One of the main features that sets Marvel Cosmic Invasion apart from other fighting games is its massive roster of 15 playable characters, each with their own unique abilities and moveset.
While there are no outright weak heroes on this list, some are clearly superior in power. If you’re looking to build the best team in Cosmic Invasion, here are the ones to consider.
Overall Hero Rating
Each playable character in Marvel Cosmic Invasion has a unique set of powers and abilities, as well as common attributes such as the ability to fly, dodge, parry, or grab enemies . Additionally, each hero gains a passive ability at level 5 that gives them a distinct playstyle when certain conditions are met.
In this ranking, we rank heroes based on how their powers and attributes mesh with their personalities , as well as how powerful and effective their normal attacks, heavy attacks, signature moves, and special attacks are against Annihilus’ forces.
Here’s a quick overview of where the heroes stand in the overall rankings.
| Level | Heroes |
|---|---|
| S | Silver Surfer, Rocket Raccoon, Phoenix |
| A | Captain America, Phyla-Vell, She-Hulk |
| B | Venom, Wolverine, Iron Man |
| C | Storm, Nova, Beta Ray Bill |
| D | Black Panther, Spider-Man, Cosmic Ghost Rider |
S-Tier
Silver Surfer
Silver Surfer is the last character you’ll unlock in Marvel Cosmic Invasion , so it’s no surprise that he’s also one of the strongest in the game. He has everything you could want: flight, parrying, powerful cosmic projectiles, and high damage even with his basic attacks.
But that’s not all: his special attack is an area-of-effect explosion that easily destroys enemies , and his passive ability turns his parry into a cosmic damage-dealing machine. The Surfer’s only real drawback is his very late discovery in the campaign.
Rocket Raccoon
If you don’t want to wait until the final missions to unlock an incredibly powerful hero, there’s no better choice than Rocket Raccoon. While his dodge and overall speed may seem weak, his basic pistol fire is surprisingly powerful, and his Heavy Gatling and special attack easily clear out enemy lines .
His aerial attack is one of the best in the game for keeping enemies in the air, making him a monster on both the ground and in the sky.
However, what truly sets him apart is his signature move, which allows him to throw grenades with a random elemental effect . This allows him to deal all types of damage, including a nuclear grenade that clears the entire screen of enemies . Combined with his passive ability, which increases the drop rate of this grenade, you’ve got a clear S-tier hero.
Phoenix
Jean Grey is another hero to unlock, but fortunately, she becomes available much earlier than the Silver Surfer. Phoenix is incredibly powerful: she can fly, parry attacks, and even fire fireballs with her basic attack . With proper positioning, her special attack can also clear a room.
Like Rocket Raccoon, it’s her signature move that sets Jean Grey apart, as she’s one of the few heroes in the game capable of grabbing enemies , making her deadly near chasms. Once again, Jean has no weak points in her arsenal.
A-Tier
Captain America
You might think Steve Rogers is a boring choice, but he’s undoubtedly one of the most reliable characters in Cosmic Invasion. His parry automatically puts him above most other heroes, and his basic attacks and combos are powerful enough to make him one of the best fighters on Earth .
Captain America’s main strength is his signature move, which allows him to throw his shield to strike enemies from a distance . Unlike most other projectiles in the game, it has no ammo counter and can be used at any time . His passive ability, which increases the Focus meter for his dual attacks and increases their damage, makes him a very powerful, albeit somewhat slow, hero.
File-Well
Like Phoenix and Silver Surfer, Phyla-Vell is a character you’ll have to work hard to unlock, as she’s encountered roughly halfway through the campaign. However, she’s worth the effort, as she possesses almost every ability you could want : parrying, dodging, flight, a projectile attack followed by teleportation, and a unique elemental effect.
The only thing holding Fayle-Vell back from reaching S-Tier is her special attack, which is annoyingly easy to miss because it travels across too much of the screen . But even that isn’t enough to prevent her from being a Tier A pick.
She-Hulk
As I mentioned earlier, not every hero in Cosmic Invasion can grab enemies, so this ability is special.
This is best demonstrated by She-Hulk , the game’s premier grappling master. She can lift enemies, punch them, or throw them, and even perform a suplex if the opponent is airborne.
This suplex alone makes playing She-Hulk incredibly fun.
Jen is the best wrestler in the entire game, but she’s also very strong outside of grappling thanks to powerful basic combos, a devastating dash attack, and a shockwave special attack . She-Hulk, unsurprisingly, is a bit slow and has a less-than-exciting passive ability, but she’s still one of the best heroes.
