All 40 Versions of Superman, Ranked From Weakest To Most Powerful

DC fans know that Superman is one of the most powerful characters ever created. Since he first hit the comic book scene, the Man of Steel has only grown in power, achieving the strength of a literal god. But thanks to the resets to DC’s continuity, there are many iterations of Clark Kent. Not to mention the many variants of Superman across the DC multiverse.

With so many powerful figures in DC canon, the question must be asked: How many Supermen are there, and how do they compare to one another? Read on to discover every variant and version of Superman, ranked from weakest to the most powerful.

45 ‘Realworlds’ Superman Was Not a Man of Steel

Multiverse Designation: Unknown

The Realworlds Superman comes from an Earth similar to the real one where the Man of Steel is a fictional character. Eddie Dial buffed up in prison and became a neighborhood tough guy, but he’s no more powerful than an advanced weightlifter. Sure he’s strong, but he’s not exactly Superman strong.

44 New Order’s Superman Spent Years Without His Powers

Multiverse Designation: Unknown

As stalwart a hero as Superman is, Nightwing: The New Order presented a world where Superman was de-powered by Dick Grayson. To make up for accidentally killing Batman, Clark continued to hone his fighting abilities without enhanced strength or Kryptonian powers and actually wound up becoming a fairly effective hero. This Superman eventually got his powers back, but he spent more than a decade without anything ‘Super’ to his name and in the process, discovered the strength hidden inside him.

43 Golden Age Superman Set the Standard for Future Clarks

Multiverse Designation: Earth-2

Superman may impressed the world when he first debuted with his ability to run faster than a locomotive and leap tall buildings in a single bound. But compared to the counterparts that would debut down the line, he’s fairly weak. This Superman can’t fly and can be easily harmed by nuclear weapons.

42 Cyborg Superman is Terrifying, but Weak Compared to Legit Supermen

Multiverse Designation: Earth-0

Cyborg Superman has some highly advanced weaponry in his bio-organic frame. He’s got powerful levels of technopathy and became an important figure in the Sinestro Cops War. Not to mention he’s functionally immortal. But he’s far, far weaker than the genuine article and nowhere near capable of Superman’s more impressive feats.

41 Supersaur Combined Superman’s Strength With the Awesomeness of a Dinosaur

Multiverse Designation: Earth-27

In the prehistoric world of The Jurassic League, the world is protected by anthropomorphic heroes, including the Superman-like Supersaur. Supersaur is a powerful Brachiosaurus who shares the same range of powers as his Prime counterpart. He’s not as strong as most Supermen, but he’s one of the strongest members of the all-dinosaur League.

40 Lex Luthor Took On The Role Of Superman

Multiverse Designation: Earth-0

While Lex Luthor and Superman have been rivals for ages, there have been several times when Lex Luthor has decided to step up and take on the Superman logo for himself. This usually happens after some great sacrifice, like the New 52 Superman dying, which inspires Lex to uphold Superman’s ideals. Using his Superman suit, Lex is a pretty powerful combatant.

Lex Luthor’s scientific genius is still a big part of this version of the character. He uses his technological skills to make his Superman abilities even better and develop new crime-fighting tools.

Not on the level of a Kryptonian, but Lex’s genius has always been his most dangerous weapon. While it might seem hard to believe, Lex was a genuine superhero for a while, and Metropolis was completely safe under his watch.

39 Super-Soldier Combines Superman & Captain America’s Best Traits

Multiverse Designation: Earth-1996

Despite being the Amalgam Comics’ version of Superman and Captain America, he’s a bit weaker than the latter. In the Amalgam Universe, Clark Kent gained enhanced many of Superman’s powers thanks to cells taken from an alien corpse. But even with the tactical brilliance of Captain America on top of that, this Superman is still pretty weak.

38 The Dark Knight Returns Superman Lacked Much of His Usual Strength

Multiverse Designation: Earth-31

This Clark is a Superman no doubt and can pull off many of the feats one would expect of the hero. However, this world’s Batman easily clobbered him in their iconic fight with a little prep time. Not to mention this Man of Tomorrow is nearly killed by a nuclear warhead.

37 Steel’s Ingenuity Makes Him a Worthy Superman Replacement

Multiverse Designation: Earth-0

When Superman died at Doomsday’s hands, no one knew if he’d be coming back. John Henry Irons doesn’t have powers, Kryptonian or otherwise. But he believed in Superman and used his intelligence and engineering skills to fashion himself a suit that turned Steel into an iconic hero in his own right.

36 Post-Crisis DC Downgraded Superman, But Only Briefly

Multiverse Designation: Earth-0, Post-Crisis

After Crisis on Infinite Earths, Superman was brought down a few pegs from his Silver and Bronze Age equivalents. However, this updated version of Clark grew in power over time, eventually becoming strong enough to rival his older incarnations. But this Clark had to work for the might Superman is known for.

