7 Guardians of the Galaxy Heroes Who Are More Powerful Than The Movies Showed

Published Oct 25, 2026, 7:01 PM EDT

Robert Wood is a writer and editor based out of Cheshire, England. He is the author of 'The False Elephant: and 99 Other Unreasonably Short Stories' - 100 stories, each told in exactly 100 words.

Rob got into comics via Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man and the UK anthology 'The Mighty World of Marvel,' which was running Frank Miller's Daredevil, Classic Hulk and Contest of Champions II.

Prior to journalism, he worked in copywriting and copyedited for Oxford University Press. He is on X as @PinchTwigs and Instagram as roobwoodjourno.

When it comes to raw power, the Guardians of the Galaxy aren't exactly the Avengers. A ragtag crew of spacefaring renegades, the Guardians don't boast the gods or sci-fi monstrosities of Earth's Mightiest Heroes... at least not in the MCU.

In fact, many of the most iconic heroes from the Guardians of the Galaxy movies are surprising powerhouses in their original comics lore, with several members who have even taken down the Hulk.

Here are the seven MCU Guardians who are much, much more powerful in the comics, beginning with the character who has the biggest power gap of all...

Drax the Destroyer

Nobody was done dirtier by the MCU than Drax the Destroyer. Dave Bautista's Drax is one of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies' best characters, with impressive strength and surprising durability befitting his role as the team's brawler. In the comics, he's traded punches with the Hulk.

MCU Drax's desire to kill Thanos is treated as a joke. When he finally gets his chance at the Mad Titan, he gets slapped away like he isn't even there. But in Marvel Comics lore, Drax is an artifical being created to kill Thanos, literally ripping the heart out of the iconic villain's chest after finally tracking him down.

Rather than an alien, comic Drax is a superhuman created by Thanos' father Mentor, bonded to the soul of the human Arthur Douglas, who lost his life (and that of his daughter) to the Mad Titan. While his strength has varied over the years, he's often been as strong as the Hulk, and the two have mixed it up multiple times over the years, including in the original Infinity Gauntlet.

Adam Warlock

To be fair to Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3, Adam Warlock is introduced as an incomplete superbeing unleashed before his full maturation. Despite that, he's incredibly strong and durable, with impressive energy powers.

Comic Adam Warlock is the fully cooked real deal - the one person in existence who Thanos truly considers an equal. Essentially a living god, Warlock can sense the entire galaxy on a cosmic level, predict the future, read minds, absorb and redirect energy, transform matter and utilize both regular and 'quantum' magic, rewriting the rules of reality.

Most importantly, comic Adam Warlock is an Outsider - a being who is immune to 'destiny.' Precognitive visions can't factor in his actions, while omniscient beings (including the wielder of the Infinity Gauntlet) can't perceive or predict him. Like Thanos, Adam Warlock is immune to Death - while his physical body can technically be destroyed, his soul remains and generates a cocoon that regenerates his physical form.

Cosmo the Spacedog

A late addition to the MCU Guardians, the movie Cosmo is a powerful psychic who can communicate telepathically and has considerable telekinetic strength. In the comics (where the character is male), Cosmo is the most powerful psychic not named 'Jean Grey.'

The security chief of Knowhere, comic Cosmo was able to keep the lawless Celestial head secure with a combination of powerful psionic bolts, impenetrable forcefields, and mass mind control. But when faced with a real threat - like an alt-universe version of the Hulk - Cosmo is capable of causing a fatal stroke with little effort.

If that sounds powerful, consider the Cosmo of the Ultimate Universe. The Cosmo of Earth-1610 (aka Cosmo Starstalker) has the classic psionic abilities, but also possesses senses so keen, he can track people across time. When teammate America Chavez was lost in the timestream, Cosmo sensed her across millennia and led the team on a time-traveling rescue mission to the correct era.

Groot the Flora Colossi

The Groot of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies is actually two beings with similar powers. The tree-like alien can essentially grow his body into any kind of plant, rapidly giving him weaponized vines, thorn cages and bioluminescent flowers.

The comic version is basically movie Groot dialed up to 11. Not only can he grow and manipulate his own body, but he can control and grow any plants in his vicinity. If reduced to a smaller form like the MCU Groot, he can restore his prior form in moments (rather than the four years in the movies), and can become a giant at will. However, that all pales into insignificance compared to 'Grootfall.'

In Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 5, the ecological collapse of Groot's planet activated his nascent abilities. Created by the godlike Gardener, Flora Colossi have the ability to become Galactus-sized beings who can control the flora of entire solar systems.

In this form, Groot's mind spread out to control entire planets, hurling meteors to spread his influence across the galaxy. (Ultimately for heroic reasons, though it took the Guardians a while to realize it.) Killing off all living beings on those planets, Groot resurrected them - first as part of his own body, then later in their prior forms.

Star-Lord, aka Peter Quill

Star-Lord is actually quite powerful in the MCU, albeit only for about ten minutes. In Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2, Chris Pratt's hero uses his half-Celestial biology to tap into Ego's power, becoming a godlike being who can reshape matter at will. However, these abilities depended on Ego, and when his father died, he lost access to those powers forever.

In the comics, Star-Lord's powers are more subtle but also more innate. Comic retcons have messed with Peter's origin more than most, but Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 7 confirmed his link to a mysterious godlike being known as the Master of the Sun - a god who fans speculate is Peter's future self.

Receiving the Master of the Sun's blessing unlocked Peter's potential, and he found he could channel his limitless inner power through his classic 'Element Guns' to summon any combination of elements. He was also rendered immoral and gained immense energy powers, capable of blowing starships out of the air with a single shot.

Mantis, aka Brandt

In the MCU, Mantis is an incredibly powerful empath, able to sense and manipulate emotions, and even influencing the Celestial Ego. She also has an enhanced physiology due to being a child of Ego, including enhanced strength and durability.

In Marvel Comics, Mantis isn't just powerful - she's a literal messiah. The original Mantis was raised from birth to fulfill the prophecy of the Celestial Madonna. Training from the Priests of Pama gave her total control of her body, allowing her to heal at will and evolving her brain to harness a range of psionic abilities.

As well as her MCU empathy, comic Mantis can control plants, summon fire, create forcefields, see the future and turn totally invulnerable when meditating. Recent comics gave her a costume that can access different versions of Mantis from across the multiverse, transforming Mantis to have new skills and weapons that she possesses in alternate realities, including a powerful gauntlet that enhanced her strength even further.

Thor Odinson

Chris Hemsworth's Thor only joined the MCU Guardians of the Galaxy for a little while, but he was still their big gun as a literal god. Thor is pretty powerful in the MCU, but he lacks his biggest comic abilities, such as the ultra-destructive 'God Blast' - the energy attack feared even by Galactus.

The God Blast has been around since the '60s, but since 2019, he's essentially become omnipotent. After Odin handed over Asgard to his son, Thor unlocked his father's Odinforce - the ability to do essentially anything. Using the Odinforce saps his power and leaves him vulnerable (plus he risks destroying reality if he uses it recklessly), meaning Thor must carefully consider how he applies his omnipotence.

Even without the Odinforce, comic Thor simply has a higher power ceiling. While MCU Thor survived brief contact with a star, comic Thor can casually walk across them. While movie Thor can down Chitauri ships, comic Thor can lift one millions tons. While movie Thor vaporized Sokovia (with a little help), comic Thor can shatter planets.

Those are the MCU Guardians of the Galaxy who are WAY more powerful in the original comics - let us know in the comments below whether you agree with our picks, and what other characters belong on this list.