Every Version of Captain America, Ranked From Weakest To Most Powerful

Every universe needs an innately pure hero who believes in a better tomorrow. For DC, that’s Superman; for Marvel, it’ll always be Captain America. As one of Marvel’s most popular characters, Captain America has appeared all over the multiverse and the mantle has been worn by several different heroes over the years.

Captain America was one of the original super soldiers, and because of this, he always had just a bit more power than the average human. But as his popularity grew and as he got into more absurd scenarios, there were more and more powerful versions of Captain America to match. From Captain America who easily wields Thor’s hammer to Captain America who is unburdened by the weight of morality. These are the ten strongest versions of Captain America across the Multiverse.

11 Margaret Carter

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Peggy Carter was the love of Steve Roger’s life and played a key role during World War II when she fought alongside him. Considering how closely Carter’s history is tied with Captain America’s, plenty of writers have asked what if Carter became Captain America instead. This was fully explored in Captain Carter #1, where Steve Rogers simply wasn’t there to be given the super soldier.

Instead, Carter took the serum and became Captain Carter. She led the Carter Commandos and helped bring down the Nazis. Unfortunately, her character hasn’t been explored anywhere near as thoroughly as the Steve Rogers variant, meaning in terms of actual power, Carter never got the chance to show readers what she can really do. While there’s no doubt Carter could’ve been powerful, she never got the chance to prove it.

10 Sam Wilson

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Sam Wilson was one of Captain America’s best friends and a stalwart ally to him. After Steve Rogers had the super serum burned out of his body, he began aging rapidly. Because of this, he was clearly in no condition to be Captain America anymore and had to pass the mantle onto someone else.

With no better person to take up the mantle, the cap and shield were passed over to Sam Wilson, who wore them for years and did a fantastic job as Captain America, but he was not the strongest. Sam is a fantastic soldier and his ability to control birds, his wingsuit allowing him flight, and his mastery of hand-to-hand makes him an incredibly powerful Captain America, but all of these powers pale in comparison to some of the others who’ve taken the mantle.

9 Bucky Barnes

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Another long-time friend of Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, is one of the most important characters in Steve’s history. They originally fought together during World War II, but Bucky ended up being captured and brainwashed into a brutal assassin. The two wouldn’t be reunited for decades, and while Bucky initially returned as the brutal Winter Soldier, he was able to regain his memories and become a hero again.

During a time when Steve Rogers had been assassinated, Bucky was given the mantle of Captain America by Tony Stark. While Bucky may not have as much versatility, such as the ability to fly, his hand-to-hand combat is absurd, being far more skilled than Sam Wilson and even more so than Steve Rogers. This meant that in a straight fight, there was almost no one without powers who could beat Bucky’s Captain America.

8 Steve Rogers

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Steve Rogers wasn’t anyone special, not at first. But seeing the Nazi menace that threatened the world, he decided he couldn’t just stand by and watch as good men died fighting evil. So, he signed up to the army, which eventually led to Steve being given the super soldier serum, which transformed a random kid from New York City into Captain America, a hero who would save the world many times.

With his enhanced physical skills and his nearly indestructible shield, Captain America was one of Marvel’s very first heroes and continues to be one of its most important. While he may not have the fancy abilities and gear of Sam Wilson or the impressive fighting skills of Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers has decades of experience as both a hero and a soldier, which puts him above many others.

7 Flag-Smasher

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There’s no denying that Captain America is one of the greatest soldiers on the planet. Which is why it’s so fortunate that he uses that military knowledge and power to fight against fascism and evil. The biggest group that Steve has spent his life fighting against is Hydra, a Nazi organization that continues trying to take over the world to this day. Steve’s continual ruination of Hydra’s plans has led many to wonder, what if Steve Roger was an agent of Hydra?

Marvel answered this question by introducing a version of Steve Rogers that had been recruited by Hydra instead of the US Government. After Steve infiltrated the US Military, he was chosen to be given the super soldier serum for his bravery, which ended up being a massive mistake, as Steve went on to use these powers to serve Hydra.

6 Danielle Cage

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Tons of people have worn the Captain America mantle, and Danielle Cage was one of the most surprising. Danielle was the daughter of Luke Cage and Jessica Jones, and she apparently inherited the power of both of her parents. This means she had an absurd list of superpowers, which included enhanced durability, strength, speed, telepathic resistance, flight, and accelerated healing. This makes Danielle one of the most versatile people on this list.

