Mind control has become quite prominent in the Marvel Cinematic Universe of late, with multiple figures demonstrating powerful (and unsettling) abilities to control the thoughts and actions of others. The Scarlet Witch is the most overt example, beginning with the events of WandaVision, which saw her put an entire town under her control. She’s matched by at least two other figures — Mantis from the Guardians of the Galaxy movies and Druig from Eternals — who have both demonstrated similarly expansive abilities.
More mind controllers are doubtless on the way, with the likes of Professor X and Emma Frost waiting in the wings, as well as figures like Kilgrave, whose canon MCU status remains up in the air. The power levels of the MCU’s current trio of mind controllers are staggering and constitute a demonstrable ace in the hole for the trio. But which of the three is the most powerful mind controller? The always-elusive logic of comic books makes the answer mutable, but as things stand, one of them demonstrates far more power on this front than the others.
Wanda’s Mind Control Combines With Her Reality Powers
Wanda’s mind control abilities were among the first she demonstrated in the MCU, as she turned the Avengers’ thoughts inside out during their initial encounter in Avengers: Age of Ultron. They have only grown since then, and while they’re dwarfed by many of her other abilities, they remain a potent part of her arsenal. The most telling example comes in WandaVision when she induces the entire population of Westview, New Jersey to serve as her living props.
The Westview population becomes cheerful background players in her “perfect” sitcom reality, forced to essentially reenact the same scenario over and over. Even more troubling, friends and relatives of the Westview populace had memories of their loved ones erased: forgetting they even existed. Wanda requires a certain amount of concentration to achieve such effects, but they remain formidable nonetheless, especially when combined with her powers of reality manipulation.
Mantis Can Control Godlike Beings
Mantis’s mind control abilities are strictly person-to-person, which limits their scope somewhat. She’s also unable to directly control thoughts, only emotional states. It’s powerful but lacks the finesse of more direct mind controllers like Wanda and Druig. That said, within those confines, there appears to be no being powerful enough to resist her. Mantis has affected the likes of Thanos and Ego — two of the most powerful beings in the MCU — with her abilities and can presumably do the same with Celestials and similar figures. That gives her a big edge in one-on-one conflicts, and while she needs to concentrate to affect her subjects, anyone could potentially fall victim to her.
Druig’s Powers Are Global in Scale
Druig may have the pole position in this battle, despite his comparatively quiet nature. As an Eternal, he’s thousands of years old, giving him the benefit of experience over both Wanda and Mantis. Furthermore, his powers of mind control seem absolute, with an entire Amazonian village coming under his effortless command and the possibility of billions to follow should he so choose. Indeed, he claims that he could successfully control the minds of every human on Earth — a boast that none of the other Eternals choose to dispute — and the fact that he hasn’t yet owes more to his feelings about his role on Earth than any specific means of stopping him. Should his opinions on the matter ever change, there may not be anyone on the planet who could stand in his way.
Druig Is the MCU’s Most Powerful Mind Controller
In the end, the most low-profile character has the edge simply because he’s far more powerful on this front than the other two. Wanda’s command of reality aside, her mind control abilities have limits. Knocking her unconscious or disrupting her concentration is sufficient to block her, and even when she held Westview in her grip, her subjects were able to express their horror and pain in subtle ways. Mantis’s abilities can be disrupted in a similar nature, and she seems limited to just a single subject at a time.
Druig, on the other hand, has no problems using his powers, which could affect everyone on Earth in the blink of an eye if he wanted to. He has simply made a moral choice not to. “Without their flaws, they wouldn’t be human,” he tells Sersi during the events of the film. That makes his conscience the only appreciable roadblock he would have to contend with, and while knocking him unconscious might disrupt them, doing so seems far more difficult than with either Wanda or Mantis. Other abilities may come into play — The Scarlet Witch, in particular — but as far as pure mind control goes, the Eternal is in a class by himself.
