How Strong Is Wonder Man? Powers & Abilities Explained

Wonder Man is the last in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) to get his standalone show, which is curious given how popular Superman is and how similar Wonder Man is in terms of power. But how strong is Wonder Man and what are his powers and abilities?

Wonder Man has superhero strength, speed, can fly, and has shown to be immortal or at least amortal, with super healing powers and resistance to the usual superhero killers.

Let’s look at Wonder Man in all his glory, including his strengths, powers, abilities, and even weaknesses. He is one of the more interesting and all-powerful MCU characters, so let’s have a look at what he’s packing!

Superhero Strength

Powered by ionic energy, Simon Williams AKA Wonder Man boasts many classic powers and abilities that put him up there as one of the most powerful characters in the MCU.

In an experiment by Baron Zemo in return for getting broken out of prison, Wonder Man has enhanced strength among his many powers. While not on the level of characters such as the Hulk, it is still a very handy choice among many powers and abilities.

Marvel’s Official Handbook of the MCU lists Wonder Man in the 100-ton strength class of Marvel, which includes such big hitters as Hulk, Sentry, and Thor.

However, actual instances of Wonder Man using his strength are rare, with Wonder Man himself seeming reluctant to do so. He has also been reticent about his powers, even admitting that Thor is stronger than him.

This strength is further augmented by the training he received after joining forces with the Avengers, with special help from Captain America. Leveraging this technique with his strength makes him extremely formidable. 

Movement

Further abilities granted by Baron Zemo’s experiments also include super speed, although not quite as fast as the Flash.

Wonder Man can also fly, because if you’re not going to be at least as useful as Superman, how many missions are you going to get sent on?

He also has super reflexes, allowing him to react and block attacks to further improve his chances of survival, which are already extremely high.

Ionic Energy

Like Superman, Wonder Man can harness the energy inside him to project ionic beams from his hands (and eyes!) to vaporize his enemies, but he doesn’t often have much of a use for this.

Healing and Lifespan

Wonder Man doesn’t age nor is he susceptible to disease or infection. He is virtually invulnerable and has regenerative healing powers due to his cells being affected significantly by ionic rays.

However, it doesn’t stop here, as Wonder Man is essentially self-sustaining. 

Due to him being made of pure, ionic energy, Wonder Man no longer needs to meet the basic living organism needs such as food, sleep, water, or even oxygen.

This greatly expands the number of areas he can access, such as outer space, the bottom of the ocean, and radioactive areas.

Considering that he was given these powers by Baron Zemo, it may be natural to ask: what is preventing Wonder Man from turning on the Masters of Evil?

Well, Zemo also took a leaf out of the original Jurassic Park movie (or Bourne Legacy) to create a limit on the power, by requiring Wonder Man to get weekly or twice weekly special treatments from Zemo’s technology.

The full extent of these superpowers is played out when Wonder Man eventually dies due to nontreatment from Zemo.

It turns out that Wonder Man never died, and due to his unique physiology made almost entirely of ionic energy, he was instead just in a state of suspended animation, much like a coma. However, he was healing the entire time and was eventually brought back.

Wonder Man can consciously shapeshift into any being, having changed himself into a demon at one point but can take on almost any shape through the power of ionic energy. 

Immunities

Wonder Man is also resistant to the usual downfalls of other superheroes. Firstly, he can’t be taken over by the Symbiotes which is a bane to characters like Spider-Man. Usual environmental hazards also don’t faze Wonder Man.

Natural Abilities

Wonder Man is not totally dependent on ionic energy for all of his powers.

Wonder Man is known as being a smart, capable guy. Inheriting his father’s brains and business acumen, Wonder Man was also the successor for the business but in trying to save it from ruin he did some creative accounting that just ended up putting him in jail.

Wonder Man is also a Hollywood stuntman, going so far as to get a star on the Walk of Fame, and a generous guy who donates to philanthropic causes via his non-profit Second Chances.

Weaknesses

But if Wonder Man has all these powers, what’s to stop him from dominating the whole MCU? He does have several drawbacks and limitations that prevent him from being the one and only superhero.

As mentioned, he does need to get secret treatments from Zemo to contain the deleterious effects of the ionic energy that essentially comprises Wonder Man’s being.

While originally being sent in to take down the Avengers, Wonder Man does show he has the ability to make his own judgment about good and evil, eventually coming to the realization that what he was being tasked with was wrong.

Turning against Zemo by refusing to destroy the Avengers meant that he no longer has access to Zemo’s medications.

While trying to find solutions to his impending death, these fail because only Zemo has the knowledge to save Wonder Man. He tries Thor’s magic, as well as asking Iron Man and Hank Pym to use their scientific knowledge to try and treat him, but it’s useless.

Wonder Man has also lost his ability to father children, mainly because he’s no longer a human himself.

Liked this article? Join us on Reddit for the latest Marvel & DC news!