While her powers aren’t as strong as some others, she certainly has more than anyone else here. Danielle’s powers were so great, that she was summoned by Doctor Doom to help fight against All-Father Ultron, who was certainly no easy villain to go up against. If Doom was summoning the best of the best, Danielle’s inclusion speaks volumes.

5 Carol Danvers

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While Captain America might be the most famous captain in the Marvel universe, he’s far from the most powerful. That title might very well go to Captain Marvel, also known as Carol Danvers. Carol is a Human/Kree hybrid and is capable of absorbing and repurposing all kinds of energy. Due to this, she’s been stated to be one of the most powerful beings in the universe (Sensational She-Hulk #9!) Her powers include things like superhuman strength, durability, flight, and massive energy projection and manipulation.

Readers didn’t get to see much of it, but in the same universe as Venom Rocket, Carol Danvers never became Captain Marvel, instead taking up the title of Captain America. For whatever reason, this results in the Kree putting a bounty on her, and when Venom Rocket tries to collect, he sees just how powerful a Captain Marvel/Captain America mash-up is.

4 Soldier Supreme

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Steve Rogers is an incredible hand-to-hand fighter. Combined with his unbreakable shield and his enhanced strength and agility, he’s a pretty powerful brawler. But aside from his shield, he really doesn’t have that many ranged options. His mobility also isn’t the best either. But both of these weaknesses were completely addressed with the creation of Stephen Rogers, a fusion of Captain America and Dr. Strange. This fusion took place on Warp World, a pocket dimension where tons of characters were merged together.

Stephen Rogers is not only a physical powerhouse, having the enhanced strength and agility of Captain America, but he’s also the most powerful sorcerer in the world, as he has access to all the magical abilities and knowledge of Dr. Stephen Strange. This made Stephen Rogers a true threat and one of the most powerful versions of Captain America to ever exist.

3 Captain Gamma

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Fusing characters is one of the easiest ways to get incredible powerhouses, and this was proven once again when Captain America and the Hulk were merged into a singular being. This created the amazing Captain Gamma. Someone who had the fighting skills and tactical mind of Captain America, but also the pure brute strength of the Hulk. Most concerningly, it seems that Captain Gamma also inherited the Hulk’s rage-based transformation, as Captain Gamma demonstrated the ability to massively grow and become far stronger when enraged, but he did seem to lose intelligence when it happened.

In terms of raw physical strength, there are very few people in the Marvel Universe who would be able to match a Hulk that had all the fighting skills and tactical knowledge of a Captain America, making him by far the physically strongest version of the Captain.

2 Captain Cosmos

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When heroes got fused together in Tarot, they were merged with a top half and a bottom half. The top of Captain America and the Hulk created Captain Gamma, and the bottom of Captain America and the top of Silver Surfer created Captain Cosmos. Presumably, Captain Cosmos gained all the fighting skills of Steve Rogers, while maintaining the cosmic power of the Silver Surfer.

While Captain Cosmos wouldn’t be the most physically powerful version of Captain America, his access to the Power Cosmic means that when it came to pure energy manipulation, there were very few people in the universe who’d be able to stand up against him. This fusion didn’t last long, so readers never got to see the full capability of it, but just as Captain America mostly protects America and the Earth, Captain Cosmos could’ve been a hero for the entire universe.

1 Captain America (Phoenix Force)

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Captain America has been fighting for life ever since he decided to stand up for what’s right. Instead of just staying in New York and letting someone else risk their lives to defeat the Nazis, he signed up for the military and risked his own life to protect the lives of others. Every fight Captain America has ever been in has been for life and his desire to protect it in all forms.

That’s why it was so fitting when he was one of the many chosen to be the next potential host of the Phoenix Force. While Captain America had the Phoenix Force’s powers, he was fully capable of controlling life in all respects. This meant instantly draining the life from people or instantly bringing them back to life, which makes this version of Captain America the strongest to ever exist.

Captain America

Initially debuting in 1940, Captain America is the patriotically themed superhero who has shared the title with only a few individuals. Beginning with Steve Rogers, Captain America’s birth resulted from a frail man taking part in an experimental U.S. Army super-soldier trial, which imbued him with super-human abilities. The character is often depicted wielding a nigh unbreakable and aerodynamic shield made of vibranium that they use to defend and attack their foes.