How Powerful Are The Major X-Men Villains Confirmed For Avengers: Doomsday Compared To Thanos?

A formidable group of Marvel Comics villains have been quietly confirmed for an appearance in Avengers: Doomsday. Giant robots that function as mutant-killing machines, the Sentinels hold a prominent place in X-Men lore, and that includes roles in Fox's live-action films. From the looks of things, they'll play some sort of role in the X-Men's long-awaited MCU debut in the Phase 6 crossover film.

When watching the third Avengers: Doomsday teaser trailer, it's easy to be distracted by the epic shot of James Marsden's Cyclops unleashing the full power of his optic blasts and not notice the apparent inclusion of the Sentinels in the background. They're among the most fearsome enemies of Marvel's Merry Mutants, and given how Cyclops isn't holding back in this scene, it's fair to see they won't be easily beaten in Doomsday either.

Naturally, that leads to the question of just how powerful they'll be. Based on how they're traditionally depicted, they'll be more dangerous than some previous MCU foes, but won't sit atop the power scale.

X-Men Sentinels' Powers Explained

In Marvel Comics, the Sentinels have a well-earned reputation as one of the X-Men's biggest threats. Possessing colossal strength that's in proportion with their gigantic size, the standard Sentinel model can fly, pinpoint and target mutants with deadly accuracy from long distances, and fire off potent energy blasts.

A big part of the difficulty of fighting Sentinels for the X-Men in the comic books is their numbers. The Sentinels have a tendency to show up in groups, forcing the X-Men to fight several at once, as opposed to just a single Sentinel. Each one generally poses a challenge on its own with its overwhelming size and arsenal of abilities, so combating a multitude of Sentinels is naturally a problem that requires a great deal of strategy.

Given what they're capable of, it's not surprising that the Sentinels were used as the basis of several high-stakes X-Men stories. After all, they have what it takes to wipe the planet's mutant population out of existence if they're not kept in check by the X-Men, and in some realities and timelines, this scenario has indeed come to pass.

Thanos Is Most Powerful

It certainly makes sense that the rise of Sentinels is one of the greatest concerns of the X-Men and Marvel's other mutant characters in the comics, but when looking beyond that corner of the universe, it's not hard to find greater and significantly more formidable adversaries.

One such example of this is Thanos, who is often portrayed as the ultimate opponent of not just one single team, but the Marvel Universe as a whole. In Infinity Gauntlet, for instance, members of Marvel's flagship teams - the Avengers, Fantastic Four, and the X-Men - all stood together against Thanos.

Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame were consistent with this approach, making Thanos the center of a battle that roped in the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Wakandans, and several solo MCU heroes. With or without the Infinity Stones, Thanos is a force to be reckoned with, with enough brute strength to overwhelm some of Marvel's top powerhouses, Hulk included.

The same powerhouses that Thanos can challenge - and even beat one-on-one - are likely capable of defeating traditional Sentinels, which goes to show that the Mad Titan is on a whole other level to the mutant-killing robots. They may very well be a serious threat to the X-Men, but in contrast to Thanos, they wouldn't have lasted long at all against the army of heroes assembled in Avengers: Endgame's final battle.

How Powerful Are X-Men's Sentinels Compared To Doctor Doom

Other MCU villains that have a convincing argument for being more dangerous than the Sentinels include Galactus, Ultron, Kang the Conqueror, and, most likely, Doctor Doom. The MCU hasn't previewed Doom's abilities yet, but it's fair to assume it'll be in line with what most expect from the character.

Without relying on stolen power (ala his "God Emperor Doom" state or the upgrade he received in Secret Wars), the comic book version of Doctor Doom possesses a high level of physical strength, putting him well above the likes of Spider-Man, Colossus, and Beast, but he's not quite in the same bracket as Marvel heavyweights such as Thor, Hulk, Namor, and The Thing.

Even so, what he does have at his disposal should be more than enough to make short work of the Sentinels if he were to be depicted accurately. In addition to sheer might, Doom wields magic and an abundance of weapons in his armor that would easily allow him to outclass the Sentinels.

All things considered, the Sentinels may make for some fun action sequences in Avengers: Doomsday, but their threat level pales in comparison to what Doctor Doom will bring to the table.