Marvel vs DC Comics: Superhero Showdown

By Sophia Doshi

Note: I wrote this article in collaboration with my good friend, Nicole. Many thanks to her for this amazing article!

Before we start, we want to remind readers that the following opinions, beliefs, and feelings stem from our own; while we will be drawing information from proven statistics, research, and pre-existing sources and opinions, the conclusion that we will be making will be based on our assessment.

There are also some exceptions to the Marvel vs DC rule: some of the Marvel and DC heroes only have worthy opponents in their universe and some end up facing heroes in their own due to the outcome of the draws, as you will see in the following matchups.

Marvel and DC franchises have been the two most prominent studios in the last century, producing nostalgic and exciting content for people of all ages. Their superheroes are timeless, and recent media like movies and TV shows have only increased their popularity. 

A study of different character matchups between the two franchises has been done many times by other blogs, websites, and comic nerds. We’re no different, but a fresh take on the scale of these classic superheroes is always welcome (at least, in our opinion). 

SUPERGIRL VS CAPTAIN MARVEL

Starting strong with Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) vs Captain Marvel (Brie Larson): these two forces are both equally able to defeat almost any opponent in their universe due to their power and strength, but what happens when their universes collide? 

Supergirl was initially introduced in the 1959 edition of Action Comics #252 alongside her cousin, Superman. As the storyline progresses, she learns that she and Superman are more similar than they are different, connoting that they are similar in caliber concerning their powers. Her alien biology allows her to have incredible powers because of Earth’s Sun. She is invulnerable to bullets and attacks and has superhuman strength and speed. Her only known weakness is Kryptonite, which is the material that comes from her home planet. 

Captain Marvel, otherwise known as Carol Danvers, got her abilities when a light-speed engine test blew up in her face, exposing her to the cosmic energy of the Tesseract. This is the more popular version from the movies; in the comics, she was exposed to an explosion from the “Psyche-Magnetron” (a machine constructed by the Kree that can bestow superhuman powers on living humans). From these explosions, Captain Marvel became strong, indestructible, capable of interstellar flight, and able to shoot photon beams at people. 

Regardless of these powers, Supergirl takes the cake. Her laser vision, flight, freezing breath, strength, and lack of weakness (save for Kryptonite) surpass Captain Marvel. Additionally (and perhaps regrettably, since I, Sophia, have a giant poster of Captain Marvel on my wall), Supergirl has higher audience ratings than Captain Marvel. This combination of elements altogether puts Supergirl at the top, over Captain Marvel. 

SPIDER-MAN VS THE FLASH

Next on the docket, we have Spider-Man (Tom Holland) and the Flash (Grant Gustin): both have similar skill sets and are worthy opponents of each other. Both of them, one could say, have “golden retriever energy” and for both of them doing the moral thing is incredibly important to them. The well-loved Spider-Man, everyone’s favorite “wall-crawling crime fighter” can stop a train with his bare hands, shoot webs out of his wrists to defeat his enemy, and swing through streets and skies. His strength and charisma alone set him apart from other heroes in the MCU. The flash, on the other hand, has many more abilities than Spider-Man, therefore absolutely DOMINATING him in a battle. 

Struck by a lightning bolt and miraculously surviving, Barry Allen can not only run faster than superman, but he can also run faster than the speed of sound, meriting his title as, “the fastest man alive”. He became a CSI years after seeing his mother stabbed by “a lightning bolt” and always had a hunger to learn about the mystery of his mother’s death. Along with his intelligence, as the Flash, to defeat his opponents he can stop them by phasing through walls, planes, and any sort of solid object, stop fires using his arms in a windmill motion, has speed healing, can throw lightning bolts and not to mention running up walls and his undeniable speed; he can run fast enough to travel through time and even create a parallel timeline. He is a force with his powers but his character, like Spider-Man, is his greatest strength. He uses his heart to get to his enemies and every so often, he turns his enemies into allies and that is why the flash will be on top in this battle. 

BLACK PANTHER VS DOCTOR DOOM 

Victor von Doom, more commonly known as Doctor Doom, first appeared in comic books in The Fantastic Four 5 (1962). Doctor Doom, without his armor, has a lot of benefits that come with just himself. In addition to having the intellect of a genius, von Doom has technopathy (psychic ability to control technological devices/machinery), energy absorption & projection, and control of the dark mystic arts. However, with his armor on, Doctor Doom has superhuman strength & durability, gauntlet lasers & force blasts, flight (his boots have rocket propulsion, a little overkill in my opinion), force field generation, and various high-tech weapons and gadgets. While he is a Marvel villain, his challenger Black Panther is also from Marvel too. 

Black Panther is known most for the debut movie that came out in February 2018. Its stunning visuals, cultural exposure, and message for its audience positively shocked fans, and even regular people, all over the world. Since then, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has been released as the sequel. Unfortunately, before its time of the announcement the lead actor in the first movie, Chadwick Boseman, passed away. The world mourned for a long time and eventually accepted the fact that this legend would never grace silver screens again. Regardless, Black Panther gets its powers by consuming a mystical herb, which establishes a connection between them and Bast, the Wakandan Panther Goddess (not to be confused with the Egyptian Goddess Bast). From this connection, the Black Panther receives superhumanly acute senses, enhanced strength, speed, agility, stamina, durability, healing, and reflexes. However, his incredible powers are no match for what his character and story stand for. Compared to Doctor Doom, Black Panther’s astonishing prowess and popularity put him on top. 

SUPERGIRL VS THE FLASH 

These two heroes are both mighty and happen to be very good friends. Despite living on different Earths, they do exist in the same universe. Both take turns asking each other for help, especially when their whole universe is in crisis. However, as far as power goes, Supergirl would easily defeat the Flash: no matter how fast he can run… he can’t fly. 

THE PHOENIX VS THE SCARLET WITCH

You can read the matchup blog for the Phoenix vs the Scarlet Witch here.

BLACK PANTHER VS SCARLET WITCH

Unfortunately, in a matchup with the virtuous Black Panther and the Scarlet Witch, there’s no contest. In comics or cinema, the Scarlet Witch would annihilate Black Panther with her grey morals, which allows her to make some decisions that Black Panther would never consider. Additionally, any of her wide range of powers would almost instantaneously beat Black Panther into the ground. 

SUPERGIRL VS SCARLET WITCH 

It’s difficult to find a worthy opponent for Scarlet Witch, but Supergirl fits the criteria. Our female forces battling it out would surely make heads turn but ultimately, Scarlet Witch would easily win this fight because once Wanda gets into her mind, Supergirl won’t be in control of her powers, rendering her useless.  

WINNER – SCARLET WITCH 

Cover image from NCHS Courant