Superman vs Captain Marvel

#1 Posted by deadpool101 (129 posts) - 3 years, 3 months ago - Show Bio

Whether in the JLU show, Kingdom Come, Superman/Batman Public Enemies, or Power of Shazam # 38, these two patriotic power houses are always at odds. It varies who wins these battles. I am quite knowledgeable about Captain Marvel as I collected the whole "Power of Shazam" series, and being a comic fan, it's impossible for me not to be knowledgable (to an extent) about Superman, and specifically, their powers. The wisdom of Solomon, strength of Hercules, courage of Achilles, power of Zeus, stamina of Atlas, and the speed of Mercury is no small amount of power, but the man of steel takes the cake. Usually, Marvel pulls a naughty little trick where he calls down his magic lightning and (with varying techniques: moving outta the way, picking Kal up, etc) hits Superman with it. The main victories Marvel has had against Kal have been because of this brutal tactic.

I am starting this forum because I want to hear other people's input on who they think is stronger, smarter, cooler, more honest of these two heroes. Who is the better in any way? Or more importantly, what are the differences of these two spectacular characters?

#2 Posted by Deuce (51 posts) - 3 years, 3 months ago - Show Bio

Depends on the Age, Silver Age superman was absolutly uneatable but Modern Age is a little closer, I might give Captain Marvel the edge because he gets his powers from magic which is of course one of Superman's few weaknesses

#3 Posted by GOUKI (437 posts) - 3 years, 3 months ago - Show Bio

SHAZAM!!!!

#4 Posted by King Saturn (210895 posts) - 3 years, 3 months ago - Show Bio

who knows... they have both beaten the crap out of each other on multiple occasions... lol

#5 Posted by deadpool101 (129 posts) - 3 years, 3 months ago - Show Bio

Yeah. And I mean Modern Age. And hasn't Supes gotten more powerful in the modern age? That is another question i have: What is the extent of Superman's weakness for magic?

#6 Posted by Deuce (51 posts) - 3 years, 3 months ago - Show Bio

Its not a huge thing but it kind of distracts him and just make him a little less powerful, kind of like people under intense pressure, they just seem to perform a little worse than capable

#7 Posted by deadpool101 (129 posts) - 3 years, 3 months ago - Show Bio

Gotcha. And then ofcourse the fact that literally all of the time, Superman is holding back immense amounts of his power, even when fighting bad guys. So the magic weakness, and holding back make the playing field evener. Although most of the time, Cap doesn't want to hurt Superman. I personally really like them both. They're both up there on my list of favorites for DC (Batman takes the cake but....) Superman is definitely more powerful than Cap, but Cap is still what his cheesey nickname says: The world's mightiest mortal (maybe not literally, there are a lot of overpowered heroes and villians...)

I think Captain Marvel needs to feature more. He hasn't had his own series since like 1996, he isn't a main member of any super-team (he's only in very few line ups of the JSA), and he just generally needs to become more major. I think he should have his own series again. Maybe a continuation of "The Power of Shazam" series. But cooler. That series was good but modernizing it would do it good (as well as taking out some of the dumb stuff like Hoppy the Marvel Bunny, etc.) Or maybe he should be on the roster of the newest JLA (part time member of that alongside his own series would be badass!)

And Capt. Marvel Jr. could use some more comic time. He's appeared in Outsiders, Teen Titans, and a couple of other stuff recently. Other than that: zip! he needs to be a full time Titan! (or outsider depending on the line-up).

Mary Marvel has been okay lately. The whole black adam fam thing was cool. I never eally like her, but she's cool now. She gets enough use in modern comics.

#8 Posted by They Killed Cap! (2243 posts) - 3 years, 3 months ago - Show Bio

I love Cap Marvel and the idea behind him. This little boy who becomes a living power house. The JLU episode where he is late to school because he just averted some disaster is amazing. I love his Char I wishhe would be used more.

#9 Posted by captaincold1 (98 posts) - 3 years, 3 months ago - Show Bio

Superman.

