10 Best Battles Where Heroes Fight Each Other in the MCU, Ranked
It’s been said time and time again: everyone loves a good superhero vs superhero battle. Discussions surrounding which heroes are stronger than others and who could beat whom in a fight are constantly circulating on the internet and friend groups everywhere. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been around for almost 20 years now (since 2008), and in that time, the heroes of the MCU have come to blows with each other multiple times.
While superhero-on-superhero fighting is always entertaining for audiences to watch, especially if the heroes have visually interesting powers, some are top choices among the rest. Which are the best? Which heroes made the best match-ups? It’s no easy feat to compare them, but if anything is true, it’s that some battles are so good that they just cannot be beaten by the rest. This list will rank the best hero-on-hero action scenes in the MCU based on their choreography, the heroes involved, and how important they are to their overall movie.
10
Ant-Man Versus The Falcon
‘Ant-Man’ (2015)
Ant-Man is an absolutely underrated MCU film, especially when it comes to solo movies. When heroes get introductions in the cinematic universe, they don’t always get to prove their worth by taking on an Avenger themselves. When Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) needs to break into the Avengers Compound to get a piece of technology, he gets the attention of The Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and has to go toe-to-toe with him to complete his mission.
Surprisingly, for being a new hero, he fares well against The Falcon and comes out on top while also managing to steal the tech he needed to grab. It would actually be this fight that would get him on Team Captain America in the following film, Captain America: Civil War. It’s quite a unique match-up, too. Most people wouldn’t pair these two up in a fight, but it ended up working out quite well. It’s also one of The Falcon’s best MCU scenes.
9
Spider-Man Versus Doctor Strange
‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ (2021)
In pretty much all Marvel media, Spider-Man is almost always the one to get paired up to fight another hero. He’s Marvel’s golden boy, so, of course, he’s the one who gets the most attention. Not to mention, thanks to the rights deal for Spidey between Sony Pictures Entertainment and Marvel Studios, the studios have to include an MCU character in every Tom Holland Spider-Man film. With Spider-Man: No Way Home, that would end up being Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch).
When Doctor Strange so easily wants to send the multiversal villains home to their universes to die, Spider-Man and his good heart, clearly, cannot have that. Thus, it becomes a fight of magic vs. spider powers for the mystical box with the power to pretty much kill the villains. Since it’s his movie, the Wall-Crawler comes out on top and traps Doctor Strange in his mirror dimension. While he isn’t in the initial character reveal for Avengers: Doomsday, there’s no shot that Captain America doesn’t at least recruit him for Avengers: Secret Wars.
8
Iron Man & Captain America Versus Thor
‘The Avengers’ (2012)
Before the MCU, Marvel’s big Trinity was Spider-Man, Hulk, and Wolverine. However, when the iconic cinematic universe debuted, the trinity quickly shifted to Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), and Thor (Chris Hemsworth). In their first movie together, The Avengers, the big trinity got to face off in a short but memorable sequence.
When the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. get custody of Loki (Tom Hiddleston) after his little stint in Germany, Thor arrives to take his brother home to be tried in Asgard, prompting Cap and Iron Man to confront him. This fight was not only cool to see, including a great moment where Thor’s lightning supercharges the Armored Avenger’s armor, but it also includes one of the best MCU quotes: “Want me to bring the hammer down?!”
7
Hulk Versus Thor (Round 1)
‘The Avengers’ (2012)
When Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) goes absolutely wild on the Helicarrier, the only hero on board who can reasonably take him on is the God of Thunder himself. This fight is full of rewatchable moments for both Hulk and Thor. The battle would get interrupted by a SHIELD jet, firing mass bullets at the not-so-jolly-green-giant, but while it lasted, it was wonderful.
Director Joss Whedon had a lot of fun using things like Thor’s hammer, Mjölnir, keeping Hulk down, and bringing the two heroes together in hand-to-hand combat. This battle would also begin the characters’ ongoing rivalry/respect throughout the MCU that continues to last to this day, proving that Earth’s Mightiest Heroes had two walking nukes on their team.
6
Deadpool Versus Wolverine
‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ (2024)
Deadpool & Wolverine is a major entry in the MCU for a plethora of reasons. Not only is it the first film to fully bring the 20th Century Studios characters into the Marvel Studios world (The Marvels‘ post-credits scene was merely a tease), but it brought two absolute titans together in both Ryan Reynolds and superhero legend, Hugh Jackman, after years of people asking.
