Marvel Heroes Who Lost Their Powers

Summary

• Marvel heroes often lose their powers due to various reasons, like overuse or magical dependency.
• Depowered heroes must adapt and find new ways to be heroes with the support of family and resources.
• Loss of powers can lead to character development, change in dynamics, and even passing the mantle to others.

In the world of comic books, very few things last forever. The Marvel landscape is ever-shifting, and heroes and villains alike are constantly killed off and brought back. Even the saddest Avengers character deaths are usually only temporary. But it’s not just being killed that Marvel’s heroes have to worry about.

It’s also pretty common for them to lose their powers. From overdoing it while fighting powerful villains to family drama to having their powers drained, many of Marvel’s mightiest heroes have found themselves without their powers upon occasion. Thankfully, they usually get these powers back eventually, and, being heroes, they never let losing their powers keep them down. For this list, we’ve stuck to examples from comic books and times when heroes lost their powers completely, rather than just being weakened.

1

Franklin Richards

Pushed Himself Too Hard And Paid The Price

Before losing his powers, Franklin Richards was one of the most powerful beings in all of Marvel. As an Omega-level mutant, Franklin could warp the very fabric of reality, a power he used to help remake the Multiverse following the events of 2015’s Secret Wars.

Doing so heavily drained Franklin’s powers, however, and they continued to dwindle over time. In this weakened state, he went on to face Griever at the End of All Things and then fought a powerful being known as the Cormoran. This series of events left Franklin completely depleted and powerless. At first, he struggled with this new status quo but quickly learned that with the help of his family (and their immense resources), he could still be a hero.

2

Captain Britain

Takes Getting Homesick To A Whole New Level

How Captain Britain’s powers work has gone through a fair few retcons and often depends on who is writing him. Roughly speaking, his powers are magical and are derived from a dimensional nexus centered on the British Isles. In some versions, he also needs his suit, which focuses these dimensional powers, to be a hero or the Amulet of Right.

Captain Britain’s powers are also tied to his confidence levels, meaning if he loses faith in himself, he can become almost completely depowered. Sometimes, just leaving Britain is enough to make him lose his powers (although not always). During Inferno, Captain Britain flew to America to help out his fellow heroes but lost his suit on the way. Left powerless, he didn’t get them back until he borrowed Captain Marshall’s suit while dimension-hopping during the Cross-Time Caper arc. If Henry Cavill ever plays him, the MCU will need to clear up some of this confusion.

3

Iron Fist

Never Lend Your Friends Anything, Especially Your Powers

Danny Rand, aka Iron Fist, isn’t just a skilled martial artist. He also possesses the mystical powers of Shou-Lao that make him the Immortal Iron Fist. Unfortunately, these powers can be drained, leaving Danny powerless.

During the Iron Fist: Heart of the Dragon series, Danny transferred his powers to Okoye while battling the supervillain Hierophant. While not one of Marvel’s strongest villains, Hierophant was more than a match for Danny and Okoye at first. Luckily, with Danny’s powers and by wielding the Chi of other dragons, Okoye managed to defeat the enemy and his army of zombie ninjas. Unfortunately for Danny, he then passed the Iron Fist powers on to a young dragon, Gork. Danny was left powerless and has dedicated himself to training the new Iron Fist ever since. Thankfully, he’s still rich and can help out other heroes by funding them.

4

Quicksilver

Lost His Powers Along With Most Mutants

During the House of M storyline, Quicksilver thought it would be a good idea to convince his sister, Scarlett Witch (one of Marvel’s most powerful magic users), to alter reality and make a world where mutants were dominant. This famously backfired when she later uttered the phrase “no more mutants,” depowering the vast majority of mutants.

Quicksilver isn’t technically a mutant (it’s complicated), but he lost his powers, too. He considered quitting for a while but ultimately decided to try and redeem himself and his family. He approached the Inhumans, who introduced him to the wonder of Terrigen Crystals. Using these, he began to restore the powers of his fellow mutants and gained time-manipulation powers (which he later lost while trying to right his wrongs).

