The MCU features some of the best special effects and fight scenes in any superhero comic book movie in the modern era, and each MCU movie is packed with exciting and memorable battles between caped heroes, terrifying space monsters, killer robots, and everything in between. The best fights are evenly matched, where any fighter has a fair chance to win.
Still, some fights in the MCU are totally one-sided affairs, where one party has a massive advantage over the other and quickly claims victory. These one-sided fights are brief but intense, and they may be downright humiliating for the loser. Which MCU action sequences are anything but fair fights?
10 Captain America Vs Crossbones: Crossbones Was Hardly A Challenge For Cap
The villainous Crossbones clashed briefly with Captain America in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, and by now, Brock Rumlow had donned a mask and costume and started calling himself Crossbones. He and Cap fought in Lagos, and Crossbones wanted revenge.
Crossbones had some new tricks up his sleeve, and he actually landed a few blows on Captain America. It didn’t do him much good, though—he had no way to deal with Cap’s shield or superior martial arts skills, and he was soon taken down. No one had any doubt about how that fight would end up.
9 Hulk Vs Loki Was Hardly Even A Fight
During the climax of 2012’s The Avengers, the trickster god Loki was in Stark Tower, and the Incredible Hulk confronted him. Loki demanded that the Hulk stop and bow to him as a god, but the Hulk would never bow to anybody. Instead, he seized Loki and started thrashing him.
Loki couldn’t do a thing to stop the Hulk from smashing him onto the floor five times, and when the Hulk was done, Loki was left laying there in a stunned heap, shocked that the Hulk had refused to kneel. He learned that day to always fear the Hulk.
8 Xu Wenwu Vs Ying Li Soon Became Something Else Entirely
In Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings‘ opening scenes, the ancient warrior Xu Wenwu confronted a woman in a bamboo forest alone one day in 1996, and Xu battled her with his ten Rings. The woman, Ying Li, fought back with a gorgeous display of nature and her own brand of martial arts.
Interestingly, Ying Li shut down Xu Wenwu’s attack without causing him undue harm, and she managed to transform the fight into a sort of dance between her and Xu Wenwu. It worked, and Xu later married her. The whole time, Ying Li was in control of the situation as a pacifistic defender of the natural world, and Xu had no chance of actually defeating her. Soon, he didn’t even want to.
7 Iron Man Vs Terrorist Troops Was A Show Of Force
2008’s Iron Man launched the MCU, and it showed the genius Tony Stark becoming the mechanical hero Iron Man to fight the forces of evil. Tony wanted to undo his family’s legacy of spreading arms across the world, and at one point in the movie, he visited war-torn Afghanistan to help the innocent people there.
This was one of Iron Man’s first, and easiest, fights in the MCU. He decimated everything that got in his way, including a battle tank, and he soon saved an entire town from hostiles and saved the day. It was no sweat for him.
6 Thor Vs Hela Didn’t Turn Out Well For Mjolnir
This was a brief and decidedly one-sided clash in 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok, which helped to show just how powerful Thor’s sister, Hela, really was. Thor and Loki barely had time to mourn Odin’s passing before Hela greeted her brothers, and she was clearly a villain. So, Thor fought back.
Thor threw his trusty hammer Mjolnir, and to his astonishment, Hela caught it bare-handed and destroyed it. Then, Loki summoned the Bifrost in desperation, and Thor was teleported away, only for Hela to follow him and send him to Sakaar, where he couldn’t interfere with her plans.
5 Drax Vs Ronan In Knowhere Was A Short & Brutal Affair
Drax the Destroyer was willing to fight alongside Star-Lord/Peter Quill and Gamora, but most of all, he wanted revenge against Ronan the Accuser, and the two of them crossed paths in Knowhere. The battle ended badly for the heroes, and that includes Drax.
Despite his strength and rage, Drax was helpless before his hated enemy, and Ronan quickly pummeled him and sent him sinking into a vat of yellow liquid. Drax survived to fight another day, but no doubt he was furious with himself for losing so badly.
4 Hulk Vs Thanos Was A Grim Preview Of Thanos’ Ultimate Victory
The first fight sequence in 2018’s The Avengers: Infinity War pitted the Hulk against the mad titan Thanos, and at first, Loki was confident that the Hulk would score an easy victory. The Hulk charged right at Thanos and dealt some blows, but Thanos didn’t go down. Not even close.
Thanos soon turned the tables on his angry foe, and he used his fists and the power of the Infinity Stones to deliver a one-sided beating on the Hulk. It was chilling to watch the seemingly invincible Hulk go down so easily, and things got worse from there.
3 Thor & Allies Vs Frost Giants Was An Easy But Ill-Advised Fight
Early in 2011’s Thor, the titular hero was an arrogant and brash prince who had yet to learn true humility. He, Loki, and the Warriors Three journeyed to Jotunheim to finish off the Frost Giants, and Thor was actually convinced to leave in peace. Then he was mocked, and the fight began.
Thor and his allies pummeled every Frost Giant that got in the way, and they didn’t take much damage in return. But even if this fight was an easy one, it was still the wrong move, and Odin soon banished Thor to Earth in a reverse-isekai adventure to teach him a lesson.
2 Yondu Udonta & Rocket Raccoon Vs Taserface’s Crew Was Sweet Revenge
In Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, the Ravager captain Yondu Udonta faced mutiny when his minion Taserface turned on him. Yondu and Rocket were captured and imprisoned aboard Yondu’s ship, and all seemed lost. Until, that is, a loyal crewmate delivered Yondu’s best weapon.
Yondu and Rocket broke free and slaughtered everyone aboard the ship with ease, and even baby Groot helped a little. Rocket’s guns and Yondu’s arrow made quick work of Taserface’s entire crew, and then Yondu’s small team departed and left Taserface aboard the ship as it exploded.
1 Thanos Vs The Avengers Spelled Everyone’s Doom
Thanos had collected five of the six Infinity Stones by the time he arrived in Wakanda to finish the job, and by then, he was seemingly unstoppable. He fought Iron Man and some other Avengers on Titan, and while that fight had been a rough one, at least the heroes stood a chance. But not in Wakanda.
Thanos, with the power of five Stones, easily swept aside anyone who got in his way, from War Machine to Black Panther and Scarlet Witch, among others. He did take a blow to the chest when Thor arrived, but that didn’t save the day. The Snap couldn’t be stopped.
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