How Strong is Superman? We Investigate

Superman is widely regarded as the strongest Superhero of them all. Whether it’s Marvel or DC, the general consensus among fans is that nobody quite measures up to the Man of Steel when it comes to raw power. So, how strong is Superman? We Investigate.

Power Source

All that strength has got to come from somewhere right? The main power source for Kal-El comes from Earth’s big yellow sun. The thing that give you or me a nice summer glow, is the same thing that gives Clark Kent his incredible abilities. It’s not just super strength either. The sun essentially makes Superman invincible. Powers include flight, super strength, x-ray vision, heat vision, super senses, super speed and invulnerability.

Although the vast majority of his strength comes from the sun, he also had an advantage before coming to earth. Born on Krypton, where the gravitational force of the planet is higher on the body, this allows Kryptonians to have a muscle density which is a lot higher than in regular old humans. Anyone else kind of wish they were born on Krypton? Before it got absolutely destroyed of course…

Strength

If you’re a comic fan you’ll know that Superman’s strength can vary wildly depending on which version of the character you are talking about. In 2013’s Man of Steel movie, we see Clark rescue some oil rig workers by using his super strength to lift a large steel beam which is about to crush some of the workers. The crazy thing is that it looks like he’s struggling to do it. If you’re like “hey Geeks Gonna Geek, that’s pretty strong!” you need to read ahead about these other acts of power from the Man of Steel.

How much can Superman lift?

Superman can lift 200 quintillion tons with one hand. Yes, as ridiculous as it sounds it happened in one comic book version of the character. In order to do this he did have to enter the sun to save a team of scientists but still. That level of strength is quite frankly, god level and above.

Superman bench presses the Earth – for 5 days in a row. OK so he didn’t actually bench press the Earth itself but he did use an equivalent weight. His friend Veritas built him a weights machine (must have been a really big one) to help Superman get stronger to battle a powerful new villain.

Superman reverses time by flying at 660 million miles per hour. In 1978’s Superman movie Lois Lane dies in a car accident. To stop this from happening the Man of Steel flies out of Earth’s atmosphere and proceeds to fly at the astonishing speed to allow him to travel back in time and save Lois. Let’s not dive too deeply on the science behind this one (or any of them for that matter) and just enjoy the feat of power.

So, How Strong is Superman then?

Superman is strong to the point where it doesn’t even make any sense. But the good thing is that it doesn’t have to. Superman is designed to be a symbol. He is often used as a reference point for good that Superheroes in the comics and movies can aspire to. That said, I’m still not quite over him being defeated by Batman in Batman V Superman but that discussion is for another day.