Thor vs. Superman: Who Would Win & Why?

Both Superman and Thor are among the strongest superheroes in their respective universes. Thor is an Asgardian god and draws his superhuman abilities from his divine heritage, while Superman is a Kryptonian alien who gains superhuman abilities thanks to the Earth’s atmosphere and environment. But, what would happen in a fight between the Man of Steel and the God of Thunder? Who would win, Thor or Superman?

Superman is stronger than Thor and would defeat him in a fight. This comparison was officially confirmed even by Marvel and DC Comics. Superman and Thor did fight in the crossover comic JLA/Avengers #2 (2003) and Superman won. He caught Mjolnir mid-air which managed to shock Thor. Superman used this element of surprise to knock down the God of Thunder.

Speaking of Thor vs Superman, there’s still a lot to be said. Throughout the rest of this article, we will look at their powers in more detail and see how the fight between Thor and Superman would play out.  

Thor vs. Superman: Who Is Stronger?

Superman and His Powers

As far as Superman goes, his powers and feats are well-documented throughout the comics and it is very easy to support every statement with evidence.

Superman has superhuman traits like strength, speed, durability, and others. He can shoot burning lasers from his eyes and ice from his mouth. He can also fly and is generally able to stand his ground in any form of physical confrontation, despite the opponent.

Although he looks like a god from a human perspective, he isn’t one. In fact, on Krypton he would’ve been like any human on Earth, but the Earth’s atmosphere and living conditions enhanced his powers in that environment.

Thor and His Powers

Thor has a lot of the same powers his father, Odin, has, but he is still significantly weaker than him. He is superhuman in most aspects (strength, durability, intelligence, longevity, etc.) but is not immortal, as one might think based on his divine attributes and heritage.

He is practically invulnerable, but he does age and, like all the other Asgardian gods, will eventually die; it’ll just take him longer than your average bear to do so.

The thing with Thor is that he has access to a variety of unimaginable powers that stem from Asgard, the best-known being the powers of Mjolnir, the Stormbreaker, and the Odin Force. Thor can also use other forms of energy and blend with them, as he did with Power Cosmic.

There’s also the forbidden Warrior’s Madness, which can turn Thor into an unstoppable beast, but also destroy his psyche, which is why it was banned by Odin.

Superman vs Thor: Who Won?

Their powers – when compared this way – are very similar. In terms of physical strength, they’re practically equal, as well as in terms of special abilities. What seems, though, is that Superman is more enduring than Thor, meaning that he could withstand Thor’s attacks with much more ease than Thor could withstand Superman’s.

So, it’s a draw, right? Well… not exactly.

Namely, most of our crossover comparisons are actually hypothetical in the sense that the characters never actually fought, so we have to envision a fictional fight between them and determine the winner based on their powers and feats in the stories.

This is not the case here, as Thor and Superman actually did fight in the crossover comic JLA/Avengers #2 (2003), written by Kurt Busiek, and Superman – won!

In this major crossover storyline, the Avengers are pitted against the Justice League in a cosmic game played between DC’s Krona, an exiled Oan, and Marvel’s Grandmaster. And while Captain America and Batman deduce that their fight is not the main point here and go on to investigate, other members of the two teams fight against each other.

In #1, at the very end, Thor hits Superman with Mjolnir and Superman proves to be vulnerable in such a situation, but their fight doesn’t actually happen until #2, in the midst of a large superhero crossover brawl.

The two exchange punches until Superman fires his lasers at Thor, wounding him. But the God of Thunder drew his hammer once more, aiming to finish Superman. At that moment – a miracle happened!

Superman caught and stopped Mjolnir in mid-air, completely surprising Thor, and then punched the God of Thunder so hard that he ended up being knocked out completely.

This was a shock for all the Avengers, who then collectively attacked Superman and managed to overpower him, but still not knock him out or defeat him. Yes, you’ve read that right – Superman survived a collective attack by several Avengers! After defeating Thor, Superman did admit that he was his toughest opponent ever.

We don’t have to go any further, since the comics officially confirm that Superman is stronger than Thor. This was an interesting fight and although it didn’t have the epic proportions we all wanted it to have, it still provided enough entertainment.

Still, this was a very controversial move among the fans, as Marvel fans thought that Busiek sold himself and Thor out because he wanted a job at DC Comics, which is – of course – not true, but fans will be fans, right?

The truth behind this result is actually a vote conducted by the creative team behind the crossover comic, all three of whom voted for Superman, agreeing that the outcome of the fight had to be like it was.

They thought that it was in accordance with the characters themselves and that it was the only realistic outcome. And we agree. Had there not been this fight, we would’ve also agreed that Superman would’ve been the winner in this fight.