• Thor vs. Superman

  

  Written by Zeromage 1,817 Comments
  Last Updated:: July 15, 2008

  The Mighty Thor and Superman are the heavy-hitters of Marvel and DC respectively, each of them arguably the most powerful hero in their respective universes. So its natural that this is without question the most discussed versus debate amongst comic book fans. No other versus battle comes close to being talked about as much than this one.  Try to start a “Superman vs Thor” thread on any forum and the first response is sure to be: “Not this again”.

  Some of you may remember our “Top 10 Most Powerful Superheroes” list that we released a while back, where we made the controversial claim that Thor was the most powerful superhero of all time (Superman coming in at number three on that list). Months later we are still receiving emails either agreeing with us, or flaming us for that decision. Many fans cite Superman’s speed as the deciding factor in any fight between the two behemoths. Other emails claim that Thor’s magical powers would be enough to stop the man of steel in his tracks. So, the natural question is, do we still stand by our claim that Thor is more powerful than Superman? The answer is still “yes.” In this article we’ll break down the seven most common arguments and give you our take on them.

  1. Super Strength

  The claim has often been made that Superman is stronger than Thor. Many times on versus forums threads this claim is accepted as a given by both sides of the debate. We don’t concede that the Man of Steel is physically stronger than the god of thunder though. Thor has performed feats such as lifting the World Serpent, and once hurled the Odinsword, an enormous mystical blade, through a Celestial!  Thor has also single-handedly matched the strength of the Hulk on numerous occasions (the Marvel Universe’s strongest character). Not only that but Thor is capable of entering into a state known as the “Warrior’s Madness”, which will temporarily increase his strength tenfold. Some of these feats have no true equivalent in the DC universe. We think at the very least, the two character’s physical strength is equal.

  2 . Super Speed

  This is Superman’s one true advantage in this fight. Superman is fast. We’re talking warp speed fast. We’re talking once around the entire planet and back before you can blink fast. You could easily make the argument that Thor would be lucky if he even saw Superman before he got pounded. But is Thor as slow as everyone seems to think? Unknown to many DC fanboys Thor can throw his hammer at the speed of light (See Thor#140, Thor#274). He can also swing it at TWICE the speed of light (Journey Into Mystery#102). In Thor -#393- it’s established that the speed of Thor’s hammer TRANSCENDS both TIME & SPACE. In addition Thor can appear anywhere across the Universe or other dimensions in just seconds (see- FF#339, and Thor#166). And, most importantly, Thor could, visually, detect objects that move at fantastic speeds (this happened when Thor was the target of artillery fire- see Invaders#33- and Avengers-#281- when he saw the speedy Hermes. And yes, I do need a life). Now if we accept that Superman can move at 99% of the speed of light, and that Thor can swing his hammer at twice the speed of light, it stands to reason that big blue is in some trouble.  It’s true that Thor doesn’t use his super speed abilities often, but how many times have you seen Superman not use his super speed when he should have?

  3. Stanima

  Who can take more punishment, Thor or Superman? This is a difficult question. Thor has withstood a blast from Asgardian Destroyer. Superman has withstood a direct hit from a nuclear bomb. Thor has taken everything the Hulk could dish out. Thor also once took a glancing hit by a Doomsday Bomb that was capable of destroying an entire planet, and soon after that explosion he fell from space (leaving a crater miles wide) to a planet called Pangoria-see Thor#387. Thor has also taken everything that Gladiator (an arguably more powerful version of Superman) could dish out.  Both characters have come back from the dead a couple of times. In my mind this one is a draw. Both characters have approximately the same stanima. The difference is Superman has weaknesses (i.e. Kryptonite, Magic, and the fact he is powerless without yellow sunlight) whereas Thor pretty much doesn’t.

  4. Magic

  Even the most diehard Superman fan would concede that Thor’s magical abilities would be an advantage for Thor. First, I would like to note that just because an opponent can wield magic, it in no way guarantees a win over the last son of Krypton. Superman has defeated countless magic users in the past, and so I have no illusions that just because Thor has magic powers and a magic hammer that he would automatically own Superman. That being said magic is just as lethal against Supes as kryptonite. Superman has no defense against it, and it can affect him greatly. Superman getting pounded by Mjolnir is the same as you and me getting pounded by a normal hammer. And consider the guy who’s swinging it. It’s Thor. The god of thunder. Not only that, but Thor’s lightning is magical too. Remember that just a single lightning bolt is equivalent to 15,000,000 volts of electricity and could travel over 224,000 miles an hour. The clear advantage here goes to Thor.

