Hela and Thanos are arguably two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s (MCU’s) most powerful villains, with the former possessing more power than the God of Thunder, Thor, and the latter proving himself so powerful he once snapped half the universe out of existence.
Thanks to their sheer respective strengths, if you put the two in an arena and let them fight, who would win?
Contents
Who is Hela?
Hela Odinsdottir is the Goddess of Death who challenges Thor for Asgardian rule in Thor: Ragnarok. She is older and depicted as being more powerful than the God of Thunder, and only through Odin’s wisdom did Thor defeat her.
Before Thor: Ragnarok, Hela proved herself worthy of wielding Mjolnir while she helped her father, Odin, conquer the Nine Realms.
While initially loyal to Odin, Hela soon honed her powers and ambitions so much, it forced Odin to intervene when she abused her power and became violent against anyone who opposed her.
Odin was powerful enough to defeat Hela, and he banished her to Hel, the Realm of the Dead.
Even after Odin banished Hela, she was powerful enough to attempt an escape. This prompted Odin to send his Valkyries to restrain her, but she defeated and killed nearly all of them.
Odin faced off with Hela once again. This time he defeated her for good, and she was unable to escape the realm until her father’s death in Thor: Ragnarok.
Who is Thanos?
Thanos was the Avengers’ primary antagonist during the Infinity Saga’s latter days when he exercised his plan to kill off half the universe. His philosophy was that those who did not die would prosper, so he thought his plan was for the greater good of the universe.
He developed his ambition of killing off hordes of people early in his life, believing Titan’s rapid population growth would put the planet in danger. Thanos was right, as the Titan race went extinct, and he believed other worlds in the universe would meet the same fate.
He eventually discovered the Infinity Stones’ existence, realizing that by collecting them, he could put his plan into motion.
Slowly, Thanos succeeded in locating and collecting the stones, but the Avengers caught on to his plan and challenged him. During the Battle of Wakanda, he located the Mind Stone, tore it from Vision’s head, and prepared to snap half the universe out of existence.
Thor jumped in and subdued Thanos, but he managed to snap, fulfilling his ambition to kill off half the universe. While the Avengers reversed Thanos’ actions five years later in Endgame, the fact that he succeeded against them demonstrates his sheer willpower.
Hela’s Abilities
Hela demonstrated her strength when she caught and crushed Thor’s Mjolnir. This implied she was still worthy of the weapon and she can call on it to defeat any adversary in a one-on-one battle.
Like many characters in the MCU, her levels of strength, speed, agility, reflexes, and recovery are beyond superhuman.
But what is a good measuring stick to gauge Hela’s strength? During the trailer for Thor: Ragnarok, we heard Loki say, “she’s stronger than both of us,” with “us” pertaining to him and Thor.
Thor is one of the MCU’s most powerful characters, so for Loki to admit his sister’s power tells us that she’s among the strongest villains in the saga.
Hela’s Hand of Glory power is one major strength. She can use it to channel magic with her hand, and this technique is one valid theory of how she destroyed Thor’s hammer so easily.
Hela can also astral travel and while in astral mode, she retains all of her abilities.
One technique that makes Hela more dangerous than any other villain is her Touch of Death. If she wants to kill an enemy, she only needs to get a hand on them and they will die.
As an Asgardian goddess, Hela is also immortal. This doesn’t mean she can’t be killed, but her immortality makes her harder to kill than most in the MCU.
Only someone with Thor’s powers and abilities, at the absolute least, can kill someone like Hela.
Thanos’ Abilities Without the Infinity Stones
Like Hela, Thanos possesses superhuman strength, endurance, speed, durability, and agility. His powers without the Infinity Stones extend to regeneration, allowing him to heal himself from otherwise mortal wounds.
Thanos showed many times during Infinity War that he is nearly unbeatable in hand-to-hand combat.
Having lived for over a thousand years, Thanos, also like Hela, has at least a millennium of life experience.
As a warlord, such life experience gives him a high combat IQ, since he’s seen a lot of war during his conquest to kill half the universe.
He is also skilled in coercion, something we saw during Guardians of the Galaxy and in Age of Ultron’s mid-credits scene.
With the Infinity Stones
The Infinity Stones give Thanos (and anyone wearing the Infinity Gauntlet) a multitude of powers.
With the Mind Stone, Thanos can control an enemy’s mind and summon energy blasts.