#10 Posted by Reactor (1643 posts) - 3 years, 3 months ago - Show Bio

@King Saturn said:

" who knows... they have both beaten the crap out of each other on multiple occasions... lol "

#11 Posted by deadpool101 (129 posts) - 3 years, 3 months ago - Show Bio

I really love Cap too. That JLU episode is one of my favs (and that's saying something; i have seen every episode, although i missed a couple of episodes back when it was just JL w/ 7 people). The way they fought in that was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!! Supes was kickin' ass and Cap was definitely going down, but it wasn't easy for Supes. They were both gettin' some hits in.

But yes, Superman is ultimately more powerful. Although, in my imaginary, convenient-for-my-taste-in-comics universe, Cap's powers have been increased a crap load! Mary is evil and therefore is drawing from Black Adam's power, not the wizard's. Freddy Freeman (Captain Marvel Jr./CM3/Shazam) is getting the power from the gods directly aswell, not from Cap. The sum, Cap is at 100%, he doesn't have anyone drawing on the power, and magic has been increased so all magic users are beyond the top of their game. So, although Superman is more powerful still, it's a lot like where in Kingdom Come, Captain Marvel can kick some kryptonian ass. And he's cool.
But that's my non-canoncal, imaginary, DC multiverse where I change things to take ideas from Kingdom Come, the Frank Miller universe of Batman: year one, dark knight strikes again, dark knight returns, and batman & robin the boy wonder, the JLU show, etc. So it's pointless.

Sorry to bore you with that. Just wanted to share how I thought Captain Marvel should be.

He should get used more. He barely makes it into Infinite Crisis, or modern comics. He only appeared in a modern comic series when being showed-up by Marvel Jr. (going by Shazam). Cap is too cool to have a stupid Gandalf beard and be a @#$%ing mentor-type. Especially not to a guy who is older than him. In modern comics, Billy Batson should be about 16. Freddy Freeman is therefore 18.

Captain Marvel is soooooo underappreciated for being one of the coolest characters in comics. Long live the world's mightiest mortal!

#12 Edited by OhTru (1583 posts) - 3 years, 3 months ago - Show Bio

Done before

Magic from lesser beings has dropped Superman but DC don't want to admit Billy outclasses their 'icon'

Superman owns, not only does Superman outclass him in feats but the way Billy has been wrote he is too stupid to use his magic advantage to win
Wonder Woman on the other hand is a much smarter fighter and cunning and mature enough to use her magic against Superman, like bouncing stuff back at him with bracelets or whipping the lasso or cutting him with her Tiara
Billy doesn't have the experience or the battle skills to score a win

DC never respected the fawcett step child so unfortunately we can't give him much credit either

.

.

#13 Edited by deadpool101 (129 posts) - 3 years, 3 months ago - Show Bio

haha yeah i have the comic where he's whing at the rock of eternity. yeah i guess so. supes owns cap even though cap has the neccessaries to bring him down. yer right. dc doesnt want their icon beaten by a 16 year old in the body of a hero.

however, both in comic and movie, the captain marvel from "Superman/Batman: Public Enemies" was really good at kicking Supes ass! It took the strategy of Bats & Supes to beat him (and Hawkman). Cap remarks: "You never did well against magic Superman. And magic, is just my thing." (or something like that). Yeah Cap should be more on par w/ supes.

yknow what my biggest problem w/ comics is?: that people have awesome powers and never use them to the full. darkseid has omega beams that nobody has ever avoided. why not use them all the time. superman is unimaginably powerful. why not take down villians easily? and cap is another example of someone reeeeeeally powerful who is nev er written to use his powers to the full. i HATE that about comics. firestorm could just turn villians into babie-sized people. or apples or something. but does he ever? ofcourse not.

now you can argue that if heroes and villians used their powers to the full, the fights would be boring. well here's the answer to that: DON'T MAKE SUPER-PEOPLE W/ LIKE A JILLION DIFFERENT ABILITIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

#14 Edited by SlimJ87D (7188 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago - Show Bio

As of right now, Superman is very weak due to kryptonian technology, possible one of the weakest characters in the DC universe.

