The MCU‘s Guardians of the Galaxy surpassed the Avengers’ power in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, proving James Gunn’s comments right. The Avengers’ first mission together in Joss Whedon’s The Avengers established the MCU as a cinematic universe, and it opened the door for riskier projects like James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy. At the time, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy wasn’t a team as famous as the X-Men or the Fantastic Four. However, Gunn’s Phase 2 movie turned the Guardians into an A-list superhero property, and it placed characters such as Star-Lord, Drax, and Rocket Raccoon on the same level of popularity as icons like Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor.

https://screenrant.com/guardians-of-the-galaxy-avengers-powers-comparison-james-gunn/