  5. Super Powers

  Before Thor inherited the Odinforce, the super powers of these two heroes were a little more even. Now there is absolutely no contest. Thor has a clear edge over Superman here. His magical hammer gives Thor the ability to control the weather, the ability to fly; energy projection and absorption; dimensional apertures; matter manipulation, as well as the most powerful of his offensive powers: the God Blast, and the Anti-Force. Superman is no push over in this department either, with the already mentioned super strength, super speed, as well as heat vision, x-ray vision, enhanced senses, and the ability to blow hurricane force winds from his mouth. But what is that compared to being able to summon an actual hurricane? Not only that but with the Odinforce Thor was then capable of feats such as reconstructing the Earth’s Moon, willing the Asgardian monster Mangog into nothingness, and by focusing his entire power into a hammer throw that even decapitated a Desak-occupied Asgardian Destroyer. Having accepted his heritage as the son of the earth goddess Gaea, he has recently been shown to be capable of opening chasms in the earth itself, and who knows what other abilities he’ll be displaying now that he’s done that.

  6. Superman beat Thor in the Avengers / DC Crossover

  I don’t want to spend much time on this one. Most fans of comics know how much weight we should give to crossovers.  Besides, I personally have no doubt that Superman would beat Galactus in a crossover. He’s DC’s flagship character after all. Enough said on that one.

  7. Thor has Thousands of Years of Combat Experience

  This is a common argument used by Thor fans to claim that Thor would take down Superman. It seems fairly obvious. If I somehow gained super powers and a Viking Warrior somehow gained the exact same or nearly equivalent powers, most people would put their money on the Viking if we fought each other. Now imagine the Viking warrior was thousands of years older than me, and had been using his powers for all those thousands of years to battle trolls, giants, demons, robots, aliens, and gods, and I have only been using my powers for 20-30 years. It seems clear to me that the Viking Warrior god has a clear cut advantage over me in a fight. Again advantage Thor.

  It seems obvious to me that Thor has a clear advantage over Superman in a fight. I don’t think that Thor is so powerful that there is no way that Superman could ever defeat him. But I believe that the majority of the time Thor would beat Superman in a one on one fight, assuming its not a fight to the death. If it is a fight to the death, then I think Thor would almost invariably win. So there you have it, the definitive answer to one of the most talked about and controversial debates in comic book nerdom. Brought to you by your pals at Old-Wizard.com.

  Discuss Thor vs Superman in our forums.

1,817 Comments

1. #1 Pete says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 4:36 pm

   “You actually acknowledge the fact that is possible that you are wrong but won’t accept it because “the Spiderman vs Firelord exception”"

   That’s because only Superman fanboys refuse to acknowledge they could possibly ever be wrong. Here’s the standard Superman fanboy argument:

   Superman can do anything. He gets more and more powerful each issue of every comic, so if he had problems somewhere, its only because that was one issue ago when he was weaker.

   If he was as omnipotent as you and Delta claim, no one would read the comics because they would be BORING. (I guess this is why Marvel sells more comics that DC).
2. #2 Alberto says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 4:42 pm

   @Pete

   Hey did I wrote the story?

   Are We reading a fictional novel or a fact book?

   Do you understand how naive you sound?
3. #3 Pete says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 4:49 pm

   The book having infinite weight should have meant the universe it was on should have been crushed under a weight equivalent to its own. And omnipresence doesn’t equal infinite weight, otherwise every omnipotent would have infinite weight.

   Omnipresence does not equal infinite mass in comic books anymore than ‘omnipotent’ really means omnipotent. The infinite pages thing was just a way of saying that Superman and Captain Marvel are incredibly strong. The book weighed a lot. Clearly its weight was not infinite nor was Superman’s or Cap’s strength infinite. If Superman’s strength was infinite, why would he need Cap to help him? If the weight was infinite, it wouldn’t matter how strong they were. The status quo would be maintained and it wouldn’t budge.