There are way too many weapons out there that can kill him now that the Kryptonians have all awaken. They have guns that shoot red sunlight lasers that kill each other instantly.

Superman has been depowered to the max, this is him at his weakest. This is most likely due to so many Kryptonians existing now. These aren't my opinion, this is fact. Just read the World of new Krypton series.

#15 Posted by Supreme Marvel (10992 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago - Show Bio

6 Gods v 1 god. I vote Captain Marvel.

Is this Billy Batson CM or Freddy Freeman? Because I hate Freddy.
And yes, my name is linked to Captain Marvel not Marvel comics shivers and throws up. He's my second favourite comic character of all-time. Behind Superman but I know Cap' Marvel will win this battle.

#16 Edited by deadpool101 (129 posts) - 3 years, 1 month ago - Show Bio

yeah. but freddy is pretty cool. AS CAPTAIN MARVEL JR. He sucks, i repeat, SUCKS as captain marvel. if he's gonna take over the mantle, and go by shazam, he needs to have a more original story, costume, etc. and superman being at his weakest right now doesn't matter cuz technically cap marvel is stripped of his powers and is just plain ole billy batson. so obviously this is i guess is when they are at their prime. (no pun intended. we are not talking about superman prime :P) at their best.

#17 Posted by Steph666 (12 posts) - 2 years, 9 months ago - Show Bio

In other forums Captain marvel tends to be favoured and said that the only reason Superman wins is cause of him being an icon. Where as I do agree to that to some extend I believe superman wins this. As their powers are fairly similar except that Captain marvel isn't invulnerable and has no heat vision but on the other hand Superman is vulnerable to magic. But the factor which makes Superman the winner is not cause of luck or being the icon of DC that he always manages to use Captain marvel magic lighting to hit himself to turn him back to billy but due to logic, as we all know the only way Captain marvel is able to win this fight is using the lighting which he in fact has no control over hence he always has to move out the way or put Superman in the way, this makes his greatest advantage also his greatest risk like a double sided sword as he has to always be in the range of Superman to use it. So it is not unrealistic that Superman is able to grab Captain marvel and get him hit by the lighting turning him back to a kid making him the winner especially as illustrated by Kingdom come Captain Marvel requires many lightings to actually take down Superman, giving Supeman many situation to win as Superman just needs 1 good timing to finish of Captain Marvel.

#18 Posted by Lvenger (8228 posts) - 2 years, 8 months ago - Show Bio

Superman and Captain Marvel are basically matched for strength, speed and durabilty. The only thing is that whilst Supes has a few long range exotic powers e.g heat vision and freeze breath, CM can use magical attacks due to the power of Zeus. This is what gives him the advantage over Superman. CM punching Supes normally does not cout as magical. There was a scan I found of CM using magically enhanced punches to knock Superman out but the image doesn't exist anymore. The other thing he can do is bear hug Supes and just keep shouting Shazam like so:

#19 Posted by KidCenturion (20 posts) - 2 years, 5 months ago - Show Bio

I've been a fan of Shazam since 1977 and Superman since 1979 so here's the definitive differences in their powers. As for who would win I've also add a scenario for you.

(Super Strength/Speed/Endurance/Stamina/IQ):

Both are juggernauts at this class with the exception that Superman draws energy from the yellow sun to boost his strength and endurance. Cap. draws from the Wizard who draws from the gods. And Mary Marvel draws her power from him. And he hs never shown to "tap" into the wisdom of Solomon (maybe because he's not a god?lol) all that much either.

Advantage:Superman

Speed is another matter. Per Justice, Cap. flies faster than The Flash at top speed who runs just faster than Superman. Cap. caught up to Barry.

