10 Most Powerful Incarnations Of Superman
He's more powerful than a locomotive, but which version of Superman is the strongest one of all?
Superman is one of the oldest and most established superheroes in the genre, but that doesn't mean the Superman introduced on the cover of Action Comics #1 is the same Superman who graced a cover in 2020. Over time, different writers and artists have reshaped the Man of Steel into something new.
DC is full of alternate versions of its characters, and Superman is no exception. Over the 80+ years he's been in print, the Man of Steel has gained new powers, lost some he only used once or twice, become stronger, he's died, been reborn, and he's even been split in two.
Whenever a new creative team takes on the character, there's a good chance something will change about Superman. Still, not every version of the Man of Steel could be considered to be as strong as the one who came before, or after, and there's a lot of variations on his strength throughout these alterations.
Determining which version of Superman is the most powerful requires comparing them all in an imagined battle royale. The last Superman standing must be the most powerful, and these ten versions of the Last Son of Krypton are truly the strongest ones ever created.
10. Golden Age Superman
The original Superman who debuted on the cover of Action Comics #1 in 1938 is a far different Superman than the one featured in modern books. For one thing, he was "Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound."
All impressive, of course, but as Superman was published from the 1940s and beyond, the character changed. He went from being able to leap over buildings to being able to fly through the sky. He wasn't simply faster than a speeding bullet, he was faster than light, and a locomotive had nothing on Superman of the Silver Age.
Because he's been published continuously, and DC has a history of wonky canon, the Golden Age Superman has been relegated to Earth 2, which is the home of the Golden Age heroes. He's known there as Kal-L, and for the most part, he's the Superman who was read back in the '40s and '50s.
In terms of power, he's definitely not the top Superman in his field, but he's no slouch either. He has evolved some of his base powers over the years, and can now fly, has heat vision, freezing breath, invulnerability, and most of the other powers associated with Superman.