MCU Characters who can defeat Thanos

Spoiler Warning: Contains plot points from Avengers: Infinity War and other MCU films.

With most of the cast dead after the third instalment of Avengers, there are only a few characters

This list only includes characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe so Marvel characters like Dark Phoenix and Silver Surfer won’t be included.
This list also includes only those characters that are alive after the Infinity Wars so characters like Odin and Ultron won’t be on the list unless there’s a realistic way for them to resurrect before Thanos’ defeat.
Marvel characters that have yet to appear in the MCU will also not be included.

Thor

He’s currently the only known MCU character able to go toe to toe against the Mad Titan even inflicting a major injury upon him with Storm Breaker. Thor might take Thanos’ advice the next time they meet and aim for the head.

Captain Marvel

From speed, strength, flight, laser powers, this pilot has everything and will probably reveal more powers in the sequels. She’s currently one of the few characters who can go toe to toe against Thanos.

Surtur

Remember the giant fire demon that destroyed Asgard? He’s probably still around, floating in space or chilling out at the ashes of Asgard.

Ant-Man/Scott Lang

You probably have an idea of how this will go; if you don’t just Google it.

Nebula

It’s not clear if Nebula made the attempt on Thanos’ life before or after he got the Power Stone but according to Thanos she nearly succeeded and she must have done a good job because Thanos was pissed enough to dismantle and torture the alien cyborg. Now that Thanos has all the stones Nebula’s vengeance seems far, but with possible upgrades to her robotic parts from Tony Stark or a Thanos slaying weapon from Eitri the Dwarf King who made Mjolnir and Storm Breaker she may yet have her revenge. Or like the comics, she might steal the Power Gauntlet and win the day.

Hela

There’s a good chance that Thor’s big sister survived Ragnarok since we didn’t see her die onscreen, it was only implied that Surtur killed her along with Asgard. If she survived she would be one of the few characters stronger than Thor. Though, she might get nerfed since her powers depended on Asgard.

Hulk/Bruce Banners

The big green guy seems to be sulking in Bruce’s mind after the thorough thrashing he got from Thanos but it’s only a matter of time before Hulk gets mad and starts smashing Thanos. It’ll most probably involve the Black Widow getting smacked around by Thanos; remember, Hulk’s strength is proportional to his rage.

Gamora

Thanos used Gamora’s soul to obtain the Soul Stone. When Thanos snapped his fingers he met Gamora as a child in the Soul Realm. Gamora might still be alive in the Soul Stone and might be able to manipulate the Infinity Gauntlet into defeating Thanos. If not that, she might be able to revive a hero that can defeat Thanos like Odin, Celestial Star-Lord or Dr Strange. After all, as Red Skull said, “The Soul Stone has a special place among the Infinity Stones.”

Tony Stark/Iron Man

As unlikely as it is, Tony seems to have a special role set for him in Thanos’ eventual demise. He has a link with Thanos which goes both ways and Dr Strange went through the trouble of trading the Time Stone for Tony’s life. That is after making it clear that between saving Tony, Peter Parker and the stone Strange would choose the stone. The only future Dr Strange saw where they defeat Thanos involved the Stark of MCU for sure.

As for how? I’m guessing a new suit made of either vibranium from Wakanda with inputs from Shuri or one made by Eitri using Dwarven tech. Tony might return the favour and give him mechanical arms.