Warning: The following contains SPOILERS for Marvel's What If...? episode 5.
In What If...? episode 5, the MCU may have finally put an end to the debate over who is the strongest Avenger. Despite continued conjecture over who exactly is worthy of the title, the hit series has made it clear over several episodes that there are only a few characters with a claim to the crown. However, on closer examination of the universe-altering events that occur throughout the series, it's apparent that one select and slightly surprising group stands head and shoulders above the rest.
During What If...? episode 5, the world is overrun by a zombie apocalypse. A neurological virus, brought back inadvertently by Hank Pym's journey into the Quantum Realm, wreaks havoc across the globe, even afflicting Earth's mightiest heroes. Eventually, surviving superheroes, including the likes of Bruce Banner, Hope van Dyne and Spider-Man, band together in a bid to find a cure in the form of the temperamental and powerful Mind Stone.
In some ways, the number of key characters involved in the episode makes the debate over who is the strongest Avenger more straightforward. Since almost all the major players from the MCU – with a few notable exceptions – go up against the zombie horde, it's easy to compare and contrast. However, through a combination of events in episode 5, evidence from the rest of the series, and hints from the wider MCU, it now seems clear that the most potentially powerful Avengers are actually Ant-Man and the Wasp.
There are several key reasons why Ant-Man, and anyone else in possession of Hank Pym's revolutionary technology, is actually the most powerful Avenger. As What If...? makes abundantly clear, the key lies in their ability to travel to the Quantum Realm. As evidenced by episode 5 (as well as the Infinity War saga in the wider MCU), accessing the Quantum Realm opens up a world of incredibly powerful possibilities for characters, ranging from instigating a zombie apocalypse that destroys that world to actual time travel. Although it's the technology rather than the likes of Pym, van Dyne and Scott Lang that actually provides these powers, the fact that the Pym dynasty has the most regular access to it makes them the most capable characters of bringing destruction to the universe as we know it.
A second key consideration, as demonstrated during What If...? episode 3, is that the Pym Particle technology makes either Ant-Man or the Wasp capable of defeating all the other Avengers in combat. Over the course of that episode, a deranged Hank Pym murders Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, and a host of others. This implies that Ant-Man could beat all of them in a fight, placing him and the Wasp at the top of the power rankings. The episode even confirmed an unsavory theory regarding how to kill Thanos with the way in which Yellowjacket defeated Hulk. This, coupled with the universe-altering possibilities of the Quantum Realm confirms that Ant-Man and his ilk truly are the strongest of all Avengers.
On the surface, neither Ant-Man nor most of the other characters closely connected with Hank Pym are particularly physically imposing. However, considering the capabilities of their technology, coupled with the consequences for the entire universe if they take a particular course of action, there's no doubt that they deserve to share the number one spot. It might be surprising, but What If...? has definitively settled the debate.
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