How Strong Is Black Bolt? Powers & Abilities Explained

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is confirmed to have the largest number of cameos and characters appearing in a single movie since the MCU’s beginning in 2008. One of those characters will be Black Bolt, a super-powerful character that’ll be portrayed by Anson Mount. With such a huge number of powerful characters appearing, just how strong is Black Bolt?

Black Bolt was long considered the most powerful being on the planet before he lost some of his powers over time in the comics. He can manipulate, harness, and create electrons, allowing him to augment his strength to incredible levels.

One of his deadliest superpowers is the quasi-sonic scream. Even a slight sigh is enough to take down even the toughest opponents, whereas Black bolt’s fully-powered scream can destroy planets. He lost this ability over time, but we have to consider it since we don’t know which exact version of the character will appear in Doctor Strange 2. Let’s see what Black Bolt can do.

How Did Black Bolt Get His Powers?

Blackagar Boltagon, aka Black Bolt, was a member of the Inhuman race, born to two top geneticists in the Attilan community, Agon, and Rynda. Inhumans already have superpowers, but Black Bolt’s powers went above and beyond, even for the Inhuman standards.

You see, Blackagar was exposed to a mutagenic compound called the Terrigen Mist while he was still in his mother’s womb. It resulted in some spectacular powers, even when he was a toddler. Black Bolt didn’t know how to control his powers but displayed them at random.

Those powers included energy manipulation and creation. However, it was his voice that presented vast destructive potential, as every sound coming from his vocal cords sent quasi-sonic energy shockwaves throughout the area.

While he struggled to control his powers, Blackagar was put in a soundproof chamber and was given a suit capable of harnessing energy, allowing him to be in the presence of his family without causing unintentional harm.

Black Bolt spent years being home-schooled, training to keep his powers under control, and he joined the Attilan society when he was nineteen years old. Not long after, he discovered that his brother, Maximus, was plotting with an alien species called the Kree to bring them to Earth and take over control of the planet.

Blackagar used his forbidden quasi-sonic voice and took the Kree ship down from the sky, but it fell right onto the parliament building and killed both of his parents. Maximus lost his mind in the process, which forced Black Bolt to become the leader of the Inhumans when he was only 20, only about a year after joining the society.

Black Bolt’s Powers & Abilities

By far, the strongest superpower that Black Bolt has manifests itself as the quasi-sonic scream. Even a whisper is enough to kill a regular human. A shout can take down incredibly powerful beings, such as Ikaris the Eternal, as shown in Inhumans Vol. 2 #6. A scream? One time, he put his head on the surface of a planet, screamed, and shattered the entire planet into pieces.

It’s safe to say he’s absolutely overpowered. That’s probably why he eventually lost that ability in the comics. However, even without it, he’s still one of the most powerful characters on Earth in Marvel Comics. His main power is particle & electron harnessing, channeling, and manipulation. Almost all his powers stem from that.

You see, Black Bolt’s speech center in his brain produces an unknown particle that allows him to absorb, create, and manipulate electrons within his body or his surroundings, channeling them into various forms. Sometimes, it can augment his physical strength, while sometimes, it manifests as powerful energy blasts.

Using the same power, Black Bolt can fly at incredible speeds or augment his strength from 1-5-ton level to 75-100-ton level. He also has a powerful telepathic resistance and can manipulate matter as well as almost any type of energy. Transmutation is also something Black Bolt had shown, turning water into ice, rearranging objects’ molecular structures, etc.

Black Bolt can channel all his inner energy into one arm, delivering a Master Blow, a strike so hard it can take down almost anybody in the universe. However, channeling such strength is incredibly draining for him, and Blackagar becomes quite vulnerable after it. I’ll speak more about that later on.

Of course, all that comes with Inhuman physiology that includes superhuman strength, speed, agility, durability, stamina, senses, and reflexes. He learned from Karnak how to use his enhanced senses to locate stress points and weak spots in people and other objects. 

To add to everything, due to his unique powers, Black Bolt can augment and enhance all of his powers to amazing levels, especially his Inhuman physiology. Now, that would make Black Bolt quite invincible, right? Well, not quite. Here’s why.

What Is Black Bolt’s Weakness?

Firstly, one could say that losing one of your most valuable powers becomes a great weakness, which is the case with Black Bolt and his quasi-sonic voice. He had lost and regained it several times, but eventually, Blackagar completely lost his voice in Death of Inhumans #5. 

However, he’s still quite powerful without it – durable enough to withstand punches from The Thing. So, what is Black Bolt’s biggest weakness?

Well, using his powers is Black Bolt’s biggest strength but his biggest weakness as well. You see, he finds creating, manipulating, and harnessing electron interaction fields quite draining, especially when he’s forced to use the Master Blow.

For a short time after delivering a Master Blow, Black Bolt is so physically exhausted that he becomes extremely vulnerable. He needs some time to recoup and gather strength before he can proceed with a fight.

Even if he doesn’t use the Master Blow but simply exerts his interaction field-creating powers for a longer time, Black Bolt gets exhausted. You can see how that might be a problem when you have to go against guys that never go tired, such as Thor, Thanos, the Hulk, etc.

Another thing one might see as a weakness is Blackagar’s lack of self-control. When he gets angry, Black Bolt tends to act on emotions and let them get the best of him, causing unnecessary destruction. I mean, he was responsible for the death of his own parents.

How Powerful Is Black Bolt (Compared To Other Marvel Heroes)?

Now, we don’t know which version of Black Bolt will appear in MCU’s Doctor Strange 2, but there are several facts we know. Anson Mount will return to the role after portraying Black Bolt in the ABC series Inhumans which was canceled after one season in 2018.

In the series, his Black Bold had a quasi-sonic voice and could flip over a car with a mere sigh. Now, it was noted that the Doctor Strange 2 Black Bolt would be a variant, so he might not have the same abilities, but if he does, it puts him way higher on the power list of MCU heroes.

If he has it, then he’s easily on the top-level strength-wise, capable of fighting the likes of the Hulk, Thor, and other MCU powerhouses. I mean, he can simply let out a scream and level an entire city.

Without it, though, he’s not quite there. Even if Black Bolt can augment his physical strength to the 75-100 ton range, it’s still not as high as Thor, Hulk, or Thanos. Even while he had his voice in the comics (albeit half-powered), The Mad Titan destroyed him one on one.

Now, compared to America Chavez, who’ll also appear in the movie, Black Bolt can match with her only if he’s at full power and strength. If not, she’d beat him 9/10 times. The same goes for Doctor Strange himself. Black Bolt is powerful, but I doubt he could take on the Sorcerer Supreme if he isn’t at his strongest self.

So, Black Bolt’s power level in the MCU will heavily depend on what version we get. If we get the best comic book version of Blackagar, he’ll make some real noise and match with an incredibly powerful character like Thor, Zeus, Ikaris, and even Doctor Strange.

However, if he lacks some of his original comic book powers, he’ll still be at a level above, for instance, Yelena Belova or Kate Bishop, but not as powerful as Strange, America Chavez, Thor, etc.