Doctor Strange vs. Superman: Who Would Win?

Doctor Strange and Superman belong to different universes. However, both are right at the top when it comes to the strongest, most powerful superheroes in existence in their respective universes. We’ll try to answer who would win in a fight between Doctor Strange and Superman?
A fight between Superman and Doctor Strange would be a battle of magic versus physical strength. If Superman uses his speed to strike first, it could be lethal for Strange before it even begins. But, if Strange uses any of his magic, the fight would go in a different direction.
The only physical weakness that Superman has is Kryptonite. However, he’s also vulnerable to magic, and Doctor Strange is the Sorcerer Supreme, meaning his magic is as powerful as it gets. It would be a nasty, close fight, but let’s break down both characters to determine who would win a potential fight between the two.
Doctor Strange and His Powers
Doctor Strange is a character from the Marvel Universe. Stan Lee and Steve Ditko created the character that first appeared in 1963. Stephen Strange was a world-class surgeon, able to pull off operations that other surgeons wouldn’t even dare to try.
However, after a devastating car crash, he lost his hand mobility, so he sought help and healing in the mystic arts, which he learned from The Ancient One. After intense training in mystic martial arts and magic, and through a road of self-discovery, he became the Sorcerer Supreme, a Master of the Mystic Arts and protector of Earth.
Let’s take a closer look at his best powers.
Master of Mystic Arts
As we know, Mystic Arts involve unfathomable magic that can bend time and space. Doctor Strange is the Master of Mystic Arts and the Sorcerer Supreme, meaning his magic skills are virtually unmatched.
Doctor Strange can do virtually anything with magic – send beings to other dimensions, conjure all sorts of spells with only a word, etc. He can also teleport, use astral projections, shoot energy beans, conjure magic discs as weapons or protective shields, etc.
Martial Arts
Although Strange isn’t physically strong, his skillset involves a lot of martial arts – in the comics, he’s a master of 110 different martial arts. That means he is more than capable of pure hand-to-hand combat.
Combining his intense knowledge of martial arts with his magic skills, his lack of physical strength becomes virtually irrelevant.
Genius Intelligence
Before he even became the Sorcerer Supreme, Stephen Strange was one of the world’s best surgeons with spectacular intelligence. He was a genius before he ever ventured into the Mystic Arts. After mastering the Arts, he used his incredible intelligence to outsmart his enemies.
Mystical Artifacts
Strange gets a lot of his powers from the mystical artifacts he possesses. For instance, his Cloak of Levitation gives him the ability to fly, but it also defends him from potential damage a lot of times by getting off his shoulders and lunging at opponents to harm them or at least slow them down.
Doctor Strange also has the Sling Ring that enables him to make holes in reality, taking you from one point to another. Therefore, he can teleport himself or his enemies to another dimension if he wants to simply by waving his hands in a circle.
However, his strongest artifact is the Eye of Agamotto that contains one of the Infinity Stones inside – the Time Stone. It allows Strange to freeze, turn back, and manipulate time to his liking. He can also see in the future and observe the past of all his enemies (which can help him learn their weaknesses).
Superman and His Powers
Superman belongs to the DC Universe, Marvel’s biggest rivals. The character came to life in 1938 in comics created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Superman’s real name is Kal-El. He comes from the planet Krypton belonging to a whole different galaxy where a red sun shines. His birth parents sent him to Earth to save him as their planet suffered destruction.
Humans adopted him and gave him the name Clark Kent, while the Earth’s atmosphere and our yellow Sun gave him the superpowers he has. Away from the radiation of the yellow Sun, his powers would diminish, even disappear.
Superhuman Physical Abilities
Superman’s biggest ability is his spectacular strength. He gained his powers from solar radiation, making him incredibly strong. He entered the Sun to save a group of scientists in one comic, which supercharged his abilities, enabling him to lift 200 quintillion tons with only one hand, saying he believes he could do more.
He’s also able to move incredibly fast. On some occasions, he moves faster than the speed of light. The sun radiation powers him, so his stamina is also almost limitless (if he’s not weakened), and all of his senses are heightened, especially his vision and hearing.
Invulnerability and Healing
You can’t harm Superman with any Earth-made physical weapons or strikes. Even if he gets nicked, his healing abilities make him well in just moments. His only physical weakness is Kryptonite – which is extremely rare to find on Earth, so he’s virtually unbeatable.
However, we’re talking about physical weapons. Superman never showed resilience to magic – it can weaken him, even turned into animals, etc. So, he is physically invulnerable and can heal himself at incredible speeds, but he is vulnerable to kryptonite and magic.
Superhuman Powers
Other than his superhuman physical abilities, Superman has numerous powers that make him so deadly. He can fly without any help, and he has an extremely strong breath that can freeze or blow away enemies and objects like a hurricane.
His biggest powers, though, come from his vision. He has X-ray, infrared, and heat vision, able to shoot laser beams out of his eyes.
Doctor Strange vs. Superman: Who Is Stronger?
With all that being said, who is stronger between the two: Doctor Strange or Superman? Well, in terms of brute physical force, Superman is above and beyond Strange. His power heavily relies on his strength and speed, so physically speaking, Superman is incomparably stronger.
However, Doctor Strange’s power doesn’t lie in his physical strength. He is a master martial artist, but he is a sorcerer first, meaning he heavily relies on magic, spells, incantations, deceptions, magical artifacts, etc. In that department, he destroys Superman by a landslide.
So, who would win if they fight? I have to say, this is one of the toughest, and it would depend heavily on the situation.
Superman is a lot faster, so if he can strike first before Strange ever uses his magic, he could literally turn Strange into vapor, ending the fight before it even begins.
However, Strange has all the skills and tricks in the book. Superman is vulnerable to magic; therefore, Doctor Strange can harm him. Also, his ability to freeze and change time is something that makes him virtually indestructible. Even if Superman gets him, he can just turn back time and go at it again.
He can also see into the future, predicting Superman’s moves and outcomes, while looking in the past can help him reveal Superman’s weaknesses (Kryptonite), sources of power (Sun radiation), and then use his knowledge to destroy Kal-El.
He could take the fight to another galaxy, away from our Sun, weakening Superman’s powers, possibly even neutralizing them completely.
In the end, if it proves too much, he can simply cast a spell to banish Superman to another dimension.
To conclude, if Superman can catch Strange by surprise, his speed and strength would demolish the Sorcerer Supreme. In any other situation, however, you have to give Strange the nod. He simply has too many skills, powers, and abilities that would neutralize Superman’s physical dominance.