As the big-hitters in DC’s Justice League and Marvel’s Avengers respectively, Superman and Thor are often the subject of debates between fans regarding who would win if they were to fight.

Of course, the pair did come to blows in the JLA/Avengers crossover, but crossovers are rarely reliable in terms of their writing quality (Wolverine beat Lobo thanks to a fan vote in one, for heaven’t sake) and they aren’t considered canon 99% of the time anyway.

Moreover, individual showings are rarely good for gauging character powers – otherwise Spider-Man would be more powerful than Firelord, Black Panther would be more powerful than the Silver Surfer and a python would be more powerful than the Hulk!

We want to know who would win between Superman and Thor based on consistent showings and based on a fight without any P.I.S. (plot-induced stupidity) i.e. in a fight in which both characters were going all-out to defeat the other – it’s the only way to decide who’s the most powerful once and for all.

So, we’re going to give our brief input on the matter (based on the classic depictions of each character (those being post-crisis Superman and 616 Thor), but we also want to know what YOU think. That’s the key here – we want YOUR opinions about who wins this fight. By all means, read what we have to say, but do comment with your own thoughts in the comments section below!

Strength

Strength-wise, Superman and Thor are in the same ballpark.

DC’s Kryptonian hero used to be able to tow several planets back in the pre-crisis days – and he can still bench-press individual planets for days on end in the New 52 timeline – but classically he is capable of moving and cracking planets with great effort. He has held mini black holes in his hands, punched opponents into space and caught and thrown moon-sized spaceships.

Marvel’s Asgardian hero has casually lifted the biggest mountain in his home realm, he has punched so hard that he nearly killed the Hulk himself in a physical altercation, he has opened a black hole through the sheer impact of his punches alone and he made a nearby moon crumble in the same way.

How can you possibly separate that?

Winner: Tie.

Durability

Just like with regards to their strength, the durability levels of Superman and Thor are relatively similar.

Both characters have survived nuclear bombs going off in their direct proximity, both characters have survived being inside a sun (of course, in Superman’s case, this can actually amp him if it’s a yellow sun) and both have casually shaken off bullets and punches from characters capable of cracking planets.

Feats more unique to each character include Superman surviving the Source Wall exploding near him and Thor absorbing a bomb that was supposed to erase all divinity from the past, present and future.

It’s really hard to split them on this front.

Winner: Tie.

Speed

As far as speed is concered, it really is no contest. Superman is considerably faster than Thor. (Silver Surfer vs. Superman, though, is still up for debate.)

The Man of Steel has proven himself capable of travelling, reacting and thinking at light speed on countless occasions – and he’s even shown himself capable of thinking and reacting within a single nanosecond.

Thor, however, is nowhere near that fast. He can reach light speed when he’s flying through space, but he hasn’t shown anywhere near that level of thought speed or reaction speed. He can certainly move faster than bullets, but is generally known to max out somewhere in the high machs.

It’s really not a contest.

Winner: Superman.

Other Powers

Both Superman and Thor have a bunch of more complex powers than the more crude superhuman physical attributes they possess – and it’s pretty close between them in terms of who has the best ones.

In the past, Superman has been known to pull powers out of nowhere – but this was mostly limited to the pre-crisis version and in the Christopher Reeve movies (turning back time? Memory-wiping kisses? Really?!?!) – but he has also possessed various powers in his more recent classic depictions. He has heat vision, freeze breath, x-ray vision and super-hearing – and that’s great, but it pales in comparison to Thor.

Thor is extremely versatile – which is thanks mostly to his hammer Mjolnir. He can teleport and travel between dimensions, he can time travel, he can transmute matter, he can manipulate the weather (summoning lightning, creating tornadoes etc) and he can absorb and redirect energy. Mjolnir is also the source of Thor’s flight abilities.

There’s a clear winner here.

Winner: Thor.

Weaknesses

Contrary to the beliefs of a lot of people, neither Superman or Thor are anything close to invincible.

Superman is, however, the only one who has a very specific weakness – that being Kryptonite. Kryptonite is the ore form of a radioactive element from Superman’s home planet of Krypton and he is weakened by its radiation. He is also more susceptible to magic than he is to most things – but not to the extent that it’s an actual weakness, which some people believe it is (he doesn’t crumble in the presence of magic, by any means).

Thor doesn’t have any specific weaknesses, but he is vulnerable to most of the same forms of attacks that Superman is vulnerable to – assuming said attacks are of a powerful enough level to hurt him.

Both Superman and Thor have been beaten down in the crudest fashion possible, for example, and they have both proven susceptible to mind-control – although they have shrugged off mind-control attempts through sheer willpower if they weren’t powerful enough as well.

All that being said, you have to give this round to Thor (though, again, we stress that Thor being a somewhat magical being wouldn’t make Superman crumble in his mere presence and Superman’s Kryptonite weakness is of no use to Thor at all).

Winner: Thor.

Conclusion

So who wins? Superman or Thor? Well, remember, we want your opinions, but we have ours too.

Thor might have won more rounds, but we think Superman won the key round – speed.

If Superman gave his everything, he would be far, far, far too fast for Thor. It really is as simple as that. The different between someone who operates at light speed and someone who operates between bullet time and the high machs is monumental. Essentially, based on consistent speed showings, Superman should be able to punch Thor millions of times in the head before a neuron has fired in his brain – and that would knock him out.

Moreover, if Superman didn’t knock Thor out immediately, if he used common sense he could easily avoid any attacks Thor retaliated with using his speed.

As the saying goes, speed kills.

Winner: Superman.

What do you think? Does Superman beat Thor based on his speed being the defining factor? Or do you have other ideas? Have your say below.