A seven-year study at the Univeristy of Leicester has used actual scientific research to answer that age-old question: Which superhero is the greatest of all time?
After rifling through endless lists of Marvel and DC greats, they came up with a scientifically determined 10-person list that’s ranked as follows:
1) Superman
2) Wolverine
3) Mystique
4) Thor
5) The Flash
6) Spider-Man
7) Batman
8) The Lizard
9) Iron Man
10) Silver Surfer
And before you have an aneurism over how Jennifer Lawrence’s scaly blue shape shifter could possibly have topped The Dark Knight, hear ’em out. The Leicester researchers carefully weighed their options, comparing feasibility of powers and abilities to energy and equipment, ultimately with this very geeked-out document.
Here’s an example of their work as to why Wolverine, Mystique, and Thor earned such high rankings: “Wolverine, Thor and Mystique are also in the upper-tier of superheroes, having accelerated regenerative abilities, high energy output and being capable of gene manipulation.”
And here’s why Batman only made a measly 7th place: “Student calculations suggest the most ill-equipped superhero could be Batman, who would struggle to survive a landing after gliding due to the velocity of his movement.”
Still curious as to how they came to these results (and who the hell Black Bolt is)? Get your nerd on with more superhero stats right here.