How To Write Marvel Fanfiction

Glowy Fists And Elements I guess?

Superpowers. Those are fun. And God damn it if they aren't dramatic too.

So here's the deal. My first name isn't Wiki and my last name isn't Pedia. Y'all are big kids now who can google superpower lists if you're grasping straws. It ain't hard, I'm not gonna play copy and paste. What do you think I am, an MLM "consultant"?

The point here is that I've got a take is scalding hot, it may blow your wig into orbit. You ready? You buckled up? Got a nice tight grip on that weave?

you
can
write
overpowered
characters

Fucking hear me out, a'ight?

So objectively, how many overpowered canon characters are there in the MCU?

If you said a metric fuckton, you're not too far off.

Both Captain Marvel and Scarlet Witch have the powers of an infinity stone. Wanda was capable of holding back the power of five infinity stones while simultaneously destroying the sixth one. Carol has yet to really hit a limit for her cosmic voodoo nonsense.

Stephen Strange is canonically described as the most powerful magic-user on Earth. Thor is a literal god. Like, Marvel isn't short on some OP motherfuckers. And those are just the obvious ones.

This raises the question, why are overpowered OCs seen as a no-no then, especially in a canon where they're commonplace?

Basically, y'all out here thinking that an overpowered character is an invincible character. They 👏 are 👏 not 👏 the 👏 same 👏 fucking 👏 thing 👏

Let's take Wanda, for example. She is fucking overpowered when she's on the same team as an old man with a frisbee. 

But in the end, Wanda's own worst enemy is her emotions. Her hesitation to kill Vision was what led to Thanos getting the Mind Stone. Her reaction over her parents' death led to her decision to sign up for HYDRA. Wanda and rash and impulsive, and when you give that sort of person an insane amount of power, you have to understand you've already limited her. She's not invincible. She has her weaknesses, and they will destroy her. 

Of course, Wanda is the super fucking poetic one for this analogy, but it can stand on a practical leg too. Say you have an OC who is able to control every element with no limit. That is super fucking overpowered. However, if this OC gets trapped in space or an underground bunker, this seemingly amazing power can become as fucking useless as an appendix. 

If you want to make your OC overpowered, go ahead. In fact, they can even be more interesting if they are objectively the most powerful person in any given situation, but have something holding them back. Maybe your OC can alter reality and literally change anything, but using that power will slowly cause their own body to degrade and eventually kill them. Super powerful, but a huge contingency that would stop any sane person from just using that power left and right.

Basically, an overpowered character shouldn't be a plot device. If they can beat everything they come across, the problem is not overpoweredness, it's invincibility. Everyone's got their kryptonite, so find that glowing green rock, and shove it up your OC's metaphorical ass and have some fun with it. Stop blaming cool, overpowered abilities for plot holes and boringness in stories just because they weren't written right.