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Entertainment Weekly's pick of the 50 Most Powerful Superheroes

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kswiston

Member
Last week we had a thread about Entertainment Weekly naming Wonder Woman the most powerful Superhero in their (then) upcoming Top 50 Superhero list. Penguin made a thread about it here: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1293104

The latest issue of Entertainment weekly has the entire Top 50 list. Instead of posting it 200+ posts into a week old thread centered on Wonder Woman, I thought there would be enough interest to just start a new thread for the complete list.

EW ranked 155 characters (or character conglomerates) on a 100 point scale to come up with their ranking. Characters were scored a maximum of 10 points for each of the following eight attributes. Bankability, Character Design, Modern Relevance, Mythology, Nemeses, Originality, Personality, and Powers. The final scored attribute was Cultural Impact, where characters could earn up to 20 points.

If you want to read the individual write-ups or see the score breakdowns, you can buy today's issue on Entertainment Weekly on newsstands, or digitally. If you don't want to spend money, to can try the magazine free for 30 days on Kindle and cancel after reading it. Obviously no scans here.

EW's Top 50 Most Powerful Superheroes (point totals are out of 100)

1) Wonder Woman - 90.3 points
2) Spider-man - 90.0 points
3) Batman - 89.7 points
4) Superman - 87.2 points
5) Wolverine - 85.3 points
6) Iron Man - 82.8 points
7) Captain America - 80.3 points
8) The Hulk - 79.2 points
9) Black Panther - 77.7 points
10) The Flash (Barry Allen, Wally West, who cares. The costume is what matters) - 77.5 points
11) Buffy (the Vampire Slayer) - 77.0 points
12) Deadpool - 74.9 points
13) Thor - 74.7 points
14) Jean Grey - 74.3 points
15) Storm - 70.5 points
16) Daredevil - 69.2 points
17) Green Lantern (all 7200) - 67.5 points
18) Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) - 67.4 points
19) Professor X - 67.2 points
20) Robin (All of them, because they are basically interchangeable I guess!) - 67.0 points
21) Raphael (TMNT) - 66.9 points
22) Black Widow - 66.8 points
23) Supergirl - 66.5 points
24) The Thing (Fantastic Four) - 64.6 points
25) Green Arrow - 64.0 points
26) Doctor Strange - 63.8 points
27) Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers, Sorry Slayven) - 63.7 points
28) Silver Surfer - 63.3 points
29) Luke Cage - 63.0 points
30) Aquaman - 62.9 points
31) Nick Fury (Chocolate and Vanilla versions) - 62.4 points
32) Hellboy - 62.2 points
33) Human Torch (both Storm and Hammond, because why not?!) - 61.7 points
34) Rogue - 61.5 points
35) Falcon - 61.3 points
36) Nightcrawler - 60.8 points
37) Ant-Man (All of them. Pym is no better than O'Grady to EW) - 60.4 points
38) Vision - 60.3 points
39) Jessica Jones - 60.1 points
40) Kitty Pryde - 59.8 points
41) Mr Fantastic - 59.6 points
42) Blade - 59.3 points
43) Beast (X-Men) - 59 points
44) The Punisher - 58.4 points
45) Cyclops (almost as important as Blade) - 57.8 points
46) The Invisible Woman - 57.5 points
47) Shazam (Captain Marvel for nerds who refuse to accept the 5 year old name change) - 57.4 points
48) Morpheus/Dream (Gaiman Sandman) - 57 points
49) Hawkeye - 56.2 points
50) Dr. Manhattan - 56.1 points


Bonus Top 10 villains list (no points listed)
1) Magneto
2) The Joker
3) Kingpin
4) Doctor Doom
5) Catwoman
6) Loki
7) Ozymandias (Watchmen)
8) Venom
9) Galactus
10) Dark Phoenix


Top 5 by Attribute:

Cultural Impact (Out of 20)
Wonder Woman - 20 points
Batman - 20 points
Superman - 20 points
Captain America - 18.3 points
Black Panther - 18.3 points


Bankability (Out of 10)
Spider-Man - 10 points
Batman - 10 points
Superman - 10 points
Iron Man - 10 points
The Hulk (lol) - 10 points


