MCU’s Thanos vs. DC’s Darkseid: who is more powerful?

In Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths - Part Three, the iconic DC villain Darkseid is portrayed as far more difficult to kill than his Marvel counterpart, Thanos. 

The film adapts the mid-1980s Crisis on Infinite Earths comic crossover, which concluded the Silver and Bronze Age (Earth-One) and the original Golden Age (Earth-Two) timelines, paving the way for DC's Modern Age timeline (New Earth). 

The third installment in the Crisis series highlights Darkseid as one of the multiverse's most formidable threats. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thanos plays a role similar to Darkseid in the DC universe, acting as the main antagonist of the first three Phases, known as The Infinity Saga. 

Thanos aims to eliminate half of the universe's population using the Infinity Stones, but his battles with The Avengers in Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame demonstrate that he remains a formidable threat even without the stones. However, Darkseid's level of malice surpasses that of Thanos, as illustrated in the conclusion of Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths - Part Three.

Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths confirms Darkseid is harder to kill than the MCU's Thanos

Thanos is shown to be exceptionally strong – trading blows with the likes of Thor and The Hulk – and an equally effective tactician who can adjust his strategies in the heat of combat. Thanos is not invincible, however. As shown in Endgame, the villain had to evade killing blows from a Mjolnir-wielding Captain America and Wanda Maximoff and needed to deploy the Power Stone to gain an advantage over Captain Marvel. 

Moreover, Thanos can be killed, with Thor killing his original incarnation with Stormbreaker, and Iron Man later killing Thanos with the Infinity Stones. Killing Darkseid is typically much more complex. Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths - Part Three reveals that Darkseid's death led to the multiverse's downfall in the Tomorrowverse timeline, as he is a nexus being whose presence is crucial in all realities.

Without Darkseid, the multiverse's structure collapses, making one of the DC Universe's greatest threats virtually impossible to kill without causing the destruction of all realities in the process. Darkseid has died in the comics before, with Justice League: Darkseid War being a notable instance. However, he was reborn following the conclusion of this story arc.