B-Tier
Venom
The final character to unlock in the rankings is Venom. He’s essentially a more powerful version of Spider-Man . He can web-swing around the arena, pull enemies in with his Heavy Attack, and has a similar area-of-effect special attack. Ultimately, Venom proves to be a more reliable hero, as his basic attacks deal more damage, and his dash attack in particular is incredibly powerful .
Add to this a powerful parry, which is more useful than dodge , and Venom takes the cake among web-slingers. His only real weaknesses are a weak passive ability and generally slow speed.
Wolverine
Wolverine is one of the most unique heroes in the Cosmic Invasion roster, as he excels in many areas rather than focusing solely on one specific area. His notoriously short stature makes him much faster than other heroes, but he still packs a devastating punch and can latch onto enemies and hurl them with his signature move.
Logan also has a great special attack that can hit multiple enemies, and a passive ability that allows him to regenerate lost health faster than other heroes . If he had a parry instead of dodge, he would be even higher in the rankings.
Iron Man
Like his best friend and eternal rival Captain America, Iron Man is a very reliable and safe hero in Cosmic Invasion , albeit in the air rather than on the ground. His projectile attacks are among the best in the game , and his shock wave serves as an excellent heavy attack, capable of immobilizing enemies and dealing consistent damage.
Combined with a useful passive ability and the ability to fly, Iron Man becomes a very strong hero that could have been ranked higher if he had a more suitable dodge instead of parry that would better complement his mobility.
C-Tier
Storm
On paper, Storm appears to be one of the strongest heroes in the game. She can fly, has a unique elemental effect, can dodge attacks, and even fires projectiles . While most of these qualities are positive and make her a good choice, she also has some weaknesses that drag her down in the rankings.
The main problem is that her signature attack, Arctic Wind, is a weak projectile that’s more designed to knock back enemies than to deal damage, making it feel like a weak alternative to grappling. Her highly situational passive also doesn’t help much, leaving her in a weaker position than she could have been.
Nova
Marvel Cosmic Invasion’s protagonist is, perhaps unsurprisingly, one of the most basic and straightforward characters in the entire roster . He has a solid moveset, including flight, projectile attacks, parrying, and both heavy and special area-of-effect attacks, but he doesn’t have anything that really sets him apart from the rest of the cast .
Nova isn’t a bad choice, but he’s a jack-of-all-trades who can do almost everything but excels at nothing . His weak projectile attacks ultimately lock him into the C-Tier.
Beta Ray Bill
As one of the largest characters in the lineup, one might expect Beta Ray Bill to be a tank with grappling and parrying abilities like She-Hulk or Venom, but surprisingly, that’s not the case. Instead, Bill occupies a middle ground: he has powerful basic attacks and the ability to dodge rather than parry.
While this approach is certainly more interesting than making him a pure heavy hero, it does limit him somewhat, as parrying would suit him much better . This makes him a rather unconventional choice, which is especially unfortunate given that his signature throw, Thunderbolt, is one of the most powerful in the game and can deal massive damage when used correctly.
D-Tier
Black Panther
When I started Cosmic Invasion, I honestly thought Black Panther would be one of my favorite heroes, but unfortunately, that’s not the case. He may have some of the fastest attacks in the entire game , but he’s also the weakest hero overall, and his damage often feels underwhelming unless you spam his dash attack. Add to that a frustrating projectile attack as his signature move and a special attack that’s also difficult to land, and T’Challa feels a bit underwhelming.
Black Panther’s only saving from last place in the rankings is his passive ability , which allows him to deal increased sonic damage after receiving a hit.
Spider-Man
If you ever needed proof that this ranking is completely objective, just look at this entry. Spider-Man is my favorite hero of all time, but I barely played him in Cosmic Invasion . On the plus side, he’s even faster than Black Panther, has decent damage potential, and has a great signature move that lets him shoot webs to slow enemies.
However, these benefits are outweighed by how weak Spider-Man is .
However, these advantages are outweighed by Spider-Man’s weakness. His web shots deal very little damage, and his basic attacks and combos take a long time to defeat enemies. Overall, he’s inferior to Venom in almost every way.
Cosmic Ghost Rider
Despite being the coolest and most unique hero in the lineup, Cosmic Ghost Rider is unfortunately also the weakest . While his basic attacks and parrying ability are strong, his signature move is dual pistols, which deal almost no damage and typically require a full magazine to dispatch a single enemy. To top it all off, his motorcycle special attack has a nasty habit of missing unless enemies are perfectly lined up .
Cosmic Ghost Rider’s passive ability, which grants additional ammo after a charged attack, is generally decent, but it doesn’t save him from being ranked low in the game’s character rankings.