Character Design (Out of 10)
Deadpool - 9.7 points
Batman - 9.3 points
Jean Grey (I assume her phoenix outfit) - 9.0 points
Spider-man - 8.7 points
Wolverine - 8.7 points
Storm - 8.7 points
Silver Surfer - 8.7 points


Modern Relevance (Out of 10)
Wonder Woman - 10 points
Batman - 10 points
Iron Man - 10 points
Black Panther - 9.7 points
Deadpool - 9.7 points


Mythology (Out of 10)
Batman - 9.7 points
Spider-man - 9.3 points
Superman - 9.3 points
Wolverine - 9.3 points
Wonder Woman - 9.0 points
Captain America - 9.0 points
Morpheus/Dream - 9.0 points
The Thing - 9.0 points (no idea)


Nemeses (Out of 10)
Batman - 10 points
Spider-Man - 9.7 points
Superman - 8.7 points
The Flash - 8.7 points
Buffy - 8.7 points
(Jean Grey was the only other one over 8 with an 8.0. One assumes that earthworms and other detritivores number among her nemeses)


Originality (Out of 10)
Wonder Woman - 9.3 points
Buffy - 8.7 points
Black Panther - 8.3 points
Wolverine - 8.3 points
Batman - 8.0 points
Superman - 8.0 points
The Hulk - 8.0 points
Jessica Jones - 8.0 points


Personality (Out of 10)
Spider-Man - 9.5 points
Buffy - 9.3 points
Wonder Woman - 9.0 points
Iron Man - 8.8 points
Deadpool - 8.8 points
(Cyclops got a 3.5)


Powers (Out of 10)
Superman - 9.7 points
Dr Manhattan - 9.7 points
Jean Grey - 9.0 points
The Flash - 8.7 points
Green Lantern - 8.7 points
 

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
Saitama is the real Number 1, they just don't know it yet.

goofysmile.png
 

adj_noun

Member
1) Magneto
2) The Joker
3) Kingpin
4) Doctor Doom
5) Catwoman
6) Loki
7) Ozymandias (Watchmen)
8) Venom
9) Galactus
10) Dark Phoenix

Poor MCU.

Does Venom at least come with Spidey or is that still Sony.
 

SpaceWolf

Banned
Any of these lists that don't happen to feature Doctor Manhattan as the immediate number one is worthy of no man's time.

Edit: I was too quick to judge. It's not just based on power levels. Forgive me, forum gods
 
3 DC top 5, and yet they made 2 duds this year, save us AT&T, send some of those WB exec to another department and get rid of Synder vision..
 

jediyoshi

Member
Using powerful to mean influential is a strange choice of words and will only lead to drive by posts of how stupid the list is.

Next gen click bait. It's the views of people wanting to discuss powerful super heroes plus the engagement of people who don't read anything past the list. Devilish.
 

kswiston

Member
I'm slowly updating the OP with top 5 scores in each attribute (more if ties take it past 5). If you want more detail than that, buy/try out the magazine.

I do find it hilarious that knock off Spider-man is the best design in comics, while actual spider-man is tied for 4th.
 
Unless I am mistaken, Dream is the only character to not have a live-action adaptation at any point, right? Seems like a left-field entry into the horrible list.

Captain Marvel/Shazam at least had that 70's show, but is pretty obscure now.

Bankability (Out of 10)
Spider-Man - 10 points
Batman - 10 points
Superman - 10 points
Iron Man - 10 points
The Hulk (lol) - 10 points

Maybe those Hulk Hands sell REALLY, REALLY well.
 
Don't really understand how wonder woman is #1. In terms of personality and originality she's not that interesting, in terms of bankability, modern relevance, and cultural impact I'd say she's well below batman, Superman, and Spiderman or even iron man now. I just don't see any individual category she's actually #1 in.

I'd say at max she's #4.
 

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
Doesn't Spidey merch sell far more than the next couple heroes combined or something along those lines? I thought the Spiderman brand is the biggest out their by far so should he be a few points above the others in bankability.
 

kewlmyc

Member
For those who come to complain about powerlevels and don't read the OP, this is about mostly impact on the real world via:

Bankability
Character Design
Modern Relevance
Mythology
Nemeses
Originality
Personality
Powers
Cultural Impact

Considering this, yeah. This list makes sense. Wonder Woman did a lot for women since her introduction.
 

