How Strong Is Superman? Man of Steel’s 10 Greatest Feats Ranked

One of the things that we know about the DC universe is that Superman has always been considered the most prominent powerhouse they can offer because he is basically right up there with Batman in terms of popularity. But unlike Batman and a lot of the other superheroes that DC has to offer, Superman almost always relies on his superhuman strength to defeat his opponents and save people.

There are only a handful of moments where someone can overpower Superman because he is a lot stronger than most other superheroes in the DC world. He is even believed to lift at least two billion tons, with his upper limit still a mystery. So, with that said, let’s look at all of the most impressive strength feats of the Man of Steel.

10. Dragging the continents apart

We all know that Superman was always strong enough to destroy entire buildings and devastate cities. But the one thing that fans forgot about was that he could literally shake the foundations of the Earth. This happened when Superman encountered magical villains who sought to push the continents back together in Earth-2 to absorb the magical power that would be created after the continents were reunited.

While Superman asked Doctor Fate’s help to defeat these villains, the magical hero gave Superman a magical chain that he could use to drag the continents back to where they belonged. Superman dragged the continents apart from one another again, using nothing but his strength and the magical chains that Fate gave him. The thing about this version of Superman is that this was the rebooted version that lost a huge chunk of the strength that he had back in the older days of the comic book world.

9. Destroying a moon

Lifting and dragging things is impressive when it comes to Superman’s strength, but his strength also carries over to his fists because he can dish out some of the strongest punches in the entire world of comic books. This was one of the things that he showcased in the ‘Welcome to Sundown Town’ storyline in the comics when he had to face the Shadow Thief, who threatened the planet by hurling the moon’s shadow toward Earth.

The Justice League of America teamed up with another group of superheroes, but Superman saved the day. Flying at a very high speed, Superman delivered a powerful punch said to have an infinite mass. This allowed him to destroy the shadow moon with a single punch as he had to put his all into the attack that saved the planet from yet another villain. The most impressive part was that the shadow moon was crashing down to Earth equally fast, making Superman’s punch more incredible.

8. Dragging entire planets

As mentioned, Superman has always been strong enough to drag entire mountains and even continents using his strength. But the thing about the Silver Age of comic books was that there were no clear guidelines regarding Superman’s strength, as the different writers just went with different strength feats. Of course, the best version of Superman (as Superboy) had superhuman strength that exceeded the adult version of Superman in the modern age.

In this storyline, the young Superman had to drag an entire galaxy’s worth of planets by attaching them using large chains. This allowed him to move the planets to an entirely different galaxy with a sun that was compatible with the inhabitants of this world. Of course, while this feat tends to be exaggerated compared to the current version of Superman, it was still one of the most impressive feats.

7. Lifting the Book of Eternity

In the comics, the Book of Eternity is infinite in its pages. While paper isn’t heavy, having infinite pages allowed the Book of Eternity to have infinite weight and mass. This means that almost no one can lift the Book of Eternity. Nevertheless, Superman was one of the few people capable of doing so because he has always been strong.

Superman has always been known to be able to lift objects with an infinite weight or mass because the upper limits of his strength have never been established. In that regard, he lifted the magical book using nothing but his raw strength. And there are only a handful of superheroes who can lift objects that are so heavy that they are infinitely heavy.

6. Moving an entire planet

While we do know that Superman was able to drag entire planets as Superboy in the Silver Age of comic books, the thing is that this was a pretty exaggerated feat. But while we know that Superman’s strength used to be exaggerated, we know that he is strong enough to push entire celestial bodies. This happened in ‘Superman’ #247.

In this storyline, the Guardians questioned whether or not Superman was hurting the development of humanity as a species with his presence, as they often rely on him to solve their problems. But what happened was that he helped the planet against a dangerous pod of spores next to a red sun. Superman had to move an entire planet to block the red sun even though the red sun weakened him. As such, he could still move an entire planet while in a weakened state.

5. Moving the Sun

Moving an entire planet is impressive, but the one thing that could top it all off is moving the Sun. That’s right. Superman was strong enough that he was able to use his raw strength to move the Sun, which is more than 300,000 times more massive than the Earth. Granted that Superman can become stronger when exposed to the Sun’s yellow rays, this celestial body is still much bigger than a planet.

Still, in ‘Superman’ #33, he tried to stop Jack Frost, who was freezing everything and everyone in sight. Superman’s solution was to move the Sun closer to the planet so that Jack Frost’s powers would be nullified. While we know that this act should have destroyed the entire planet because it would have burned everyone on Earth, it still is so impressive for Superman to move something so big with nothing but his strength.

4. Punching through universal barriers

One of the things that we know about Superman is that he has enough strength to lift heavenly objects. But the thing is that he is also so strong that he is capable of actually punching through the barriers that separate one universe from another. We saw this in the Infinite Crisis storyline wherein the Superman of Earth-2 was so strong that he punched through the barriers that separated entire universes.

What happened was that this version of Superman escaped his exile in a pocket universe. He punched the universal barrier with several punches until he could break the wall down. He and the Superman of Earth-2 fought one another as their punches continuously shattered reality, showcasing that Superman’s strength can defy the laws of physics.

3. Containing the power of a black hole in his hand

It is often said that a black hole has the strongest gravitational pull in the entire universe because nothing, including light, can escape its pull. Nothing in the universe can escape a black hole or even contain its power. But because Superman casually breaks the laws of physics occasionally, it was inevitable for him to defy a black hole.

This happened in ‘Justice League of America’ #77, wherein the Atom found a device that contained a small black hole. The device was destroyed, and Superman needed to contain the black hole’s power within the palm of his hand to prevent it from expanding. Superman flew into space with the black hole in his hand and threw it there so that it would never be able to destroy the planet. This showcases how strong Superman is, as his strength in one hand was so great that he could use it to contain the gravitational pull of a black hole.

2. Breaking Highfather’s staff out of the Source Wall

In the world of DC, the Source Wall is a barrier that surrounds the known DC universe and is unbreakable. Many gods have tried to break through the wall, only for them to get trapped in it. In that regard, countless cosmic entities have tried to break through the Source Wall but ended up getting stuck in it and becoming part of it. This means this wall is one of the strongest structures in all of DC.

But in ‘Superman/Batman’ #41, Superman used his heat vision and strength to remove the Highfather’s staff from the wall, proving that he could overpower the wall itself. Take note that the Source Wall has withstood the power of some of the strongest gods and cosmic beings in DC, only for Superman to find a way to damage it well enough to remove the Highfather’s staff from it.

1. Breaking through infinity itself

Of course, the thing about the universe is that the very barriers of time and space are the strongest. Someone would have to be incredibly strong and fast to defy the laws of physics to break through the barriers and walls that time and space create. But there was nothing beyond the reach of Superman during the Silver Age as he was at his strongest during this era in the history of comic books.

In one of the issues of DC, what happened was that Superman flew through space so fast that he could build up enough strength to break through time and space and burst the very bonds of infinity. This showcased just how strong Superman is when he combines his incredible speed with his almost unlimited strength. As such, he is at his strongest whenever he is flying at speeds that tend to be unimaginable.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments below!

Liked this article? Join the community on Reddit for the latest Marvel & DC news!