Dr. Manhattan Vs Superman: Which Superhero Would Win?

If Dr. Manhattan and Superman ever came to blows, who would win? The road to a Watchmen movie was famously a long and twisting one, with filmmakers like Terry Gilliam and Paul Greengrass trying to bring the acclaimed Alan Moore graphic novel to life. Zack Snyder’s take on the material finally arrived in 2009 with a great cast and almost slavish loyalty to the source. It’s critical and financial reception was mixed, though it has gathered a significant fanbase over the years, with the extended cut considered the superior version.

Even though who didn’t love the movie agreed Watchmen’s treatment of Dr. Manhattan – and Billy Crudup’s performance – were definite highlights. Watchmen also received a HBO miniseries in 2019 that acted as a direct sequel to the original graphic novel, which received critical acclaim. Superman is, of course, a hero who needs no introduction. He’s one of the most popular and enduring superheroes in pop culture and has been brought to the screen many times, played by performers such as Christopher Reeve, Henry Cavill and Tyler Hoechlin.

Superman is considered one of the most powerful superheroes in comics and with good reason. He can fly, has super speed, heat vision and is invulnerable to most forms of attack. He wins most superhero versus contests right out the gate, with even Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice having to contrive a scenario where the very human Bruce Wayne could feasibly lay some pain on the hero. When it comes to Dr. Manhattan Vs Superman, however, things are less straightforward.

While Superman might be considered a God to humanity, he still has weaknesses and can be defeated, as his battle with Doomsday – both in comic and movie form – proved. Dr. Manhattan, who was formerly a scientist named Jon Osterman whose body was destroyed in a test chamber accident, is probably the most powerful superhero in any comic. He has control over all matter, can reform after his body is destroyed, has the power of precognition and is, in essence, immortal.

In short, in a straight-up battle, Dr. Manhattan could easily destroy Superman. All he would have to do is disintegrate him and no matter how powerful Superman might be compared to other beings, Dr. Manhattan is simply too powerful. Even if a Dr. Manhattan Vs Superman battle boiled down to the two physically fighting, the former could simply reform even if his body was somehow destroyed. The two seemed set to come to blows in the Doomsday Clock comic series, but the final “battle” turned out to be something more interesting than the two icons punching each other. In a way, the Man of Tomorrow did win that fight by giving the good Doctor something he thought was impossible – a sense of hope for the human race.

About The Author

Padraig Cotter
(3484 Articles Published)

It’s pronounced Paw-rick, not Pad-raig. Now that’s out of the way, a brief introduction. Padraig has been writing about film online since 2012, when a friend asked if he’d like to contribute the occasional review or feature to their site.

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A part-time hobby soon blossomed into a career when he discovered he really loved writing about movies, TV and video games – he even (arguably) had a little bit of talent for it. He has written words for Den of Geek, Collider, The Irish Times and Screen Rant over the years, and can discuss anything from the MCU – where Hawkeye is clearly the best character – to the most obscure cult b-movie gem, and his hot takes often require heat resistant gloves to handle.

He’s super modern too, so his favorite movies include Jaws, Die Hard, The Thing, Ghostbusters and Batman. He can be found as i_Padds on Twitter making bad puns.

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