Captain Britain vs. Superman: Who Would Win & Why?
Captain Britain is an incredibly interesting character from Marvel Comics whose power levels weren’t always clear. Recently, Brian Braddock got a power upgrade that works so incredibly well that people started putting Captain Britain in the same power tier as Thor or Superman. The question is: if Captain Britain ever fought Superman, who would win, and why?
Although Captain Britain is incredibly powerful, Superman would destroy him 9/10 times. Kal-El is stronger, faster, more durable, and simply has more in his arsenal that Captain Britain can’t handle. I’m not saying he wouldn’t stand a chance, but it would take a miracle to defeat Superman.
Now, seeing that Captain Britain’s powers nowadays depend solely on his confidence level – the more confident he is, the more powerful he gets – there’s a chance he could get Superman. After all, Braddock’s powers come from a magical source, and we know that one of Kal-El’s weaknesses is magic. Let’s dissect the matchup thoroughly to see who comes out on top.
Physiology
I always like to start a character comparison with the most obvious – physical characteristics. And, If we’re to compare Superman and Captain Britain only in terms of physiology, the Kryptonian would mop the floor with Brian Braddock. Here’s a bit of history on both characters to understand where their powers are coming from.
Dr. Brian Braddock was a brilliant scientist with a PhD in physics from London’s Thames University. He worked at Darkmoor Research Centre when one day, a gang led by a mercenary called Reaver raided their labs, wanting to kidnap the scientists. Braddock escaped but was caught and rammed off the road.
On the brink of death, the wizard Merlin and his daughter Roma came to Braddock and offered to save his life, bestowing him with incredible powers if Brian agreed to become the protector of Earth. After gaining his powers, Braddock’s character changed several times. Most recently, all his powers depend on how confident Captain Britain is in himself.
At his peak, Captain Britain could lift around 100 tons – maybe slightly above. When flying, Braddock can reach speeds up to 3 Mach – that is, three times the speed of sound. The force field generated around his body grants him the ability to fly so fast without harm. It also gives him superhuman durability.
Captain Britan has enhanced reflexes, agility, and stamina that allows him to go on full throttle for 24 hours before feeling fatigued. Now, all that’s impressive, but nowhere near what Superman can do.
Kal-el was sent to Earth as an infant when his native planet Krypton was destroyed. His body started absorbing the energy of our yellow sun, giving him incredible superhuman powers – the longer Supes is on Earth, the more powerful he gets.
His power levels are virtually unmatched and unlimited. When at his best, the guy can lift trillions of tons – it’s not even defined how far it can go if Superman is “supercharged.” He never gets tired, and virtually no amount of damage can harm him.
As for Superman’s speed, he easily flies near lightspeed and has surpassed that limit numerous times. There were times when Superman even matched the Flash speed-wise.
As impressive as Captain Britain is compared to some other heroes, his physiology is not even closely matched to Superman.
Point: Superman (1:0) Captain Britain
Intelligence
If the fight between Captain Britain and Superman were to turn into a battle of the minds, then Supes would be in a pickle. Even without his powers, Brian Braddock was a brilliant mind. Excuse me, Dr. Brian Braddock. He’s an expert physicist and engineer that worked in some of the most prestigious labs and science facilities in the world.
He comes from a scientific family, as his parents were scientists too. The past part about Braddock is that he retained his genius intellect after obtaining the new powers. One might argue that his intelligence was even furthermore enhanced, seeing that he gained incredible speed of the body. Hence, it’s logical to assume his mind got faster, too.
As for Superman, he is an incredibly smart individual. Due to his other powers – most notably, his strength – people disregard Clark Kent’s wits. He’s very strategic and knows how to plan, think, and stay within his moral codes and ethics. However, his intelligence is enhanced, but not really on a genius level.
Superman never had a doctorate or expertise in scientific fields. Not that education is equivalent to intelligence, don’t get me wrong – but the best bet for Captain Britain to defeat Superman is to play the game of minds and outthink Supes.
Point: Captain Britain (1:1) Superman
Weaknesses
When it comes to weaknesses, I’d say the two are pretty evenly matched because one’s weaknesses somewhat play into the other guy’s powers.