The Space Stone acts as a portal. So if an opponent overpowered Thanos, he could use the Space Stone to teleport to different parts of the universe, allowing him to outrun any adversary.
Thanos can create false illusions with the Reality Stone, which he could use to psychologically torture opponents. The stone may also drain an opponent’s life force, rendering them helpless in a fight.
The Power Stone lets Thanos overpower anyone. If he wanted to, Thanos could also use the Power Stone to destroy an entire planet. So compare it to the Death Star from Star Wars, except it’s the size of a small rock. That’s one powerful stone.
We saw Thanos alter time with the Time Stone, and it allowed him to obtain the Mind Stone in Infinity War.
If anyone gained the upper hand against Thanos, he could use the Time Stone to travel a few seconds (or longer) back in time.
The Soul Stone may be the most dangerous as we know little about it. However, we saw Thanos use the Soul Stone in Infinity War as a defense mechanism against Doctor Strange’s magic.
Hela’s Weaknesses
Even a goddess can have weaknesses. For Hela, it’s her cloak– when it’s removed, she’s rendered powerless.
If an opponent can rip off her cloak, they will win without using any other kind of attack. But Hela is also so powerful that getting to her cloak is easier said than done.
Thanos’ Weaknesses
Ego is Thanos’ main weakness, and it led him to lose the battle against the Avengers in 2023. He was so confident that his plan would come to fruition that he never believed anyone would be cunning enough to slip the Infinity Stones from him, only for Tony Stark to prove him wrong.
In the Infinity Gauntlet comics, Thanos astral traveled, yet he didn’t realize the Infinity Gauntlet wouldn’t go with him. This let Nebula steal and wield the gauntlet, foiling Thanos’ ambitions.
Side-By-Side Comparison
| Character Name | Hela | Thanos |
| Homeworld | Asgard | Titan |
| Biggest Strength | Touch of Death | Combat IQ (Without Stones), Infinity Gauntlet (With Stones) |
| Biggest Weakness | Losing Her Cloak | Ego |
Hela vs. Thanos (With Infinity Gauntlet)
The Infinity Stones are some of the most powerful relics in the universe, and Thanos is “inevitable” when possessing all six stones.
However, Tony Stark, Iron Man, pried the stones from the Mad Titan in Endgame before snapping him and his armies out of existence.
In this battle, Thanos would defeat Hela, as he would use the Soul Stone to subdue her magic and the Power Stone to overpower and destroy her.
But if she can find a way to snatch the stones or the gauntlet from the Mad Titan, she could still win this battle. Once Hela takes the Infinity Gauntlet, she can end Thanos with the Touch of Death.
Hela vs. Thanos (Without Infinity Gauntlet)
The Asgardian Goddess would easily defeat Thanos if the latter didn’t possess the Infinity Gauntlet. Thanos may be powerful, fast, agile, and a quick healer, but he’s no match for a goddess who could kill if she laid a finger on him.
Hela would just have to get herself within arm’s-length of Thanos to land the Touch of Death. She can do this by summoning the power of Mjolnir, which we stated earlier she is worthy of wielding.
Using Mjolnir, she would have the same powers that Thor has with the warhammer, but on a higher level. This means her ability to summon lightning would be more powerful, her ability to fly would be faster, and her ability to land blows on the Mad Titan would be far more effective.
With Mjolnir, she would wear Thanos down. And despite the Mad Titan’s ultra-powerful durability and endurance, he is no match for a Goddess as experienced and powerful as Hela.
Thanos may be over 1,000 years old, but as the 1,500-year-old Thor’s older sister, she has over five-hundred years more experience than Thanos. And that experience, combined with Mjolnir, will give Hela the edge she needs to defeat the Mad Titan.
Conclusion
Given her power to kill with a single touch, Hela would just need to get herself near enough to Thanos to land the death blow if the Mad Titan did not have the Infinity Gauntlet.
If Thanos had the Gauntlet on him and all six stones in it, she would have a tougher time. With the Gauntlet, Thanos could use the Stones’ powers to subdue Hela and gain the edge.
But as we saw in Avengers: Endgame, Thanos isn’t unbeatable with the stones. If Hela found a way to steal the Gauntlet, she could defeat Thanos even if he had the stones.
Sion Fawkes has been covering Star Wars since January 2022, expanding his expertise in Star Wars Canon, Legends, and MCU. When not writing, you can find Sion in the gym or running trails. He also likes watching sports and listening to audiobooks.