Superman has always represented the upper limit of comic book power, or at least the most accessible benchmark for most people. That’s why debating which superheroes are more powerful than the Man of Steel is so much fun. We’ve already mapped out 8 of those heroes, with Doctor Manhattan, the Silver Surfer, and various magical heroes thrown into the debate.
Inevitably, more names emerge the longer the debate goes on: after all, Superman is a god-like savior capable of unimaginable – and sometimes ridiculous – feats of power. Why wouldn’t we, as a culture obsessed with nerfing powerful figures, enjoy suggesting opponents for him who’d defy his supposedly untouchable superiority? It’s also narratively valuable to make sure even the most immeasurably powerful heroes aren’t invincible, because you risk making them completely boring.
Superman has been defeated before, of course, with villains and even his fellow heroes besting him, including Batman, who doesn’t really qualify here as there’s no inherent power behind his victories, other than strategic genius. But what of the other heroes from superhero movies – both DC and beyond – who could take Superman down, or at least not be defeated by him?
6
Professor X
Patrick Stewart’s Charles Xavier was a huge part of Marvel’s first golden age on screen as and is still the definitive movie version of the X-Men’s leader. His psychological skill set makes him a nightmare opponent for Superman, because, despite his impressive Kryptonian physiology, Clark doesn’t have the same level of defense to psychic powers as he does most other attacks.
In X-Men: Days of Future Past and Logan, we witness both ends of the spectrum of Xavier’s incredible power. At his absolute peak, Xavier is able to freeze thousands of people in place simultaneously without breaking a sweat – the exact same power that made Sadie Sink’s Jean Grey such a threat in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. And when his mind deteriorates in Logan, he effectively becomes a tragic weapon of mass destruction, indiscriminately taking lives and destroying minds.
Yes, in a fists-up brawl, Superman could rag-doll Charles like nobody’s business, but the damage Xavier could do almost instantaneously to his largely defenseless renders his god-like label rather redundant.
5
Darwin
Sometimes winning isn’t as straight forward as knocking the opponent down or out. Edi Gathegi’s Armando Muñoz might have suffered one of the most infamously mishandled deaths in superhero movie history in X-Men: First Class, but he was a far more interesting and powerful character than we ever got to see. His core mutant ability – instantaneous reactive evolution – makes him functionally unkillable (unless you ignore it for a movie), posing a completely unique challenge to an opponent who relies purely on physical superiority like Superman.
Darwin’s body automatically adapts to survive any threat, and Superman’s offensive array would not penetrate his defense. In World War Hulk, Darwin battled the Jade Giant directly, and while he initially absorbed gamma energy to weaken his opponent, that proved ineffective, and his evolutionary instincts decided his best defense was to simply flee. Could he adapt Kryptonite-like properties into his defense when facing Superman? It’s possible, of course, but the point is that Superman could never defeat him.
4
Doctor Fate
Wonderfully cast, and woefully underused thanks to Black Adam’s failure, Pierce Brosnan’s Kent Nelson finally gave comic book movie fans a taste of one of DC’s most potent magical heroes, Doctor Fate. Yes, it’s that unavoidable loophole again: Superman really can’t do much against magic energy, enchanted artifacts, or hexes and curses.
Doctor Fate is the living avatar of Nabu, a Lord of Order, wielding the cool-as-hell Helmet of Fate to channel reality-altering sorcery. In Black Adam, Nelson also shows off impressive combat skills, including creating hard light clones, casting forcefields, and predicting future timelines in real time. He’s basically Doctor Strange on magical steroids: sitting (alongside some others) at the absolute pinnacle of magical prowess in DC’s universe, and definitely in the DC movie universe. And even if you’re Superman, you can’t compete against someone who can alter probability and reality, and isn’t subject to the conventional laws of existence.
Fate is also no physical slouch, with attributes that aren’t that far behind Superman’s base level, so adding near incalculable cosmic power to the mix means there’s no question.
3
Martian Manhunter
It remains a travesty that J’onn J’onzz has only made a very brief live-action appearance in Zack Snyder’s Justice League and has never been a major character in any movie. Played by Harry Lennix, Snyder’s cut barely scratched the surface of what the Martian is actually capable of. Had Snyder’s wider vision played out and we’d got the canceled Justice League sequels, audiences would have got to see a hero not only blessed with Superman’s physical attributes, but also with a range of powers that make Clark look pretty one-dimensional.
Martian Manhunter matches Superman in raw physical power, super-speed, flight, and durability, but he also commands complete molecular density control and top-tier telepathy, which we’ve already established is a point of weakness for the Man of Steel. J’ozzn can render himself both intangible and invisible, can shape-shift his limbs into weapons, and penetrate the minds of his targets. So not only could he evade all attacks, his own attacks are devastating, which is why Superman himself has said that Martian Manhunter is the most terrifying being on Earth who he’d genuinely fear facing.
2
Jean Grey
Already portrayed at different power levels by Famke Janssen, Sophie Turner and now Sadie Sink, Jean Grey represents the apex of mutant ability. She is one of the Omega-level mutants shown in movies, and of course comes with the additional threat level of hosting the cosmic Phoenix Force. In other words, at her full potential, Jean basically transcends all standard power rankings.
In X-Men: The Last Stand, the corrupted Jean deconstructs matter down to individual atoms with a thought, stripping flesh from the bones of her enemies and disintegrating them. And in the much-maligned X-Men: Dark Phoenix, her powers scale up even further, to cosmic levels, allowing her to absorb energy from exploding stars and obliterate an entire alien fleet.
Superman’s strong, but he doesn’t have the defense capable of withstanding someone who can telekinetically dismantle him into molecules and wouldn’t even need to land a punch.
1
Franklin Richards
Yes, obviously Franklin Richards is just a child in his only live-action movie appearance so far, and we have no sense of what he’s actually capable of, but assuming he’s a pure adaptations of his comics counterpart, he’s the single most overpowered hero in Marvel history. The son of Reed Richards and Sue Storm essentially redefined what an Omega-level mutant is, with abilities that surpass almost every god, alien, and cosmic entity in existence. So… quite a big deal.
Richards is as close to a true god-level character as you’ll ever seen, who creates pocket realities among his many powers, which have comically little regard for the laws of science. Superman’s strength and various other powers would be completely redundant against Franklin Richards, who could simply decide the Man of Steel wasn’t real. There’s just no battling that
