Every Entity Protecting Earth In The MCU (Apart From The Avengers)

The Avengers aren’t the only ones watching over the Earth in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. They may be Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, but the planet has other entities more powerful than them who spend their time safeguarding the planet from danger.

Of course, it’s not often that these beings involve themselves in the action. One reason for that is that they’re primarily concerned with large-scale threats, which are few and far between. Another factor is the Avengers, who have done more than their fare share when it comes to making sure the Earth is safe. In The Avengers, the original six heroes came together to stop Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and his army of Chitauri from devastating the planet. In their second outing together in Avengers: Age of Ultron, their opponent was a product of their own creation. The team had to deal with Ultron, an ambitious robot designed by Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.) himself. The last two Avengers movies saw them join forces with other heroes to make a stand against Thanos (Josh Brolin), who conspired to gather up all the Infinity Stones and wipe out half of everyone in the universe.

Though it certainly took some time, the team did succeed in eliminating Thanos for good by the end of Avengers: Endgame. However, they may not always be around when things get bad again. After all, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is now off-world and three of their original members have been removed from the equation forever. That being said, the Earth isn’t exactly unprotected, nor was it that way before the Avengers formed in 2012. Here’s every entity apart from the Avengers who serves as a guardian of the Earth in the MCU.

The Eternals

The Eternals haven’t been seen yet, but they’ll soon be making their live-action debuts when they get their own film in 2022. The Eternals are a race of super-powered immortals who have lived on Earth for thousands of years. During this time, they’ve been careful to keep their existence a secret from humans. In Marvel Comics, the Eternals originally had a strict non-interference policy when it came to the affairs of humans. For this reason, they would choose to do nothing whenever problems would arise. Even so, there were some Eternals like Gilgamesh who never really adhered to these rules and chose to do as they pleased. Since the MCU’s Eternals didn’t act when Thanos attacked, it may be that they are forced to follow a similar set of rules. But even if that’s the case, Gilgamesh’s MCU counterpart at least could still be doing his part to protect the Earth.

As for them as a race, there may be exceptions to the Eternals’ rules. What’s known about their upcoming movie is that they’ll be going up against the Deviants, who are being described as mankind’s oldest enemies. If the Eternals are going to fight the Deviants, it would seem that they do indeed protect the Earth, but with some caveats. It could be that they only intervene when absolutely necessary. It’s possible that they would have fought Thanos if it had come to that.

The Celestials

The creators of the Eternals, the Celestials, appear to have a vested interest in the Earth, especially since they left a race of superhumans on the planet. In the comics, science was always their top priority, so there’s a good chance that this motivates them in the MCU as well. The comic book versions of the Celestials have always been interested in both creating and observing life. With this in mind, it makes sense that the Celestials are keeping a watchful eye on the Earth, as they’re likely curious about the events that take place on it. It may be that part of the purpose of engineering the Eternals was to ensure that the Earth would have protectors in the case of an extreme emergency.

Captain Marvel

Long before the formation of the Avengers, Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) used her cosmic powers to save the Earth from the Kree Empire. Her time on the planet was short-lived, but she left Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) with a way of contacting her if he ever needed to. Even though Carol wasn’t around for more than 20 years, she was someone Fury believed he could count on as a last resort. Fortunately, she didn’t need to be called in to stop the Chitauri invasion in 2012, as the Avengers were on hand to sort out the problem.

The Ancient One

Tilda Swinton’s Ancient One was the Sorcerer Supreme before Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) came along. Due in part to her decision to draw power from the realm of Dormammu, the Ancient One was an effective guardian of the Earth who used her magical abilities to ward off powerful, interdimensional enemies. The time travel sequence in Avengers: Endgame briefly showed the Ancient One actively helping out against the Chitauri in 2012. She was seen attacking the creatures that came near the roof of the Sanctum Sanctorum. Prior to Endgame, it was never known that she had any role in the battle. It’s worth wondering about the other times that the Ancient One may have used the mystic arts to save the planet without anyone ever knowing about it. As someone who’s been around for centuries, there’s no telling how many catastrophes she’s prevented over the years. She finally lost her life in Doctor Strange, but her death hasn’t left too big of a void. Thankfully, Stephen Strange has stepped up to take her place as the Sorcerer Supreme.

Odin

The responsibilities that Odin (Anthony Hopkins) had as the King of Asgard extended beyond his own realm. It was stated at one point that the Asgardians are committed to keeping Midgard (Earth) safe. Over a thousand years ago, Odin led his people into battle with the Frost Giants in an effort to stop them from conquering the Earth, whose people worshipped him and other Asgardians as gods. Odin and his men didn’t personally participate in the fight against Loki’s Chitauri forces in The Avengers, but he did have a lot do with the heroes’ victory. Though the Bifrost Bridge was broken, Odin summoned forth enough dark energy to send Thor to Earth so that he could stop Loki from succeeding in his plans.

More: Guardians of the Galaxy vs. The Avengers: Who Would Win An MCU Fight