Due to their hilarious dynamic and the nature of bringing two characters like this together in general, the two absolutely needed to fight each other at some point in the movie. After having had enough of each other, the two go at it in the confines of a Honda Odyssey. They have a great fight earlier in the film, but this one is simply so dynamic, hard-hitting, and downright funny that it has to take the cake. Not to mention, they come to blows to the iconic song: “You’re The One That I Want” from Grease.
5
The Avengers Versus The Guardians of the Galaxy
‘Avengers: Infinity War’ (2018)
With the two most iconic MCU hero teams finally meeting each other in Avengers: Infinity War, it only made sense that they threw hands at each other before finding common ground. The fight had true reasoning behind it, too: the Guardians of the Galaxy thinking that the other heroes were part of Thanos’ (Josh Brolin) army.
This fight is everything fans would want from these two teams coming together: two bug-like heroes, Spider-Man and Mantis (Pom Klementieff), facing each other, the leaders of each team holding the members of the other hostage, and Drax (Dave Bautista) facing his worst enemy: a cape. It’s rather short but just as impactful as previous entries on this list, not to mention, far funnier.
4
Hulk Versus Hulkbuster
‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ (2015)
From the very moment both Iron Man and Hulk existed in the same cinematic universe, fans began begging for them to face off, Hulk vs. Hulkbuster style. The Hulkbuster is one of the most recognizable Iron Man armors in the comics. It allows a mere man to take on the most brutal Avenger there is, and it becomes a fight for the ages.
The MCU’s version of the Hulkbuster lived up to the expectations and gave Hulk a run for his money. Buildings are destroyed, elevators smash into the rage monster, and Iron Man actually manages to fare very well against Hulk. The subtext with this fight is great, too, given the context that the Hulkbuster itself was not just developed by Tony Stark, but Bruce Banner himself, as well.
3
Hulk Versus Thor (Round 2)
‘Thor: Ragnarok’ (2017)
Not only were people excited that they got to see Hulk in Thor: Ragnarok after a two-year absence, but they got to see a rematch between the two heroes for the first time since The Avengers. In the five years since they had last fought, people were hoping to see Thor and Hulk go toe-to-toe again. Thanks to director Taika Waititi, fans got to see the conclusion to such a clash of titans.
Thor got to show off his new hammer-less powers but also got to wield another, even larger hammer. The fight is hard-hitting, wall-breaking, and everything fans would want from a rematch between these two Marvel titans. It didn’t arrive at a proper conclusion regarding who is the strongest of the two, but the spectacle was more than worth it. What a way to reintroduce Hulk into the MCU again!
2
Iron Man v Captain America & Bucky Barnes
‘Captain America: Civil War’ (2016)
The final fight of Captain America: Civil War is not only action-packed and thrilling, but also one of the most emotional battle sequences in the entire MCU. Fans watched as Captain America and Iron Man came into conflict earlier in the movie, but no confrontation had the same emotional punch, especially given the fact that Tony just learned that Bucky Barnes ((Sebastian Stan) back when he was The Winter Soldier) killed his parents.
Seeing the relationship between the two friends and leaders of the Avengers completely shatter within this fight is heartbreaking. The exchange of Captain America saying, “He’s my friend,” and Iron Man responding, “So was I,” was quite emotional for MCU fans. Moreover, he consequences of this fight transcended the movie and had a major impact on the subsequent Avengers movies.
1
Team Cap Versus Team Iron Man
‘Captain America: Civil War’ (2016)
The giant spectacle of a battle in the middle/latter half of Act Two of Captain America: Civil War in Germany is easily the best heroes vs. heroes fight in the MCU. Seeing most of the major players in the Marvel universe go head-to-head over a conflict that genuinely had audiences divided in their opinions made it a fight to remember. The lineup itself was also great, featuring the debuts of major characters like Spider-Man.
The multiple match-ups it offers within it, like Spider-Man versus Captain America, Giant Man versus Spider-Man, War Machine (Don Cheadle), and Iron Man, Ant-Man versus Iron Man, and more, make this an incredibly diverse and visually fascinating fight. This sequence is the perfect example of why people reacted so positively to the “Civil War” storyline in the comic books.