NewFresh

Member
Don't really understand how wonder woman is #1. In terms of personality and originality she's not that interesting, in terms of bankability, modern relevance, and cultural impact I'd say she's well below batman, Superman, and Spiderman. I just don't see any individual category that or even iron man now. she's actually #1 in.

I'd say at max she's #4.
She has a movie coming out soon and this is entertainment weekly. This is and advertisement piece and nothing else.
 

kmfdmpig

Member
Looks at attributes they chose to rank, looks at Wonder Woman in the top spot...............................QUE?

I was surprised that nemeses played a role in their ranking as she is so far behind the other big ones in that regard:
Batman
Flash
Spider-Man
and Superman all have amazing rogues galleries. Wonder Woman has a few decent enemies, but it's not at all comparable to the others.
 

kswiston

Member
I was surprised that nemeses played a role in their ranking as she is so far behind the other big ones in that regard:
Batman
Flash
Spider-Man
and Superman all have amazing rogues galleries. Wonder Woman has a few decent enemies, but it's not at all comparable to the others.

Wonder Woman got a 7/10 for her nemeses, which is still too high.
 

kswiston

Member
Alright, Top 5 per attribute has been added to the OP. Superman and Dr. Manhattan win for the Powers part of Powerful (in the Top 50)
 

kmfdmpig

Member
Wonder Woman got a 7/10 for her nemeses, which is still too high.

Outside of the top 11, the X-Men, Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Punisher, Green Arrow, Green Lantern, and Shazam she probably has one of the better ones, but those are all so far ahead that I'd say a 4/10 or 5/10 would have been more reasonable.

If Spider-Man, Flash, and Batman are a ten then Superman should be a 9 and most of the others on the list should be a 1 or a 2 for villains.
 

Afrodium

Banned
Mythology (Out of 10)
Batman - 9.7 points
Spider-man - 9.3 points
Superman - 9.3 points
Wolverine - 9.3 points
Wonder Woman - 9.0 points
Captain America - 9.0 points
Morpheus/Dream - 9.0 points
The Thing - 9.0 points (no idea)

The Thing has great mythology man

qjeWS7u.jpg
 

Htown

STOP SHITTING ON MY MOTHER'S HEADSTONE
If they switched Wonder Woman and Superman's places, it would be a decent list.
 

Seesaw15

Member
Character Design (Out of 10)
Deadpool - 9.7 points
Batman - 9.3 points
Jean Grey (I assume her phoenix outfit) - 9.0 points
Spider-man - 8.7 points
Wolverine - 8.7 points
Storm - 8.7 points
Silver Surfer - 8.7 points

Hmmmm
 

kswiston

Member
While I am sure some of it was point padding or subtracting to get the top 15-20 they were looking for, I am curious how they arrived at some of the scores.

Nemeses for the X-men are all over the place. Jean got an 8. Nightcrawler got a 6. The rest were somewhere between those two, despite being on the same teams and mostly fighting the same villains.
 

Dai101

Banned
For those who come to complain about powerlevels and don't read the OP, this is about mostly impact on the real world via:

Bankability
Character Design
Modern Relevance
Mythology
Nemeses
Originality
Personality
Powers
Cultural Impact

Considering this, yeah. This list makes sense. Wonder Woman did a lot for women since her introduction.

Fair enough. Then how is that WW is no.1?
 

kswiston

Member
Fair enough. Then how is that WW is no.1?

They gave her good to great scores in everything.

Bankability - 9.3
Character Design - 8.3
Modern Relevance - 10
Mythology - 9.0
Nemeses - 7.0
Originality - 9.3
Personality - 9.0
Powers - 8.3
Cultural Impact - 20
 

smurfx

get some go again
Who are the interesting wonder women villains?

Ares, cheeta?
i don't know of any major characters in the wonder woman universe besides her. well other than batman and superman i don't really know of too many bad guys in the dc universe. most of the stuff i know is from the tv shows.
 

kswiston

Member
Batman got a 5.8 and Superman got a 6.5 in personality. I guess they shouldn't have spent so long screaming about Martha and making pissy faces in BvS if they wanted to be #1.
 
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