Marvel's heroes have stood the test of time, with the oldest being nearly a century old. Over the years, they've fought epic battles against dastardly villains, saving the day with stakes ranging from street level to universe shaking. Their powers and abilities have played key roles in each of these victories, but some get more hyped than others.
These heroes all have some rather underrated abilities, ones that have helped them in their battles over the years. These abilities may not be their most famous well-known, but that doesn't change their utility. Without them, they wouldn't have been nearly as successful.
10 Black Widow
Underrated Ability: Slowed Aging
Not every Avenger is a powerhouse, with the team's lower-powered members playing an important role. Over the years, Black Widow has helped the team with her infiltration skills and has even been leader of the group, showing that not every Avenger needs to be super powerful. Dosed with the Infinity Formula and given enhancements in the Red Room, Widow has always been a formidable fighter.
Among her powers, the one that gets talked about the least is her slowed down aging. The Infinity Formula causes her to age much slower than usual, which is useful, because Natasha was a child during WWII. Since the MCU, Marvel has downplayed this part of her history, which is why it's become so underrated in recent years.
9 Scarlet Witch
Underrated Ability: Magical Skill
Scarlet Witch has always been nominally popular, but that's skyrocketed in the 21st century. She became an integral part of the Marvel Universe's story starting with Avengers Disassembled. Her iconic status was cemented by stories like House of M, Avengers vs. X-Men, and her stints in Uncanny Avengers. On top of that, the MCU introduced her to an entirely new fandom.
Scarlet Witch's reality altering powers are her bread and butter, allowing her to do just about anything she wants. These powers are her go-to, but her magic skills are very underrated. Just on magic alone she's not Doctor Strange-level, but her magical skill gives her extra options.
8 Black Panther
Underrated Ability: Technical Genius
Black Panther spent years as a B and C-list hero, depending on what era he was in. Recent years have seen him vault to the A-list, mostly on the back of the MCU and a run on his comic by writer Ta-Nehisi Coates. Like other characters that became famous because of the MCU, subtle changes were made to Black Panther to make him more like the movie version.
In the movies, Shuri was the technical genius, not T'Challa. This goes against years of comics, as T'Challa was a technical genius on the level of Reed Richards and Tony Stark. Since the MCU made him a star, this aspect of his character has been downplayed, making it literally underrated.
7 Captain Marvel
Underrated Ability: Energy-Absorbing Ability
Many Marvel heroes have multiple powers, but few are as powerful as Captain Marvel. Carol Danvers has a long history in Marvel Comics, going through multiple heroic identities before graduating to the big time as Captain Marvel. She's always been a very powerful hero, but has reached a new level since becoming Captain Marvel.
She's super strong, invulnerable, can fly faster than the speed of light, and has vast energy powers. Of all those energy powers, the one that gets overlooked pretty often is her power to absorb energy. This is more of a defensive ability, but it can pay off in the long run, as she can use the absorbed power to supercharge herself.
6 Thor
Underrated Ability: Mjolnir's Various Energy Powers
Thor is Marvel's foremost warrior. The Norse God of Thunder was sent to Earth to learn humility. Armed with Mjolnir, he became a founding Avenger and battled many superlatively powerful threats, becoming the biggest gun of the heroic community. Thor's been through a lot of ups and downs over the years, but with Mjolnir at his side, even the most powerful foes have reason to fear.
Thor's strength, godly storm powers, and skill with Mjolnir are his best known abilities. Mjolnir itself is a huge part of all of that, allowing him to focus his power and enhancing his strength. However, Mjolnir also has multiple energy powers of its own that Thor rarely uses, from its powerful anti-energy blasts to the God-Blast, which can destroy a planet.
5 Iron Man
Underrated Ability: Repulsor Blasts
Iron Man is a top-class hero, proving it every chance he gets. Tony Stark was basically 1960s American exceptionalism embodied in one character. He's a super-genius weapon designer who devotes himself to altruism after his weapons are used on him.
Iron Man's armor has plenty of great gadgets, but one that really doesn't get the credit it deserves are the repulsor ray blasters. They aren't laser blasts, but kinetic energy beams. Much like their name, they repulse, making them a great non-lethal weapon. This allows them to be more useful for a variety of tasks than more traditional energy weapons.
4 Captain America
Underrated Ability: Geometry
Captain America is Marvel's most inspiring hero. He's generally considered the leader of the superhero community, having led the Avengers into battle against the worst enemies imaginable. The supersoldier serum took 98-pound weakling Steve Rogers and made him the perfect human, enhancing his strength and agility to near-superhuman levels.
Cap is known for his fighting skill and planning ability as well, allowing him to punch way above his weight class. His shield is his most iconic feature, a perfect weapon for offense and defense. He's also an expert at bouncing it around, able to do angle calculations in his head instinctively. Cap is a whiz at geometry, and it's an underrated skill.
3 The Hulk
Underrated Ability: Healing Factor
The Hulk is the strongest one there is, his gamma-irradiated might making him titanically powerful. It's not too much of a stretch to say that the Hulk is the most powerful being on Earth. Thanos is even scared of the Hulk, which really says it all. His strength potential is infinite, and he's run through the most powerful heroes in the universe, often many of them at once.
The Hulk's strength and durability are incalculable, and they've allowed him to win in just about every battle. It's very hard to hurt the Hulk, but just in case his gamma powers give him a healing factor that can heal anything. He doesn't have to use it much, but it's come in handy multiple times.
2 Wolverine
Underrated Ability: Martial Arts Mastery
Wolverine has become a Marvel legend, working with the X-Men, Avengers, the new Fantastic Four, and on his own. He's battled the most dangerous villains around, and his popularity is impossible to deny. His healing factor, adamantium skeleton, and claws are known to everyone, and he's buoyed every team he's on. Unlike other A-list characters, Wolverine has grown and changed over the years, becoming more well-rounded and influencing a generation of characters.
Wolverine's most underrated abilities are his martial arts mastery. Wolverine is known for jumping into the fray claws first, but he's a highly-trained martial artist, able to challenge the like of Shang-Chi. His martial arts mastery has allowed him to harness the animal inside him, making him a better person.
1 Spider-Man
Underrated Ability: Super Agility
Spider-Man has many cool powers, but that's not why he's an icon. Spider-Man cemented Marvel's popularity because he was just like the teenage readers: a bookish, nerdy kid who was constantly worried about money. Spider-Man's the biggest icon Marvel ever produced, and he can entertain without throwing a punch.
Spider-Man's powers make him a formidable foe, with his super strength and spider-sense being his most popular powers. However, the unsung hero of his abilities is his super agility. Without it, all the spider-sense in the world wouldn't help him win fights.