5

Captain America

Without His Powers, Steve Really Shows His Age

Steve Rogers has lost his powers a handful of times. While he always gets them back, eventually, he never lets being depowered keep him down for long. In 2014’s Captain America (Vol. 7) #21, Steve’s supersoldier serum is sapped away by the underrated villain Iron Nail. This not only robs Steve of his powers; it turns him into a 90-year-old. This led to Steve passing his mantle on to Sam Wilson (although Steve continued to lead the Avengers).

But this wasn’t the first time Captain America lost his powers. In 1978’s Captain America (Vol. 1) #225, his powers temporarily disappeared while Steve underwent a procedure to uncover his hidden memories. Similarly, in 1990’s “Streets of Poison” storyline in #372-#378, he temporarily lost his powers after being exposed to a drug that canceled out the supersoldier serum. But Steve Rogers is one of the bravest Avengers, and whenever he loses his powers, he proves he doesn’t need them to be a hero.

6

Ms. Marvel/Captain Marvel

An Early Run-In With Rogue Was Disastrous

Ms. Marvel, aka Captain Marvel, aka Carol Danvers, has to be one of Marvel’s unluckiest (and most abused) characters. In particular, the ’80s were a rough period for her. This decade began with her being manipulated and impregnated by Marcus Immortus and being dragged to Limbo while the Avengers stood around twiddling their thumbs. Things didn’t get much better from there.

In 1981’s Avengers Annual, she was attacked by an inexperienced Rogue, who was with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants at the time. Rogue got carried away and not only drained Carol’s powers completely but also wiped her brain. Rogue, on the other hand, kept Carol’s powers. Xavier managed to restore her mind in Avengers Annual #10, but not her memories or powers. Carol later gained new Cosmic powers after being experimented on by the Brood (an alien race) and became Binary. Over time, these powers drained, and she ended up powerless again for some of the 1990s. It took a good decade for her to slowly regain her powers, first taking back the title of Ms. Marvel in 2006 before becoming Captain Marvel.

7

Thor

Odin Is A Difficult Father To Keep Happy

There are a handful of times when Thor has become unable to wield Mjölnir due to feeling “unworthy,” but we’re going to talk about the rare times he’s become completely depowered. Funnily enough, both times are thanks to his dad, Odin. In his early years, Thor was a brash, arrogant god who constantly got into trouble. To teach his son a lesson, Odin enchanted Thor, taking away his powers and memories and implanting him with the Donald Blake persona.

Blake is a doctor with a bad leg and a crush on his nurse, Jane Foster. He first regains his powers in 1962’s Journey Into Mystery #83 when he finds a magical stick that can transform him into Thor. It took quite a while for Odin to reveal the truth to his son about the Donald Blake persona. Odin also temporarily depowered Thor in Journey Into Mystery #103–104 after Thor disobeyed his father and decided to pursue a relationship with a mortal, Jane. Odin quickly came around, though, and Thor had his powers back by the end of #104.

8

Storm

An Unfortunate Victim Of Friendly Fire

Storm’s famous power loss was a classic case of wrong place, wrong time and showed even a hero worshiped as a god could lose it all. In the early 1980s, an operative working for the National Security Council, Henry Peter Gyrich, commissioned the mutant Forge to build a weapon that could depower mutants. His goal was to take out Rogue, who had broken into S.H.I.E.L.D.’s helicarrier in Uncanny X-Men #182.

In issue X-Men #185, Gyrich and his agents managed to track down Rogue. As Gyrich prepares to fire at Rogue, Forge has a change of heart and deflects the shot. Sadly, it hit Storm instead, depowering her completely. This briefly led to a romance between Storm and Forge until she put two and two together and realized who had built the weapon that stole her powers. Storm went on to lead the X-Men in her depowered state for several years before randomly regaining her powers in Uncanny X-Men #226–227 after being tabbed by the Adversary during the Fall of Mutants arc.