Advantage:Captain Marvel

(Energy Projection/power)

Superman has heat vision, x-ray vision, night vision, ultra hearing, freeze breath and can absorb/deflect ambient energy to some degree (like yellow sun). Captain Marvel has Thunderclap (minus the thunderbolt/lightning bolt) as well as Rolling Thunder/shockwave

(which he used on Supergirl in original Crisis). He also can call the Shazam bolt but that would change him back to Billy if he misses.

Advantage: Superman

(Weaknesses)

With a multitude of vulnerbilites, Superman better be tough. He's got all types of kryptonite weakness (gold/red/green) as well as red sun which dramatically lowers his power levels and of course there's magic. Captain's only weakness seem to be changing back to Billy by saying Shazam as well as being knocked unconscious (per Public Enemies). As far as going toe to toe, all Captain Marvel has to do is get his hands on some kryptonite and its over. But you know Billy(or DC) would never do that. Also, threatening an innocent bystander seem to work on both goody-two-shoes although due to Batman's influence Supe's less prone.

Advantage:Captain Marvel

So in a straight fight it goes to Superman but if weaknesses were being used Captain Marvel has the edge.

And just so to settle it once and for all,

If Superman goes up against magical beings like the Spectre/Dr. Fate/Zatanna, he would have a very difficult time beating them or even getting a hand on him (as it took Tom Welling a whole hour to figure it out). Captain Marvel would recognize magic in all of 2 sec. He took on a crazed Spectre whereas Superman wouldn't be able to touch him due to his magical properties. It would be interesting to see Captain Marvel vs. Mongol/Darkseid or other offworld heavyweights but seeing that he protects only the earth I would doubt it.
And that my friend is the definitive source.
Superman in a toe to toe at full strength beats Captain Marvel at full strength (no Mary)
Captain Marvel with kryptonite(or allowed the use of magic) beats Superman no contest

#20 Posted by snowy_owl42 (2 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago - Show Bio

Wake up "Captive Marbles" losers! Its Superman! The icon of heros! The Beatles of comicdome! The Stairway to Heaven of Spandex! "Thee" main man of which all other heros (and kids) aspire to be (even Billy Batson/Captain Marvel admitted so in a Justice Unlimited episode). Captin Marvels adventures "All" sucked (with the power of Zeus). Lame ass villians, lame ass plots and even worse lame ass endings! C.M. is just a boy in a Tank, with no real idea what he really has or what to do with it. Superman has maturity, depth, experience and a cleaverness C.M. has "Never" shown in any adventure. Besides, I do not trust anyone that uses so much hair grease.... and NEVER opens his fricken eyes!! (He would fly right into a wall man)

#21 Posted by Valtot (4502 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago - Show Bio

@SlimJ87D said:

"As of right now, Superman is very weak due to kryptonian technology, possible one of the weakest characters in the DC universe. There are way too many weapons out there that can kill him now that the Kryptonians have all awaken. They have guns that shoot red sunlight lasers that kill each other instantly. Superman has been depowered to the max, this is him at his weakest. This is most likely due to so many Kryptonians existing now. These aren't my opinion, this is fact. Just read the World of new Krypton series. "

Its shown a few times superman is more powerful than all the other kryptonians in world of new krypton because of his 30+ years more experience and rediculous mastery of his powers that the other kryptonians dont have

#22 Posted by ownsin (142 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago - Show Bio

Hey, All Star Superman would kick Captain Marvels butt lol... Green Kryptonite doesn't even effect All-Star Superman, and he's 10 times stronger if even more...

#23 Posted by DEGRAAF (7249 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago - Show Bio

It should be a closer match then it usually is. Supes is extremely resilliant. I actually dont think the wisdom of Solomn really helps Cap that much considering what knowledge they had back in Solomn's time. Cap should know how to cast spells and always use magic punches. I believe Cap should win. Do you thik Supes could have Zatanna or Dr Fate put a spell on him making him immune to the effects of magic besides their own?

I agree Captain Marvel should be used more often (whether it be Billy or Freddy) I dis-liked Mary until she became Balck Mary Marvel) They need to give Mary and Billy their powers back.

