The Marvel Cinematic Universe has always been full of powerful supervillains and superheroes. Aliens, androids, and wizards, the MCU has proved time and again that it is a large place. Yet, regardless of how many new characters have been introduced, they never came anywhere near a god’s level of power. This seems to be changing, as Phase Four of the MCU has prominently featured higher beings, more so than any phase of the Infinity Saga.

Loki introduced the Time Variance Authority (TVA) that existed outside of space and time, but the TVA were still comprised of human beings who did not have any superpowers. The MCU has gods that are immortal, standing over any Avenger, Master of the Mystic Arts, or Guardian of the Galaxy. Here are the gods that have been featured in the Marvel Cinematic Universe thus far.

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Arishem and the Celestials

     Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Eternals was not the most positively-received MCU movie, but it was massive in terms of scale. From the beginning of the film, the opening text dived into themes of life and creation. The Celestials were revealed to have existed before the Infinity Stones and the “dawn of creation.” It was the Celestial Arishem, per Polygon, that created the sun and brought “light to the universe.” He used the World Forge to create life, which included the Eternals and Deviants, as well as a repository for storing memories.

As Celestials were around even before the Big Bang, this makes the Celestials the oldest race in the MCU. They were capable of creating and manipulating life, planets, and stars. Eternals revealed that planets across the cosmos were seeded with Celestials that would rise during an Emergence. Arishem created the Eternals and the Deviants for the specific purpose of the birth of a Celestial. However, Arishem’s creations proved to be capable of free will as both Eternals and Deviants disobeyed Arishem’s orders. The defiance did not go over well with Arishem, who announced that he would return to judge whether humans were worthy of living.

Khonshu and the Egyptian Gods

     Marvel Studios

Moon Knight has a direct connection with Khonshu the Egyptian God of the Moon and the Night Sky. Khonshu was a former member of the Ennead Council, a group led by Osiris that included Hathor, Horus, Isis, and Tefnut. Unwilling to leave humanity to their own devices, Khonshu was banished for getting overly involved with human affairs. He called upon Marc Spector to be a Moon Knight; his “fist of vengeance.”

The Egyptian Gods (Ennead) were shown in Moon Knight to be just as capable of infighting as human beings. Khonshu directly opposed and battled against Ammit, who killed anyone she believed would one day commit evil. Ennead did not appear to be invincible, as Ammit was imprisoned and seemingly died inside Arthur Harrow’s body. The people of Wakanda worshipped the Ennead, crediting the Egyptian goddess, Bast, with leading the first Black Panther to the Heart-Shaped Herb.

Zeus and the Greek Gods

Before Thor: Love and Thunder, there were no Olympians present in any of the films in the MCU. The first fans got to see of the Olympians was Russell Crowe as Zeus in the first trailer for the upcoming Thor film. In Greek mythology, Zeus was the god of the sky and thunder. Although Thor was always a Norse god and never a Greek god, he still might not be too eager to share his “God of Thunder” title with someone else. Thor has already had to share Mjølnir with Steve Rogers and Jane Foster as the Mighty Thor.

In the MCU, the Eternals inspired and were incorporated into Ancient Greek mythology. Thena was perhaps the clearest example, with the Olympian goddess of wisdom and war, Athena, being named after her. Since Thor: Love and Thunder has introduced Greek gods through Zeus, it remains to be seen how the Olympians and Eternals are somehow able to co-exist, as noted by Nerdist.

Odin and the Asgardians

First inhabiting Asgard in another of the Nine Realms, the Asgardians moved to Earth following their original home’s destruction. The Asgardians impressed the Norse people with their abilities and shared with them their language and culture. This led to the gods of Norse mythology being based on Asgardians. However, while Asgardians possessed magic and advanced technology, they were more like aliens that looked human than actual gods. Iron Man called Thor a “demigod” in The Avengers which was always technically inaccurate.

Odin, the former king of Asgard, even said that Asgardians are not gods in Thor: The Dark World. He told Loki that Asgardians live and die “just as humans do.” The Asgardians were never immortal as, while they can live thousands of years, they still have a finite lifespan. Thor as the “God of Thunder” and Hela as the “Goddess of Death” were both more fancy titles than official positions. The two children of Odin were always powerful, but are ants in comparison to a Celestial.

Uatu the Watcher

Omniscence has been commonly associated with gods, and that trait has been best represented in the MCU with the Watchers. The Watchers were briefly seen in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 when Rocket and Kraglin jumped between planets, as well as the final post-credits scene of the film. A Watcher named Uatu was also featured in the animated series, What If…? From his place in the Nexus of All Realities, Uatu watched events unfold across the Multiverse.

All Watchers had to swear to an oath that prevented them from interfering with any events. Uatu however, was unable to abide by the oath when an alternate-reality Ultron controlled all the Infinity Stones and threatened the Multiverse. The Watcher called upon heroes from different realities to stop Ultron, forming the Guardians of the Multiverse. The team included a version of Captain Carter, King Killmonger, Doctor Strange Supreme, T’Challa Star-Lord, Party Thor, an alternate Gamora, and a post-apocalyptic Black Widow.