Who's the best superhero of all time? It's a question that's prompted debate among comic book fans for decades, with everyone having their own reasons for backing their chosen hero. Strength, skills, ability to wear lycra and still look badass; the options are endless as are the amount of characters eligible. There's thousands. Now thanks to a study from the University of Leicester, science has given us a definitive answer. It's Superman.
The study was conducted by a bunch of students who after seven years of intense study arrived at the conclusion that Supes is the "best equipped" superhero of all time. Using evidence gleaned from the panels of popular comics, the team made calculations to determine which superhero is the most feasible and therefore, The Best. Supes won out against every other candidate due to his solar energy stores (the power he derives from the sun) and the high-density muscle mass he experiences on Earth.
On the Marvel side, Wolverine and Mystique also ranked pretty high up there for their unique abilities. Wolvie's regenerative skills and Mystique's shapeshifting prowess are rather handy in any kind of superheroic crisis.
Not massive surprises, really, but what is surprising involves DC's other headlining hero. Ole Brucie Wayne, aka Batman, was deemed the least effective superhero. He's never been physically affected by anything remotely supernatural, so researchers determined that in real life he'd die from a simple landing if he'd been flying about in his cape. What we can takeaway from this study is that if Batman v Superman had taken place in the real world, it would have ended quite differently.
Images: Warner Bros., Marvel