   Besides, if logic worked like that, we could claim Adam Warlock was one of the strongest beings ever. The Soul Gem contains and entire reality inside it and he’s picked the gem up between two fingers and worn it on his forhead.

   Not to mention the basic rule still stands; even if the book had infinite weight, one time feat way above the character’s usual range and powerset equals Spiderman vs Firelord.

   Remember the first Men in Black movie? The cat was carrying a universe in his collar, but you don’t hear anyone arguing that the cat had superstrength. This is like that only that the book was a bit heavier. It is completely worthless as an argument.
4. #4 Alberto says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 4:53 pm

   @Pete

   No, Superman is not omnipotent, HE IS A FICTIONAL CHARACTER

   Fortunatelly for us Superman holds back most of the time and DC has great writters like Grant Morrison and Waid, WHO are not bounded TO WRITE by our physics laws and understant the term “FICTIONAL”

   To me they are not booring and waaay better that those emo-pleasing stories that sometimes you see in Marvel

   If Marvel Sells more, oh well, big deal.

   Is perfectly acceptable, after all Marvel superheroes are more REAL and DC superheroes are more FANTASTIC.

   As simple as that
5. #5 Pete says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 5:00 pm

   Yes, Marvel sells more by a factor or 3 to 1. Its not even close.
6. #6 Alberto says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 5:13 pm

   @Pete

   Like is said, it was a metaphor.

   How heavy the book is, We have no idea, however asuming that it has the Multiverse inside it has to be really heavy, how much? I don’t know, but really heavy none the less.

   Ultraman who is the equivalent of Superman lift the book by himself, this means that SUPERMAN MAY be able to the same

   Infinite weight shall not apply because of the rule of becoming a paradox, But then lest called the feat as it is

   “Superman and Captain Marvel lifted a book with the multiverse growing inside of it”

   “Or Ultraman lift a book with the multiverse growing inside”

   Does that sounds better?

   Adam Warlock
   The soul gem is the GATEWAY to an idyllic pocket-universe.

   Again with the spiderman firelord exemption
   If this was the first time of Superman doing something as crazy as that. I would not even count it, However, please explain to me

   If a guy who can contain a mini black, then survive and scape a double black hole, then patch a tear in reality, then shatter time and space with his punches, will not be able to lift a book with the multiverse inside?

   Please somebody explain!!!

   How is this feat inconsistent to what Superman has done in recent years?!
7. #7 Alberto says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 5:15 pm

   Marvel sells more
8. #8 Alberto says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 5:15 pm

   Please don’t make me cry
9. #9 ShadowHunter says:
   November 20th, 2009 at 7:38 pm

   Alberto : Yes, I think Pete is only on Marvel. He’s Galactus boyfriend, maybe.
10. #10 ShadowHunter says:
    November 20th, 2009 at 2:58 am

    Krona is way more powerful than a Full Force Galactus. As Entropy, Krona was composed of anti-energy, could absorb others into his body, converting them into more anti-energy, and was able to create an army composed of anti-energy that were completely under his control. During the JLA/Avengers miniseries, where he wielded the power of all the universes he had previously destroyed, Krona proved able to easily defeat both the Grandmaster and Galactus. Maybe it wasn’t canon but still, Krona is more powerful than Galactus.
11. #11 ShadowHunter says:
    November 20th, 2009 at 3:05 am

    Alberto : You forgot Asmodel who’s really powerful.
12. #12 Dave says:
    November 20th, 2009 at 2:53 pm

    Point: Superman couldn’t budge the book, but with Cap Marvel’s help was enough to lift the book. If that book really had infinite weight, that scene seems to show that Superman *failed* to lift infinite weight and that Captain Marvel managed to lift infinite weight.
13. #13 ShadowHunter says:
    November 20th, 2009 at 3:31 pm

    Dave : Man, can’t you read? Ultraman lifted the book by himself, Alberto already posted the scan. Ultraman is as strong as Superman. That means if he can hold it alone, without help, Superman can do it too.