The One Above All is the all-powerful God of the Marvel Universe – but for very unfortunate reasons, He will never be allowed appear in the MCU.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has no shortage of powerful beings – but the most powerful will most likely never appear on film any time soon. From ferociously strong Earth-bound characters like the Hulk and Vision to otherworldly cosmic leaders like Thanos, Dormammu and Ego the Living Planet, powerful leaders are routinely surpassed with every film. However, the single most powerful force in the Marvel Multiverse will – for a slew of reasons – never appear in any film or TV series: the almighty and mysterious One Above All.
The One Above All is, for all intents and purposes, God of the Marvel Multiverse – and God has no equal. Consider the fact that the being known as The Living Tribunal is the cosmic judge of the Multiverse who can annihilate planets and stars in moments…and yet for all his power, even he pales in comparison to the One Above All. In 1992s Infinity War (only tangentially related to the Avenger: Infinity War film), the Living Tribunal is “…the representative of one whose might exceeds even Eternity!”, referencing another cosmic being in the Universe. In the followup series Infinity Gauntlet, the Living Tribunal tells Adam Warlock “I represent forces that dwarf even your might…my authority comes from on High.” Its clear that the Living Tribunal is but a servant of the One Above All – but has the One Above All ever been seen in comics?
Appearances of the One Above All are few and far between. The deity sometimes appears as a blinding white light, or a nondescript homeless man as seen in Sensational Spider-Man #40. However, one of the most notable sightings of the being was seen in Fantastic Four #511, when the team attempts to recover the soul of the Thing. Traveling through a realm that could only be described as Heaven, the four pass through a door and emerge in an ordinary living room. Before them sits the One Above All, sketching comic panels and characters on a drawing board – and he bears a striking resemblance to the legendary artist Jack Kirby.
As the co-creator of the Fantastic Four, Captain America, Spider-Man, Thor, Black Panther, the X-Men, and countless other characters over the decades, Jack Kirby is an ideal representation of the God of the Marvel Universe. Even so, he takes a phone call from a “collaborator” in a later panel (heavily hinted to be Stan Lee), much to the amazement of the Fantastic Four. Unfortunately, with the passing of both Kirby and Lee, such a scene would be difficult if not impossible to realize in the MCU. Disney would also potentially balk at the prospect of introducing a religious deity into the shared universe, and thus the One Above All is limited to the comics for the time being.
Marvels depiction of the One Above All as a simple human artist works perfectly within their universe. As the OAA-as-Jack Kirby himself says “Thats what my creations do. They find the humanity in God.” The Marvel Cinematic Universe may have to go without their Creator, but the One Above All will no doubt reappear in the comics in the future.
How powerful is The One Above All?
“I see through many eyes. I build with many hands. They are themselves, but they are also me. I am all-powerful. My only weapon is love. The mystery intrigues me.”
The One Above All is more powerful than every character that you could come across in the Marvel universe, all of them, including the Chaos King, Gabriel Shepherd, Franklin Richards, and Matthew Malloy. Even if you combined all their powers together, they still wouldn’t match a small fraction of his power. He will never die and existed before everything else and will be around after everything else has passed away.
Even Thor once noted, “‘Tis said that a being, called the Living Tribunal — the final judge — hath the power to enforce his will ‘pon any cosmos he doth judge! And ’tis said his power is supreme in all the Multiverse. Even I, son of one of the mightiest of all gods, find it impossible to conceive of such levels of power! And ’tis a humbling thought to consider how much greater the Creator of all Universes must be than that of all of His creations combined!”
For those who don’t know, The Living Tribunal is an entity that oversees and maintains balance in the realities that constitute the Marvel Comics Multiverse. He serves as a judge of these realities. But even he answers to The One Above All.
Sometimes called “Above-All-Others”, he is the ruler and creator of the omniverse, a collection of every single universe, multiverse, megaverse, dimension (alternate or pocket) and realm. Basically, everything that exists and has a name. Depending on what comic book line you’re reading, he also goes by the name The Presence in DC.
Nothing can ever beat The One Above All. Which probably answers the, “Will he appear in the MCU?” question. There would probably never ever be a reason why The One Above All would need to show himself within the MCU. Unless the entire universe was as the risk of being destroyed, it seems very unlikely.
But yes, he would be able to bring Tony Stark back to life again. And yes, he would be able to reset the entire universe and wipe Thanos out of the history books forever.
Since his debut, Marvel has retconned several of the Beyonders powers. He even lost them to Doctor Doom at one time. However, his ability to warp reality allows him the ability to “potentially” simulate any power he wants.
With so much unlimited power at his grasp, he is considered to be the most powerful character in the Marvel Universe. Hes also the superior master of the cosmic overseer and judge known as the Living Tribunal. As the creator of the Marvel Universe, hes even taken the appearance of Jack Kirby, the comics legend who was a driving factor in the creation of most of Marvels biggest franchises.
Both the Beyonder and the One-Above All have a decent claim to being the strongest character in the Marvel Universe. Each possesses an effectively unlimited amount of power, and they have both treated some of Marvels most famously strong cosmic beings like toys in landmark events like Secret Wars.
Now, were taking a closer look at both of these omnipotent cosmic powerhouses to see which one truly is the strongest being in the Marvel Universe.
The Beyonder has also survived big blows from powerful heroes like Molecule Man, and hes absorbed whole universes in the process. Unfortunately for him, all that power came with a price. The Beyonder eventually realized the world could not be complete or perfect, even with his manipulation.
So, who is Marvel’s The One Above All?
In all honesty, we don’t know too much about him/her/it. But, in Marvel terms, he/she/it is the most powerful being of all, the alpha and the omega.
Who is Marvel’s The One Above All? In all honesty, we don’t know too much about him. But, in Marvel terms, he is the most powerful being of all time.
Comic book fans have long argued about who the most powerful being in the Marvel Universe is. There has always been a lot of mystery surrounding the character and his origins. Like, who is The One Above All? Is he more powerful than The Presence? Is he the ultimate god of Marvel? Is he Jack Kirby or, perhaps, Stan Lee? Will he appear in the MCU?
Although he has rarely appeared in the pages of Marvel comics, only making brief appearances (around 15 times), The One Above All, who first appeared in Doctor Strange #13, is the creator of all there is and ever will be in the omniverse. He sees all and knows all. He is also able to appear anywhere and everywhere he pleases. He exists beyond time and space. With unlimited power, he is the most powerful being ever, hence his title. And yet, we’ve hardly seen or heard much about him.
Over the years, he has shown himself in various different forms. To some, he might appear as a bright beam of energy. For others, he might appear as a normal man or woman. The Fantastic Four once journeyed beyond the boundaries of existence and ended up in The One Above All’s personal realm, where he took the form of Marvel comic book artist Jack Kirby. He also appeared to Peter Parker as a homeless man, guiding him during the death of Aunt May.
Some believe that the character is merely a metaphor for the comic book creators who create the comics we enjoy. Others believe he is the physical or spiritual representation of love and power.
