In this article, we are going to compare Ikaris, one of the best-known Marvels Eternals, and DC Comics’ Superman, by most standards the strongest superhero to have ever existed. Both Ikaris and Superman are incredibly powerful, with a few differences when it comes to their powers. Who would win in a fight between Ikaris and Superman?
Superman would win in a fight against Ikaris, simply because he has more experience and has proven himself against opponents much tougher than Ikaris, though the fight between Superman and Ikaris would be an epic clash between two very similar characters. Their powers would annul each other and they would be pretty balanced out.
Saying that, there is still a lot more to be said about this fight. Let’s take a deeper look into the article and see why exactly is Superman more powerful than Ikaris.
Comparing the powers of Ikaris and Superman
Ikaris’ life force is augmented by cosmic energy and he has full mental control over his physical form and bodily processes, even when he is asleep or unconscious. As a result, he is virtually immortal, immune to disease and aging, and invulnerable to conventional forms of injury. If Ikaris were injured in any way, he could regenerate any injured or lost tissue.
Cosmic energy strengthens Ikaris’ metabolism so that he does not tire of any physical effort. He can withstand extreme temperatures through mental concentration. Ikaris can levitate himself by mentally manipulating the gravitons around him. He can also levitate other people and objects, even while they are already levitating.
Ikaris can fly through self-levitation at approximately 850 miles per hour, a speed that most other Eternals cannot match.
Ikaris has low-level psychic abilities, allowing him to scan the surface thoughts of any mindless adept than his own. He can mentally create illusions to disguise himself. Ikaris can also psionically manipulate atoms and molecules to transform the shape of an object. However, Ikaris is only a second-level adept on a scale of five levels (the fifth level being the highest) in this discipline.
He can rearrange molecules in the air to create a virtually impenetrable shield over himself. Ikaris can project cosmic energy in the form of rays from his eyes or rays and flashes from his hands. This cosmic energy, stored in specialized enclaves of cells in his body, can be used as force, heat, light, and possibly other forms of electromagnetic energy.
Ikaris can project a maximum concussive force of at least 260 pounds per square inch. He can project heat to a maximum temperature of at least 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit, hot enough to melt iron. It takes him about a minute to reach this maximum temperature.
Because Ikaris heat rays can vaporize solid objects, they are often called death rays. The maximum range for energy beams from him is approximately 200 feet. Ikaris is a fourth-level adept on a scale of five levels (the fifth level is the highest) in this discipline.
Expenditure of cosmic energy in this way continuously for several hours will temporarily deplete Ikaris’s physical strength, but not his resistance to injury, although it will temporarily increase his sensitivity to pain. He will quickly return to normal after that prolonged energy expenditure is over.
Ikaris can teleport psychically, but he prefers not to, as, like other Eternals, he finds the process of self-teleportation physically unpleasant. He can also teleport other people along with himself.
As far as Superman goes, part of his powers is conferred on him by the yellow Sun of the Earth from which he absorbs radiation, which gives him, for example, super-vision or even super-hearing, and also by the fact that his constitution is adapted to Krypton’s gravity, much greater than that of Earth, thus giving it superpowers such as the ability to fly.
Any Kryptonian exposed to our Sun can acquire the same powers (Superman fought some). Superman’s powers have varied considerably since his inception in 1938, when he was much less powerful than most of his later versions. He only possessed: super strength, invulnerability (endurance), and super speed to a relatively limited degree; it did not fly but made very large leaps of about 200 meters in length. All of his other superpowers were unknown then, and he got his strength only from the difference in gravity between Earth and Krypton, not from the yellow Sun.
The extent and intensity of Superman’s powers are not clearly defined and can vary widely depending on the needs of the story, although his basic powers (flight, super strength, super speed, invulnerability, super breath, various visions (thermal, X-ray, micro/telescopic, super-hearing) remain broadly the same; other powers appear only occasionally and are not unanimously considered to be part of Superman’s powers.
Ikaris vs. Superman: Who wins?
Comparing Superman and Ikaris is quite difficult, mostly because they are very similar when it comes to their powers and abilities. We’re not saying that Ikaris is Marvel’s version of Superman, because he is not, but the two overpowered aliens are almost identical. Ikaris has molecular control, something that Superman cannot do, but Superman has his freeze breath and is generally on a bigger level than Ikaris when it comes to strength, speed, and durability.
This made our comparison hard, as we did not know how to approach this battle properly, especially since the two are from a different universe and have quite different roles in their respective universes. Overall, a clash between them would end in a draw, we think. Their powers are similar and their powers would annul each other ultimately, but we still think that there would be a winner, ultimately.
And that is Superman! Why? Well, over the years, Superman has proven himself to be, quite probably, the toughest superhero ever. He has fought incredibly strong enemies and has shown to be practically unkillable (okay, save for Doomsday, but Doomsday would trash Ikaris around like a puppet). Ikaris never had such fights. He never had to prove his powers in such a way and that is why we think that Superman would ultimately win this fight.
