1 Justice League Hero Is Officially Strong Enough to Beat Superman

Superman may be DC's strongest hero, but one of his Justice League allies has proved they have what it takes to beat down the Man of Steel.

While Superman is known as DC's strongest hero, there is one Justice League ally who can reliably take him down in a fair fight. This hero's power has been established in various stories, confirming that even the Man of Steel has cause to watch his back.

That hero is Captain Atom, aka Nathaniel Adam. Nathaniel Adam didn't start off wanting to become a superhero when he joined the Air Force, he just wanted to help protect his country. However, after being framed for a crime he did not commit, Adam was given the choice of being executed or "volunteering" for a secret military experiment. Naturally, he chose the latter. As a result of the experiment, Adam's body was infused with a strange alien material, known as Dilustel. The metal allows Captain Atom to access the quantum field, granting him a range of powers, including superhuman strength, energy absorption, and invulnerability. While Captain Atom has often worked alongside the military, he's also a Justice League hero in good standing.

Captain Atom Can Destroy Superman

Captain Atom and Superman's best all-out fight was in Tom Taylor and Jheremy Raapack's Injustice: Gods Among Us #32. In this alternate reality, Superman became a fascistic dictator after he was tricked into killing Lois Lane, with Batman and some other underground heroes fighting against him. When Captain Atom is unleashed against Superman, he pummels the Man of Steel, unleashing nuclear blasts which quickly wear him down. Captain Atom is about to kill Superman when Wonder Woman - far more vicious in this reality - slices open his Dilustel layer, causing an out of control nuclear reaction which threatens countless lives. A true hero, Captain Atom leaves the fight to explode in space, unwilling to hurt innocents. However, before he does so, he erases any doubt that he can beat Superman.

Even Superman's Allies Know Captain Atom Would Win

While the characters of Injustice have the same powers as in DC's main canon, the publisher also went out of its way to assure fans that Captain Atom could beat Superman in Tom King and Tony S. Daniel's Batman #76. In this issue, Captain Atom takes on Gotham Girl - a brainwashed superhuman who can become stronger than Superman by activating powers that drastically cut down her life expectancy. Gotham Girl beats Captain Atom unconscious, but the Bat-Family later admit that he wasn't wrong to think he might win. Tim Drake describes Captain Atom as "a level four meta who could take Superman," confirming that even Clark Kent's close allies in the Bat-Family know Captain Atom is his equal.

Why Is Captain Atom So Strong?

Like many superheroes who today exist in the DC Universe, Captain Atom began life with another publisher - in this case, Charlton Comics. His early stories established a staggering power level, and he even inspired the omnipotent Doctor Manhattan from Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen. Despite this, Captain Atom has never been as popular as Superman. Accordingly, DC tends to keep Captain Atom on the sidelines - he's spent a significant amount of time dead or off-world - and often presents him as an agent of the government, making him less free to act than Superman.

Ultimately, it's good for the DC Universe to have some people in it who can beat Superman. The Man of Steel is as powerful as it gets, but he was never meant to be totally unbeatable. Fans of Clark Kent can rest assured that he's still the physically stronger hero, though it's close - Captain Atom is strong enough to beat down the Man of Steel, but it's his invulnerability and other powers that really seal the deal in a fight, and Superman is still DC's most physically mighty hero. But while Superman remains DC's strongest hero, the publisher has been consistent on the idea that his Justice League ally Captain Atom can reliably take him in a fight.