I didnt realize Freddy got his powers straight from the gods. Shazam is looking to deal with Freddy and take his powers away. Someone from the Marvel family needs to join the JLA. I would like to see the Marvel and Adam family back in action.

#24 Posted by KidCenturion (20 posts) - 2 years, 4 months ago - Show Bio

(snowy_owl) that was funny but kinda true that the iconic hero win by default. (ownsin) we are talking mainstream Superman not All Star Superman and Wizard Shazam Billy would be more powerful. (DEGRAAF) people back in Solomon's time were way smarter than our time even though they did not have technology which we can brag/boast about. One of Solomon's true power seem to be dominion over demons which would make sense that Amazo can possess Superman and not Captain Marvel. Also, Black Adam had that Thunderclap ability which shot out lightning....something Zeus has but somehow Billy wasn't given. I would personally like to see more of his god powers manifest like they used Mercury's speed in JUSTICE. Maybe Achilles' rage or fighting ability and Zeus' Thunderbolt like in Mortal Kombat (lol). Freddy's powers come from the gods so he should be supposedly stronger than Billy but that's still downplayed. I think DC will allow Shazam moral victories more than physical ones. Bring back Kid Eternity to the Shazam circle!!!

#25 Posted by raecinio (55 posts) - 2 years, 3 months ago - Show Bio

Of course people are going to give the fight to Superman, he has more fans! But if you think about it objectively and without any fan-nerd rage,
Superman and Captain Marvel are about equal physical strength-wise. That means in a toe-to-toe fight it could go either way. However, Captain Marvel
is powered by magic, which IS one of Superman's weaknesses. I think if they fought to the death without any interference from anyone else, Captain Marvel would win.
Superman has far too many weaknesses to be unbeatable by anyone (especially since Batman has been shown to defeat him on several occasions).

#26 Posted by PowerHerc (50550 posts) - 2 years, 3 months ago - Show Bio

They are so close in Strength, Speed, Durability and Stamina that most people pick who is greater in these categories based on who they like better. It's a toss-up.

Morally, both are off the charts. Nobility, Altruism, Honor, Integrity and Honesty are all virtues these two have in abundance but are hard to measure. Billy was worthy of the Power of SHAZAM. Superman was worthy of (briefly) lifting Mjolnir. It's another toss-up here.

Intellectually I'd say Superman's knowlege of Kryptonian science gives him the edge, but Billy has the Wisdom of Solomon, which is different than intellect, and is logically wiser than Supes.

We all know who's more popular, but who's . . . stronger? faster? tougher? a better person? a better hero?
I don't know. It's too close to call. I guess it comes down to who you like better. Me? Superman is my favorite DC character, but Captain Marvel is a very close second.

#27 Posted by Valtot (4502 posts) - 2 years, 3 months ago - Show Bio

@raecinio said:

"Of course people are going to give the fight to Superman, he has more fans! But if you think about it objectively and without any fan-nerd rage, Superman and Captain Marvel are about equal physical strength-wise. That means in a toe-to-toe fight it could go either way. However, Captain Marvel is powered by magic, which IS one of Superman's weaknesses. I think if they fought to the death without any interference from anyone else, Captain Marvel would win. Superman has far too many weaknesses to be unbeatable by anyone (especially since Batman has been shown to defeat him on several occasions). "

supermans weaknesses are not that much of a weakness anymore considering he takes red sun radiation all the time and doesnt lose his powers there just weakned but he can gain them back, hes highly resistant to kryptonite for a kryptonian as shown in recent superman and kryptonite moments, and hes shown highly resistance to magic but not to his durablity levels though until he shows getting hurt by magic that dispel aura is still on

captain marvel would generally have the magic over him but superman has the solar absorption over him, the vibration techniques over him, the heat vision over him, the freeze breathe over him, the super intelligence and combat training over him. They sorta equalise it by alot and put it in supermans favour though current superman hasnt fought captain marvel since hes developed all these techniques so its hard no know how the fight would go compared to all the other times

#28 Posted by tjizz350 (167 posts) - 9 months, 16 days ago - Show Bio

@raecinio said:

Of course people are going to give the fight to Superman, he has more fans! But if you think about it objectively and without any fan-nerd rage, Superman and Captain Marvel are about equal physical strength-wise. That means in a toe-to-toe fight it could go either way. However, Captain Marvel is powered by magic, which IS one of Superman's weaknesses. I think if they fought to the death without any interference from anyone else, Captain Marvel would win. Superman has far too many weaknesses to be unbeatable by anyone (especially since Batman has been shown to defeat him on several occasions).

very well put i could not have said this any better. realistically cap wins this dc just allows supes to win because he is a bigger cash cow.

#29 Posted by actionmaker518 (34 posts) - 9 months, 8 days ago - Show Bio

I Give this one to captain marvel his skills strength and speed might be a little below superman, but his use of magic enables him to win this fight

#30 Posted by Mego_Stretch_Hulk (182 posts) - 6 months, 24 days ago - Show Bio

All answers here...

http://hero-envy.blogspot.com/2011/05/superman-vs-captain-marvel.html

#31 Posted by stephens2177 (553 posts) - 6 months, 24 days ago - Show Bio

Lobdell's superman is amped to levels shazam will probably never reach,but billy has the magic punch and lightning to even things up.superman is now more than ever going to be all about restraint,so billy could trade blows with kal.

#32 Posted by raecinio (55 posts) - 4 months, 25 days ago - Show Bio

Superman & Shazam both are equally powerful. Their strength is about even, although Shazam has a slight edge due to his powers being magical in nature. Though this doesn't always count Supes out either. I'd say there's a 50/50 chance when they fight.

#33 Posted by jobbernos (1370 posts) - 4 months, 25 days ago - Show Bio

@captaincold1 said:

Superman.

#34 Posted by Wonderman1 (27 posts) - 4 months, 13 days ago - Show Bio

In most incarnations the fact that CM is powered by magic would be immaterial to the question. He does not cast spells or exude magical energy with each punch. If he could use the lightning as he did in KC or somehow shoot it as Black Adam did in the video that is another matter. If not, the fact that he is a magic battery would not affect the outcome. Neither tire or weaken with time to any degree though Superman would eventually wear down from exhaustion but CM would not. The most likely outcome would always be CM bringing the contest to a speedy conclusion as the Wisdom of Solomon would clearly illuminate for him that whatever world they were fighting on would be wholly destroyed by their battle before either began to tire or weaken. He would most likely turn back to Billy at that point, ending the battle without a clear winner being decided.

#35 Posted by Goddessa (196 posts) - 4 months, 13 days ago - Show Bio

I love them both but I would choose the one with the better rogues gallery. I have to give it to Superman. I can't take the Captain seriously because he is being given a hard time by a worm/caterpillar.

#36 Posted by Wonderman1 (27 posts) - 4 months, 12 days ago - Show Bio

The big problem with CM is the same problem Plastic Man has. These were both wildly popular characters whose stories were highly whimsical in nature. Neither has translated well to canon. PM has been converted into a true clown which he never was. CM has seen a number of iterations, none as compelling as the original. The closest version I have seen that might be able to translate was the Shaam/Superman video version. I still hold out he for the 52 version but the Billy is so foreign to the original concept that it might as well be a different character.

#37 Posted by colonyofcells (1842 posts) - 4 months, 12 days ago - Show Bio

Billy will need more reboots bec. the magic word to change appearance is just silly. Both Captain Marvel and Superman can call upon unlimited resources to finish the final battles. Captain Marvel can now do all sorts of magic with no limits like Harry Potter. Harry Potter did use a spell to make himself look like somebody else. Superman can use all sorts of kryptonian science/weapons and can also absorb as much energy as he wants from the universe and can also evolve or reengineer himself to have more powers.

This message was deleted

#39 Posted by Raw_Material (1817 posts) - 1 month, 20 days ago - Show Bio

Equals in Strength; Captain Marvel vs Superman Arm Wrestling

Comment and Save