the new T’Challa actor share the Black Panther mantle with Letitia Wright’s Shuri, as she held her own amazingly in Wakanda Forever.

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It’s only after she takes on the mantle of Black Panther herself, however, that Shuri is able to get a true boost in power. Synthesizing a 3-D printed version of the herb in her lab, Shuri gains the magical strength and speed of the Black Panther, allowing her to stand up to Namor in combat and even survive being impaled by his spear. Combined with her incalculable genius, Shuri is now easily one of the most capable MCU heroes ever.

3

Iron Man’s Final Armor Is Absurdly Strong

Avengers: Endgame

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No hero in the MCU is perhaps as defined by his continuous upgrades as Iron Man. Despite not having any real powers (other than an immunity to the Scepter’s possession thanks to his artificial heart), Tony Stark’s genius engineering feats may as well be a superpower all their own. This is reflected in the designs of his various Iron Man suits, which only get more sophisticated and unbelievably strong as the series continues.

Tony’s iterative improvements to his superhero technology reach their apex in Avengers: Endgame. Avengers: Infinity War introduces his nanotech suit, allowing him to essentially shapeshift on the fly and create all sorts of weapons and tools as needed. The versatile suit somehow gets even stronger in Avengers: Endgame, capable of projecting hardlight shields and even standing up to Thanos in close combat for a time. Even if he only manages to draw a drop of blood from the Mad Titan, Iron Man’s armor comes a staggeringly long way from his initial hunk of cave scraps.

2

Wonder Woman Realizes That She Is The God-Killer

Wonder Woman

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Of course, the MCU isn’t the only franchise to feature some thrilling superhero upgrades. The DCEU was particularly great at gradually increasing the scale at which its heroes could operate, especially in 2017’s Wonder Woman. In the period piece film set amid the throes of World War I, Diana Prince spends much of the film searching for the power of the elusive “God-Killer”, a weapon supposedly capable of defeating the tyrannical God of War Ares.

In the end, Wonder Woman realizes that the God-Killer isn’t a literal sword or armament, but she herself. Activating her divine powers as the daughter of Zeus, Wonder Woman takes responsibility as the God-Killer, facing Ares a final time. With her new boost in strength, Wonder Woman is able to redirect lightning and melt Ares with it, marking a violent but triumphant end to her harrowing first solo film.

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Aquaman Becomes King Of The Seven Seas

Aquaman

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Aquaman had a lot of negative PR as a hero going into his first DCEU movie appearance, with the franchise going to great lengths to make the character cool after decades of ridicule thanks to his niche powers of aquatic telepathy in shows like Super Friends. Part of these efforts included a massive power increase Aquaman gets to enjoy going into the film’s final act. In order to stand a chance against his powerful and experienced Atlantean half-brother, the Ocean Master, Arthur Curry has to find the fabled Trident of Atlan.

Almost the Mjolnir to Aquaman’s Thor, finding the Trident of Atlan is Aquaman’s Exaclibur moment, granting him a huge increase in power and righteously identifying him as the ruler of the seven seas. As if that weren’t enough, he also manages to recruit the help of the terrifying sea monster Karathen, inexplicably voiced by Julie Andrews. Between his political power, the leviathan, and the trident itself, Aquaman enjoys one of the biggest power upgrades in superhero movie history.

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