35 Electric Superman Switched Up Clark’s Powers

Multiverse Designation: Earth-0

Superman lost most of his usual powers after the battle with the Sun-Eater in the The Final Night affected his abilities. However, this began Clark’s Electric Superman phase and in addition to an iconic costume, Superman gained some nifty and useful powers like turning into pure energy and instant teleportation.

34 Ultraman is a Dangerous, Deadly Superman

Multiverse Designation: Earth-3

The evil Superman is a pretty serious threat. Kal-Il is nearly as strong as most Supermen, at least powerful enough to kill several of his counterparts from across the multiverse. What makes him truly scary is that Ultraman actually becomes stronger when exposed to kryptonite (that he prefers to freebase).

33 Bizarro is Odd, But He’s Not a Weakling

Multiverse Designation: Earth-29

Bizarro might be a failed clone of Superman, but he’s got some serious firepower to his name. Literally, Bizarro has flame breath instead of freeze breath. And instead of heat vision, Bizarro has freeze vision. However, he’s got Superman-level strength and can be quite destructive, even when he’s trying to help.

32 Even Locked Up, Flashpoint Superman is Still Pretty Strong

Multiverse Designation: Earth-0, Flashpoint timeline

In the upside down and awful Flashpoint timeline, Superman wasn’t found by the Kents, but instead the United States Military. Despite living underground and growing up underdeveloped, this Superman was just as strong as any other Kryptonian exposed to yellow solar rays, though he lacked the training and self-restraint as his normal timeline counterpart.

31 Superwoman is Just as Powerful as Superman

Multiverse Designation: Earth-11

Don’t be fooled by first appearances. Though she doesn’t look like Clark Kent, Superwoman has all of Superman’s powers. The only thing that differentiates her from the Prime Superman is their gender. Beyond that, Laurel is just as powerful as a standard Superman and has the average collection of Kryptonian powers like flight, enhanced strength, and heat vision. Even if she hasn’t had the chance to show off as many feats as her male counterpart, Superwoman is a force unto herself.

30 Vampire Superman Was A Terrifying Look At The Man Of Steel

Multiverse Designation: Earth-63

In the dark world of Earth-63, a secret society of vampires slowly starts taking over the world. They achieve this by manipulating and dividing the Justice League. By the time the league learns who the real enemy is, it’s too late, as Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and Superman are all turned into vampires.

From here, Superman takes on the name Baron Cinder and lords over one of the many vampire bases. Due to Superman’s conflicting nature as a Kryptonian and a Vampire, he must wear special armor to filter sunlight into his body and retain his powers. Weaker than most versions of Superman, but still powerful.

29 New 52 Superman Updated Clark for the 21st Century

Multiverse Designation: Earth-0

Just like how Crisis on Infinite Earths brought Clark down a bit, this Superman was also downgraded in power after Flashpoint reset the DC Universe’s continuity. However, he was still strong enough to take on powerful threats even in the early part of his career such as Darkseid and later, the Crime Syndicate of America.

28 Superman is Still Going Strong in His ‘Beyond’ Years

Multiverse Designation: Earth-12

Bruce Wayne may be past his prime in the Batman Beyond years, but the same cannot be said for the Man of Steel. Yes, this Clark is older, but thanks to his alien physiology, he doesn’t age at the same rate as humans and is still one of the biggest powerhouses in Justice League Unlimited. Of course, he does show some signs of aging, but beyond a few wrinkles and gray hairs, this Superman is going to be protecting the world for at least a few more decades.

27 Overman Was A Superman Raised By Adolf Hitler

Multiverse Designation: Earth 10

The Superman of Earth 10, also known as the Overman, was a complicated man. Born in Nazi Germany, he happily helped his father, Adolf Hitler, overthrow the rest of the world. It wasn’t until years later, after returning from an adventure in space, that Superman saw just how far Hitler had gone to win the war.

While Overman stayed loyal to Germany and continued to watch over the world, he disavowed Hitler’s actions and his guilt over the whole thing would eventually lead to the dissolution of his empire. While Overman isn’t particularly stronger than the average Superman, he’s one of the few to successfully conquer Earth.

26 Dark Knights of Steel’s Superman Was More Than Just His Powers

Multiverse Designation: Earth-118

Dark Knights of Steel’s Man of Tomorrow is virtually identical to the standard Superman. He’s got the same powers and roughly the same level of strength. However, Prince Kal-El was raised in a world of fantasy and grew up leaning how to fight with sword and steel. This version of Clark might not have too many incredible feats, but he’s one of the best fighters among all of the Superman variants in the multiverse.