Thor and Hela are two incredibly powerful Asgardian characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Thor is the God of Thunder and former king of Asgard, while Hela is the Asgardian Goddess of Death and Thor’s older sister. There has been much debate among Marvel fans about which of these two characters is actually stronger.
Thor’s Powers and Abilities
As an Asgardian, Thor naturally possesses superhuman strength, speed, durability and longevity. However, as the God of Thunder, he has additional powers that make him a formidable hero:
- Lightning/Electrokinesis – Thor can summon lightning from the sky and channel electrical currents through Mjolnir, his magical hammer.
- Weather Manipulation – With Mjolnir, Thor can control weather patterns, summoning wind, rain, thunder and lightning.
- Flight – By whirling Mjolnir around, Thor can fly at incredible speeds.
- Super Strength – Thor possesses vast superhuman strength, allowing him to lift objects and beings of tremendous weight.
- Invulnerability – Thor’s Asgardian flesh and bones are extremely dense and durable, making him practically invulnerable to common injuries.
- Super Speed – Thor can move at supersonic speeds when flying with Mjolnir.
After Odin exiled him to Earth and deemed him unworthy, Thor lost access to many of these powers. But when he proved himself worthy again, Thor regained his full powers along with Mjolnir.
Hela’s Powers and Abilities
As the Asgardian Goddess of Death, Hela possesses similar enhanced attributes and abilities:
- Superhuman Strength – Hela’s strength allows her to physically overpower Thor and destroy Mjolnir with her bare hands.
- Superhuman Durability – Hela was unfazed by blows from Thor and Valkyrie’s Dragonfang sword.
- Superhuman Speed – She can react and move at superhuman speeds.
- Sword Manifestation – Hela can manifest enormous blades and weapons from her body to use in combat.
- Necromancy – She can resurrect the dead, summoning fallen Asgardian warriors to serve as her Berserkers.
- Life and Death Manipulation – As the Goddess of Death, Hela can kill with a touch and restore life to the dead.
Unlike Thor who needs Mjolnir, Hela’s powers appear inherent. She was able to draw power from Asgard itself to enhance her abilities even further when she returned.
Direct Thor vs Hela Battles
When Thor initially confronted Hela in Norway, she destroyed Mjolnir with one hand, proving her raw strength surpassed Thor’s. She then easily overpowered Thor in hand-to-hand combat and banished him to Sakaar.
Their second battle in Asgard seemed more evenly matched. While Hela maintained the upper hand for most of the fight, a fully-powered Thor did manage to injure her face and body with blasts of lightning. This suggests that an enraged Thor wielding his full powers could potentially challenge Hela, although he was still unable to defeat her.
Ultimately, it took Surtur destroying all of Asgard to finally stop Hela, implying her power and immortality were linked to the realm itself. So long as Asgard stood, she was too powerful for Thor alone to overcome.
Feats of Strength
In terms of actual demonstrations of power:
- Thor nearly killed the Destroyer armor in one massive lightning blast.
- He withstood the energy of a neutron star for several minutes.
- Thor overpowered Iron Man and Captain America simultaneously.
- He survived the full force of a blow from Mjolnir wielded by Hela.
Whereas Hela:
- Caught Mjolnir one-handed and crushed it with ease.
- Impaled Thor with enough swords to lift him off his feet.
- Easily defeated the combined forces of the Asgardian army, Warriors Three, Valkyrie and Skurge.
- Survived a massive blast from Surtur’s Twilight Sword.
Based purely on destructive capability, Hela demonstrated superior feats of strength over Thor during their encounters.
Relative Power Scaling
Looking at their relative power scaling against other characters also gives us clues:
- Thor nearly defeated the Hulk in hand-to-hand combat during Ragnarok. The Hulk is one of the strongest beings in the MCU.
- Hela effortlessly destroyed Mjolnir. Captain America using Mjolnir proved evenly matched against Thanos, who defeated Thor handily in the past.
- Thor withstood the full Infinity Gauntlet energy beam from Thanos, although he was severely injured.
- Hela was only stopped by the destruction of a realm.
Based on these other matchups, Hela consistently scaled far above characters that have overpowered or nearly defeated Thor, like the Hulk and Thanos.
Conclusion
While Thor wields enormous power as the God of Thunder, Hela proved herself Thor’s superior during their encounters in multiple ways:
- She easily destroyed Mjolnir, the source of Thor’s powers.
- Hela physically overpowered Thor twice with her raw strength and skill.
- Her destruction feats exceeded his, such as overwhelming Asgard’s armies.
- She displayed greater resilience in battles.
- Hela’s power was linked to Asgard itself.
The key advantage Hela had was that her necromantic abilities and power levels were tied directly to Asgard, the source of her strength. She seemed unstoppable so long as Asgard remained intact. While an enraged Thor with his full powers could temporarily hold his own against Hela, he could not defeat her alone so long as she remained bolstered by Asgard’s energy. Only Surtur’s destruction of their home realm was able to finally stop Hela for good, not Thor or any other hero.
So although Thor and Hela were quite evenly matched in many regards, when all of their direct encounters and feats of power are compared, Hela appears to hold a slight but clear edge over the God of Thunder when she is at the height of her power. Therefore, the evidence suggests that within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Hela is likely stronger than Thor.
References
- Thor: Ragnarok
- Avengers: Infinity War
- Avengers: Endgame
- Marvel Studios Visual Dictionary
- Marvel Cinematic Universe Wiki