Marvel’s REAL Strongest Hero Still Hasn’t Unlocked His Potential

When it comes to Marvel’s original Captain Britain, the phrase “You can do anything that you put your mind to” is not just lip service – it is true. But this is not as liberating as it sounds for Brian Braddock. What seems to be a pathway to unchecked power and easily becoming the Marvel Universe’s most powerful hero is anything but a given, because the one thing standing in Brian’s way is the self-doubt that creep into the human psyche.

Captain Britain is a champion of the British people whose original powers stemmed from a life-saving offer from Merlin and the wizard’s daughter Roma. Instead of bleeding to death after an accident, Braddock was offered the choice of a talisman that was affiliated with life (the Amulet of Right) or death (Sword of Might), opting for the amulet. Later abuses at the hands of Morgana Le Fay eventually cause Captain Britain to be reborn as Captain Avalon in a do-over where he selects the Sword of Might – which remains his identity to this day. His earlier abilities have at times been linked to Britain, drawing strength from the land itself, but he has primarily relied on his amulet and other magical relics (like the Amulet of Right, his costume, or the Star Sceptre that originally enabled his flight). As the amulet’s eventual destruction revealed, these are items that can be destroyed or taken from Braddock.

In Captain Britain and M13 #5 by Paul Cornell, Pat Olliffe, and Paul Neary, Braddock is again saved from death by Merlin, who uses some first-rate magical engineering to tie Brian’s powers to something more intrinsic. As his teammates at the British intelligence agency M-13 (whose arrival is being foreshadowed in the MCU) attempt to re-assess his power levels post-resurrection, they find that they are in a state of constant flux. After one simulated fight, Captain Britain is told that he “can go from bulletproof to tissue paper” at a moment’s notice and that these shifts are in direct response to his emotions and confidence.

This would suggest that Braddock has a strong case for being the most powerful being in the Marvel Universe if he can get in the right headspace. This is similar to how confidence is linked to the Shi’ar Empire’s power-enhanced Gladiator, who boasts no shortage of confidence. Though Gladiator is stronger than Hulk and Hyperion combined, the major flaw in linking one’s powers to their confidence level is shown in S.W.O.R.D. #9 by Al Ewing and Jacopo Camagni. In this issue, the Electric Brain weapon is used to easily dispatch Gladiator by making him feel intense shame. Though Braddock is similarly vulnerable, the fact that his superpowers are magic-based rather than based in enhanced biology provides him with a better base.

The basis of his powers also allows him to theoretically exceed the power level of Sentry, another one of Marvel Comics’ heavy hitters. After all, Doctor Strange is able to contain The Void, Sentry’s dark half, using sorcery. This is possible even though this entity has the same strength level as Sentry – maxing out at the force of thousands of exploding suns. Many comic arguments operate on the notion that Sentry is a basis for measuring others’ powers.

Fortified by Merlin’s sorcery, Braddock could likely shrug off magic the same way he deflects physical blows. Even with his new moniker of Captain Avalon, he has not yet reached the full potential that Merlin envisioned, where he would be capable of literally anything. This shows that the wizard perhaps overestimated how Braddock and many other humans operate within their own headspace. Until he fully believes in himself, Brian Braddock, who passed his Captain Britain title to his sister Betsy Braddock, seems destined to not live up to his own potential as Marvel’s most powerful superhero.