Shazam vs. Doomsday: Who Would Win In A Fight?

Doomsday is an unstoppable alien killing machine who once managed to kill one of DC’s most powerful superhumans, Superman. However, the DC Universe is full of powerful beings, including a fan favorite who has often been compared to the Man of Steel – Shazam, the World’s Mightiest Mortal. Considering the mystically-powered superhero is said to be just as strong, fast, and tough as Superman (if not more so in certain stories), one has to ask – could Shazam beat Doomsday?

Surprisingly, the short answer is most likely yes – but even though Shazam has a move that neither Superman nor Doomsday can defend against, he probably wouldn’t want to use it. Indeed, if he did, he could very well make a bad situation much worse, which is probably why he would have to resort to a more creative solution if he wanted to take down Doomsday.

To understand the complications in this fight, one must first take a closer look at Doomsday himself. The product of a horrible science experiment conducted by the cruel alien scientist Bertron, Doomsday began life as a test tube baby that Bertron deposited on the prehistoric world of Krypton. Due to Krypton’s harsh environment, the baby died immediately, but Bertron simply collected the remains and cloned another infant from the samples – who also died from other factors on Krypton.

Over time, however, this constant cycle of death and rebirth caused the baby to rapidly evolve into a lifeform capable of surviving anywhere and enduring virtually anything. Its body eventually grew into a grey, massively muscled form with bony protrusions it could use as weapons in battle. Possessing an inherent hatred for all life thanks to its memories of constantly dying and being brought back, the creature murdered Bertron and went on a killing rampage across several worlds before ending up on modern-day Earth where he murdered Superman.

Of all of Doomsday’s incredible abilities, however, his most dangerous one is his power of adaptive immortality. Not only can Doomsday come back to life after being killed, his body immediately adapts to whatever killed him, making it impossible to stop him in the exact same way twice. Moreover, those adaptations can grant him additional powers – for instance, when Superman killed him with brute force, Doomsday’s invulnerability increased to the point where even an attack from someone with Superman’s strength couldn’t kill him again.

So, what would all of this mean if Doomsday ever fought Shazam? Well, for one thing, Shazam probably wouldn’t be able to take down Doomsday with muscle power alone. Having fought Superman multiple times – including times when he was much more powerful than he was during their first fight – Doomsday’s strength has increased to the point where even the Strength of Hercules wouldn’t be able to subdue him. Likewise, Doomsday has also adapted to Superman’s incredible speed and probably wouldn’t be phased by Shazam’s Speed of Mercury either.

However, Shazam does have one weapon that even Superman couldn’t employ against Doomsday – his magic lightning. Originally summoned whenever he shouted out “Shazam!” the lightning was originally used to transform Billy Batson into Shazam and back again. Over time, however, Billy learned he could use the lightning as a weapon by making it strike other people or objects instead of himself. While this move initially came with the risk of accidentally turning Shazam back into an ordinary mortal if the lightning hit him, Shazam has since shown he can fire the lightning from his hands, minimizing or eliminating the risk.

As a magical weapon, Shazam’s lightning has devastating potential. It can penetrate the defenses of even the most powerful superheroes – particularly Superman. Even when Shazam fought a future version of Superman in the Kingdom Come timeline who was much more powerful than his modern-day counterpart, his lightning still managed to hurt the Man of Steel and would most likely have killed him if Shazam had been able to keep blasting him.

Considering the effect of the lightning on Superman, it’s very likely that the lightning would be able to hurt Doomsday in much the same manner. As a creature born of science, Doomsday has no built-in defense against magic, meaning Shazam could simply keep blasting Doomsday with his lightning until the creature fell. Shazam could even launch a multi-pronged attack by calling down lightning from the sky and blasting Doomsday with the lightning from his hands. Even someone with Doomsday’s speed would be hard pressed to evade multiple strikes.

However, while Shazam could kill Doomsday with his lightning, he probably wouldn’t want to. Although Doomsday might not have a defense against Shazam’s magic lightning, if he died from its blasts and came back to life, he would be immune to certain types of magic, making him more dangerous than ever. His immunity wouldn’t necessarily make him resistant to all magic, meaning powerful magical beings like the Spectre or John Constantine could probably come up with a spell to beat him again, but Shazam’s victory over Doomsday would be a temporary pyrrhic one, as it would just make it harder for others to beat Doomsday in the future.

Thanks to the Wisdom of Solomon, however, Shazam would realize this – and come up with an alternate plan. Instead of killing Doomsday with his lightning, he would probably construct a magical prison that Doomsday couldn’t escape. Doomsday has been imprisoned in the past, and while he inevitably escapes, the prisons are more effective than death in stopping him since they won’t necessarily let him adapt to the forces keeping him locked up.

Moreover, Shazam probably has many resources at his disposal in the Rock of Eternity to keep Doomsday imprisoned. The Wizard who empowered Shazam previously imprisoned the Seven Deadly Sins of Man – and considering how powerful those creatures are, constructing a magic prison for Doomsday should be very possible.

Of course, if Doomsday does break out, Shazam might still have to stop him with physical force – but he’d only want to use his lightning as a weapon of absolute last resort. It might be the ultimate weapon against a monster like Doomsday – but what doesn’t kill a creature like that will only make him stronger.

About The Author

Michael Jung
(700 Articles Published)

Michael Jung is a mild-mannered freelance writer-for-hire, actor, and professional storyteller with a keen interest in pop culture, education, nonprofit organizations, and unusual side hustles. His work has been featured in Screen Rant, ASU Now, