Can Superman survive Avada Kedavra?

If Voldemort used the curse "Avada Kedavra" on Superman, would he survive?

Probably not.

he'd survive it. all avada has killed at this point are normal human beings.

@kyrees: I know that, but can it kill Superman?

@saint_wildcard: Are you answering the title or the post?

@sheryinistoosexy: no, it won't.

@kyrees: Can you explain?

@racob7: what's the difference?

@sheryinistoosexy: becasue solely on the fact that superman has tanked stronger magic. a killing curse from a dark arts powered human would not be enough to do that. i'd reckon magic from higher beings would do that.

@saint_wildcard: Oh wait... Nevermind, derp.

@kyrees: Different universe though. Who knows?

Why ask then lol?

@sheryinistoosexy: so voldemort can avada anyone in dc and kill them ? that's a no limits fallacy. there's a limit of what it can do. all avada has killed are humans. kal isn't exactly human and he has shown magic resistance feats in the past.

Superman would shrug it off

@pokeysteve: Your weren't in the conversation. Get out. LOL

It would kill him.

But then Dr. Fate would counter-curse and throw Superman into the Sun to revive him.

Then Superman would take away the dark magician's wand and break it with super speed.

Besides kryptonite, Superman's other big weakness is magic. Unless Superman was getting some kind of magical support from another character, or managed to avoid the curse from hitting him, the Avada Kedavra curse could probably kill him.

superman beats every one poof he is superman

Yes, Superman is effected by magic the same way everyone else is. So... yep.

I meant Supes would die BTW.

Dead Superman :(

I reckon it would take 3-4 direct Avada Kedavra's to kill Superman

I say it would kill him, the entire point of the curse is to kill, that's its sole function, Superman has no defense against it.

Not sure what version you're talking about or if you're just exaggerating, but Superman has a resistance to magic.

Superman is as vulnerable to magic as everyone else, so, yes, an instant death spell would kill him on contact. It's not a magic fireball. It's death. Only the loving sacrifice of Martha Kent may protect him. =P

Is this a new development in the New 52? Because before the New 52, he was definitely vulnerable to magic.

Now I'm thinking of Voldemort coming to kill Kal right when he landed in Smallville, and having Martha jump to protect him, thus making his the "Boy of Steel who Lived".

No, he was always pretty resistant.

@awesam: Sorry Sam, but in this case, you're wrong. Superman is definitely not resistant to magic. He's vulnerable to it. Googling either "Is Superman weak against magic?" or "Is Superman resistant to magic?" should provide sufficient proof.

@impossibilly: He has taken some hard hits from powerful magic users. He even tanked a few SHAZAM's in Kingdom Come. He's not immune to magic, but he's not exactly vulnerable. If Captain Marvel hit Superman with magic lightning, it would hurt, but it wouldn't kill him. However, it would kill a lot of other people or do a lot more damage. Superman is not weak to magic, he's just not as invulnerable to it as he is to other things. Calling it a "weakness" is a massive exaggeration. No one's invulnerable to magic.

The whole magic thing has really been iffy with Superman. People in DC's universe say he's vulnerable to magic and that's true since spells can affect him, but he does seem to deal with magical attacks much better than your average Joe. The way I see it is that he'd survive Avada Kedavra just like he'd survive the Omega Effect. It'll knock him out cold, but I doubt it'd kill him.

@awesam: You're right in that my use of weakness might have been an overstep, but so is your saying that he's resistant to magic. I should have said in my first post that Superman is vulnerable to magic (as opposed to saying he has a weakness to it). He has about as much resistance to magic as a baseline human does. Avada Kedavra would kill him.

Actually Superman was always vulnerable to magic. I am sure that different writers, write his vulnerability to varying degrees. The way I see it is if he was hit will a killing spell it would take him longer to die than an average human but it still affects him. This could buy him enough time for a counter spell to be cast or for him to be cured. A scenario close to this was written in Justice League #13 & 14 by Geoff Johns and Tony Daniel (so yes he is still susceptible to it in the New 52).

At the end of issue #13 he is bitten by the Cheetah, whose powers come from a mystical dagger she found in the Black Room (where A.R.G.U.S. keeps all their magical objects) at A.R.G.U.S. This turns Superman into a were-Cheetah. Superman’s mutation in the book is described by the leader of the tribe the Cheetah originated from, “We have seen this before. Some victims have lived long enough that they go into anaphylactic shock. They undergo a (untranslatable) metamorphosis. They become one with the Cheetah just before death.”

To save Superman they need to act quickly and put some type of (most likely magical) blood on the wound. He is saved.

So basically this illustrates what I said above. Superman is vulnerable to magic but probably not as susceptible as an average human being.

Though the real answer to the question is that Superman would die if you or whoever was writing the story chose for that to be the outcome.

@kyrees: I'm sure if voldemort used it he would die. The curse is only as strong as the wizards will is. When he was teaching, Mad eye moody said that if all the students in the class tried to use it on him he would only get a nosebleed because they aren't strong enough. But a wizard like voldemort could take out superman. Being resistant to magic like that isn't really part of his power set.

I feel like @davet's post is a good compromise between my point of view and @awesam's and in this little debate.

Oh, and excellent point on the strength of the wizard casting the spell, @jayc1324!

Are you joking? Like I said, Superman has tanked hard magical hits. This includes Shazam's lightning bolts. A normal human would be incinerated. Also, I said he has a resistance. I didn't specify to what degree.

Surprised @lvenger hasn't intervened in this yet...

90 Superman 100% no since Zatanna´s spells could almost kill him

Now probably not

@awesam said:

I think I would still qualify magic as a weakness for Superman. Logically I think we need to compare magic with another weakness of his to see if it actually is a weakness rather than a human. Let's not a forget that Superman is an alien and not a human.

I say both of these statements would be true:

• A piece of green kryptonite could weaken him and eventually kill him.
• A killing spell could weaken him and eventually kill him.

Also, would a Shazam lightning bolt kill a human? Have we ever seen that? I've only seen them transform humans into something stronger. I could be wrong. Green kryptonite does not affect kryptonians and humans the same way. Why would we assume magical lighting would?

Also I think @jayc1324makes a good point about the strength of the wizard/magician. In Kingdom Come, Captain Marvel was compromised by Mister Mind. Could the lightning bolts not have been as powerful in comparison to Billy Batson in his prime?

@jayc1324: voldemort maybe the strongest dark wizard in the series but without any proof on who backs up that dark magic he access to it, its questionable to me that he can kill him. he has tanked magic that came from gods. (shazam's lightning bolt comes to mind)

@kyrees: Superman has some resistance to magic but he can still be affected by it. There was a magical shield around hogwarts once and literally every member of voldemorts army tried to take it down at the same time and failed. Voldemort then proceded to destroy the shield by himself with a single spell. His magic is insanely powerful. He is more powerful than hundreds of wizards put together.

What magical effects does shazams lighting have anyway?

@jayc1324: yes, he is strong on HP standards but on dc standards ? it remains unquantifiable to a point because of lack of knowledge where it came from

shazam's lightning as far as i remembered is powered by forgotten gods and gods in dc have been the source of magic. for most parts, it changes a normal human being into shazam and he uses the same bolt on his fights as well.

Doesn't this depend on Voldemort actually getting the drop on Superman in the first place? Superman could probably blitz him before he gets the spell off, or evade the curse.

@wardishy: it's already understood here that curses in harry potter universe are dodgable and anyone with sufficient speed can solo the HP universe. what is being discussed here is on the event that kal gets hit by an avada

I can't say for certain how it might affect Superman. I mean it could, it is magic and it is designed for killing its target so going by that logic, Superman could die if he was hit by the spell.

@lvenger: Just that Superman has actually survived worse magic attacks that

@reaverlation: Which ones are you talking about? Arion's flaying winds, Satanus' magical transmutation, Disciple's evolutionary regression or Captain Marvel's Shazam lightning?

@lvenger: The one I remember 100% is Billy's lightning.Also one magic attack,that I can't remember all the way,where it basically knocked out the Justice League and Superman was still standing. This is Pre 52 Superman I'm using

@reaverlation: The second one is the Disciple feat.