Before getting the new confidence-based powerups, Captain Britain’s powers depended on him wearing his suit and carrying his equipment, be it the Star Sceptre, the Amulet of Right, the Sword of Might, or Excalibur. If he were out of the suit, his powers would slowly diminish to the point where Captain Britain was only human again.
The force field around him was incredibly powerful but got weaker and weaker after repeated heavy blows. That means that if Superman kept coming at him, his protection would eventually give in, and Braddock would be susceptible to damage. However, that’s a thing of the past now. Captain Britain’s powers now solely depend on his confidence.
That can be a strength and a weakness – the more confident he is, the more powerful he gets, and vice versa. Now, you can be extremely confident, but if you’re going up against Supes, and you slowly start to realize that the guy just doesn’t stop – and that he’s physically stronger – I believe your confidence would start fading – and that’s the end.
However, Supes has his weaknesses, too. The first and most well-known is Kryptonite. If Captain Britain could find some, he could not only hurt but kill Clark Kent. That being said, it’s almost impossible to find. This brings us to the second weakness – losing the yellow sun’s energy. If Supes is not around a yellow sun, he stops absorbing energy and eventually loses his powers.
But, the third weakness Supes has is the one Captain Britain could exploit the most – and that’s magic. He’s shown to be vulnerable to magical attacks and seeing that Brian Braddock’s powers came from a magical source, perhaps he could exploit that and damage Supes before Kal-El does the same to him. It could go either way, so I’ll give both characters points here.
Point(s): Superman (2:2) Captain Britain
Other Powers
Apart from what I’ve already mentioned, Captain Britain can store and use interdimensional energy to boost his superpowers. However, those powers manifested in ways we’ve already mentioned – superhuman strength, speed, stamina, durability, agility, reflexes, and flight.
Sometimes, Braddock had spectacular weaponry and equipment that made him exponentially more powerful. For instance, he currently wields the Sword of Might – one of the most powerful weapons on Earth. He also has interdimensional access to the Otherworld – a dimension created out of the collective consciousness of all Brits.
On the other hand, Supes has tons of additional powers just waiting to be used. The most well-known are his ocular powers, such as laser vision, X-ray sight, micro/macro vision, heat vision, infrared vision, etc. He also has breath superpowers, like his hurricane wind breath or freeze breath.
Combine that with his far-superior physical prowess, and you get a character that’s almost unbeatable. His additional powers shatter Captain Britain’s hands down.
Point: Superman (3:2) Captain Britain
Best Feats
Superman was around for longer and definitely faced greeted threats than Captain Britain. Don’t get me wrong – Braddock displayed some incredible accomplishments, but they aren’t even close to what Superman has been able to do – individually and as a member of the Justice League.
Superman fought and defeated Darkseid, known as DC’s Thanos, which is a wrong comparison – Darkseid is much more dangerous. There’s also Doomsday, Parasite, and Brainiac – all of which have unfathomable powers. If we’re talking about strength feats, Superman once dipped in the heart of the Sun, gaining enough power to lift quintillions of tons – with one arm.
On the other hand, Captain Britain had some awesome accomplishments, too, especially after the confidence power-up. He was confident enough to go against a fully-powered Phoenix Force, holding his ground when even Thor couldn’t.
However, that’s essentially his best feat. As for his own power levels, they never reached such outstanding levels as Supes – barring the times he wielded all those ultra-mighty artifacts, but those aren’t his own powers, then.
Superman wins this category, and it’s not even close.
Point: Superman (4:2) Captain Britain
Captain Britain Vs. Superman: Who Wins?
Captain Britain is very powerful, but he is just not on Superman’s level, despite what some die-hard fans might tell you. Superman’s physiology alone gives him such an edge over Brian Braddock that, even if there are no other powers involved in the fight, Kal-El will trump Captain Britain.
He also has the experience, and additional powers on his side. That being said, Captain Britain is no joke. I see him outsmarting Superman and exploiting his weakness to magic to at least slow Kal-El down. I’m still unsure how he would win, but it would certainly be his safest bet. In any other non-intellectual scenario, Superman wins against Captain Britain in a not-so-close fight.
