Every MCU Character Strong Enough To Pull Off Iron Man's Endgame Snap

Here are all the heroes who could've snapped and survived in Avengers: Endgame. Marvel Studios' culminating film marked the end of the Infinity Saga with the heroes' final battle with Thanos (Josh Brolin). The team ultimately succeeded in defeating the Mad Titan, not to mention bring back those who perished via his random genocide in Avengers: Infinity War, but their win didn't come without any sacrifices. Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) sacrificed herself to acquire the Soul Stone, while Nebula (Karen Gillan) killed her twin from a different universe to save Gamora (Zoe Saldana). Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), on the other hand, gave up his life to ensure that the villain and his cohorts were totally defeated.

Doctor Strange's (Benedict Cumberbatch) peeking into the MCU's future informed him of Tony Stark's ultimate fate. This was the reason why he surprisingly gave up the Time Stone in exchange for Iron Man's life on Titan despite previously insisting that there's no way he will part with the Infinity Gem. From there, the future Sorcerer Supreme carefully laid the grounds of the Avengers' eventual path to victory in Endgame and a significant part of the scheme was Tony doing the final snap.

That being said, with almost every MCU hero present during Avengers: Endgame's final battle, there was no shortage of other characters who could've wielded the power of all of six Infinity Stones to end Thanos. Among those characters, several can withstand the impact of the snap resulting in no additional casualties for the good guys during the climactic action sequence.

Thor

As the God of Thunder, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is one of the strongest heroes in the MCU. Aided by the Mjölnir in his early years in the MCU, he acquired a new weapon in the Stormbreaker in the hopes of killing Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War. He withstood the power of a star so Eitri (Peter Dinklage) could re-light the forge and create the weapon, which was no easy feat. As the heroes huddled about who's going to do the reverse snap in Avengers: Endgame, Thor volunteered himself, knowing that he's one of very few heroes alive who is physically capable of surviving the gargantuan task.

That said, wielding the power of all Infinity Stones at once not only requires physical strength but a clear mental state, as well. The gems are activated through cerebral commands with the act of snapping nothing more than a gesture signaling that the act is being executed. Unfortunately, at that time, the God of Thunder was in such a dark place with his spirit broken from his catastrophic failure to stop Thanos the first time in Avengers: Infinity War. So while he could survive doing the snap, there's a possibility that he could mess up the mental command, resulting in a far more dire scenario than what they were already dealing with in Endgame.

Captain Marvel

There was so much anticipation for the introduction of Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) to the MCU. Carol Danvers was poised to be the last hope left after Thanos' decimation in Avengers: Infinity War, so naturally, there was an expectation that she'd play a prominent role in Avengers: Endgame. As revealed in Captain Marvel, Carol's powers came from an Infinity Stone, the Space Stone in particular, after she was accidentally exposed to massive blasts of cosmic energy. This gave her superhuman abilities with Kevin Feige dubbing her as the strongest hero in the MCU at one point. She also has the ability to transform into her binary form which allows her to tap into the full extent of her powers. Given Carol's ability to absorb and contain so much energy that she could start emitting some of it, withstanding the impact of the snap will more likely be possible for the hero.

While Captain Marvel can successfully wield the power of the Infinity Gauntlet to dust off Thanos and his minions, she doesn't have any personal stake in the matter. There's barely any emotional pay-off seeing her finally defeating the Mad Titan. Having her save the day for the Avengers would've been unearned, not to mention disappointing which would've negatively impacted Avengers: Endgame's overall quality.

Scarlet Witch

Much has been said about how the MCU has watered down Wanda Maximoff's (Elizabeth Olsen) powers, but that's changing with Scarlet Witch set to become one of the most important Phase 4 characters. Avengers: Infinity War teased the extent of her superhero abilities when she single-handedly destroyed the Mind Stone on Vision's (Paul Bettany) forehead while holding back Thanos and the Infinity Gauntlet. In Avengers: Endgame, she almost wrecked the Mad Titan had it not been for the villain getting some backup. It's worth noting that there are some key similarities between Scarlet Witch and Captain Marvel. Like Carol, Wanda's powers came from the gems, in this case, the Mind Stone; she, too, can handle copious amounts of energy, meaning she could've survived doing the snap in Avengers: Endgame if she was given the opportunity to do so.

Unlike Captain Marvel, however, Wanda actually has a personal reason to go after Thanos — the villain forced her to kill Vision. With the Android unable to resurrected in Avengers: Endgame, she remains aggrieved about his death. Seeing her put on the Infinity Gauntlet and snapped would've had the emotional impact needed for the scene to work. That said, it still wouldn't be as satisfying as Iron Man's snap.

Hulk

With Thor mentally incapacitated to do the reverse snap in Avengers: Endgame, the heroes turned to Smart Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), who conveniently has the strength of the green-rage monster and the fortitude of Bruce Banner. The dual-personality character successfully brought back those who perished during Avengers: Infinity War's decimation, although he struggled for a while containing the energy coming from the Infinity Stones. Even after, Smart Hulk was still in pain.

Fortunately, his fellow heroes were there to quickly help him, minimizing the injury he got from the snap. While the character's arm was clearly toasted from snapping, he wasn't totally disabled from it. In fact, after Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) got him and War Machine (Don Cheadle) out of the rubble, he was more than ready to participate in the final battle. Compared to Thanos, who was totally spent after snapping in Avengers: Infinity War and doing it again to destroy the gems, Smart Hulk could've still clicked his fingers for the second time and survived. Granted that he may have been seriously injured after that, but he wouldn't be dead like Tony was.

Having Smart Hulk do the second snap, however, would be repetitive. He had just used the Infinity Stones and seeing him do it again wouldn't have the impact the filmmakers wanted for that pivotal moment not just in Avengers: Endgame, but in the MCU in general. It could've also left him not dead, but totally wrecked; he could come out of it permanently disabled which would derail any future plans Marvel Studios may have for the character.

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