The DC vs Marvel debate continues to rage. Will this comparison of the strongest superheroes of each finally resolve it. Probably not, but read it anyway!

Let us first set some ground rules. We will not consider game-breaking outlier events that broke DC or Marvel cannon, such as when superman blew out a sun. Nor will we posit on the many parallel universes that exist because that throws all assumptions out of the window.



The notion of one-time or infinite beings has also been avoided, with the exception of highly-tested ones such as Dr. Manhattan (this means no “One above All” or “Man of Miracles” or “Galactus” or “Celestial” etc.). In this DC vs Marvel experiment, we look at what we know against what we can safely assume.

Superman Vs Thanos - The Ultimate DC vs Marvel Experiment
Some may say that Superman loses in this scenario because he has a weakness when Thanos does not. One cannot even say Thanos’s love for Gamara was a weakness because he was still willing to give her up, whereas Superman would rather die than kill his loved ones. Superman is one of the best DC comic products of all time, but it is his inherent humanity that makes him special, and Thanos is more of a pragmatist than a sentimentalist.

As for Superman, in a straight fight, he would perish at the hands of Thanos in the same way the Hulk would perish in a hand-to-hand fight. However, if the gauntlet was involved, there are plenty of ways Superman could get it from Thanos and easily use it without Superman having to sacrifice himself. Could Superman fly Thanos into the sun? Thanos would have broken Superman’s neck before he got beyond the clouds.

It is suggested that Dr. Manhattan vs Thanos in a no-weapons fight would end in a stalemate where neither is able to kill the other. Odin’s power is played down in the movies and is only again hinted at in the third Thor movie where he is shown to be far stronger than Hela. Odin is spawned from the energies of the cosmos itself and a master sorcerer who, on his best day, should be able to take down both Superman and Thanos if weapons were allowed during the fight.

Hulk vs Wolverine
Why not Hulk vs the Thing from Fantastic four? Because we all know that the Thing would perish quickly. The Hulk vs Wolverine is pretty fair because both are almost un-killable, but in that case, why not Hulk vs Deadpool. In truth, Deadpool is a squishy kitten, and he got off lightly when Juggernaut tore him in half.
The Hulk is pretty unkillable, but we did see the Fenris Wolf break his skin, which means the Hulk’s skin is “not” a non-Newtonian substance, which means enough force by the right material will cut him. Enter Wolverine. Adamantium blades and plenty of force could slice up the Hulk rather easily.

The only problem that Wolverine has is the same one that Deadpool has where enough damage (such as a squashing from a Hulk Smash) could damage Wolverine beyond repair. Ergo, you would have to flip a coin to see who wins between the Hulk and Wolverine.

Rocket Racoon vs Iron Man vs Batman vs Deadshot
Rocket and Tony are two who specialize 100% in technology. Batman relies on martial arts and ninja skills, but Rocket and Tony rely fully on technology, and that is what makes them so powerful. As Thor said, “What seems like magic to you is just technology to us.”

At first, it seems like Iron Man has this fight in the bag, but it really depends upon where they are located. Drop Rocket in an abandoned ship and he will soon turn the scrap he finds into a force field and something to fool Tony’s sensors. Let us not forget that Rocket can make weapons and tools out of any technology he finds, be it familiar or alien. On the other hand, drop the fighters in a wooded forest, and all Rocket would have is his power of skedaddle (running away).

As for Batman, he would die instantly at the hands of either Rocket or Iron Man...unless Batman had time to prepare. If he had the time to work out Rocket’s and Iron man’s weaknesses, then Batman would probably (and inexplicably) win. Batman would only win against Deadshot if Deadshot didn't see him coming, which is quite possible.

With regards to Deadshot, isn't it possible that with enough titanium or diamond-tipped bullets, that maybe Deadshot could put a bullet between the eyes of all three of these chumps before they had a chance to look around? Obviously, Deadshot is the most vulnerable to attack than all of them, but if you sat him in a hilly brush around a mile away from the fight, isn't it possible he could take them all out before they even knew he was there?

Captain Marvel vs Captain Marvel (Shazam)
If we are going down this route, then why not Quicksilver vs the Flash. Sadly, the Flash/Quicksilver argument is mute now that the Justice League movie showed us that Superman is faster and ergo the two fast-runners are pretty-much flies on the windscreen of stronger enemies. Otherwise, Superman could get by relying on his speed and nothing else. Plus, we have seen the likes of Quicksilver being punked by HawkEye, so let’s rule the two fast-runners out as the strongest heroes.

Captain Marvel would beat Shazam since Shazam is as vulnerable as Billy Batson where Captain Marvel is never vulnerable in her current state (aka, she never needs to turn into a young human person). Yet, Captain Marvel’s biggest weakness is that she can run out of power to the point where she becomes human again. Plus, unlike Superman who sits in the sun to recharge, Captain Marvel needs an undisclosed amount of time to recharge her batteries. Could Shazam play rope-a-dope and keep Captain Marvel blasting until she runs out of power?... maybe.

The Problem With Comic Books
There is a lot of cannon-breaking content that undermines whatever is determined in this article, and the parallel universe thing makes determining DC vs Marvel even more difficult. Plus, we can only judge characters based on who they have faced. After all, if Spiderman had only ever fought bank robbers, how do we know if he could withstand a blast from Ganthet, whose adaptive ability rivals that of the Borg.

The final problem is that we have to rule out mostly all infinite beings because who can guess how beings of limitless power could fight each other. Comics have no hard-and-set rules, which means any argument around DC vs Marvel can never be resolved.

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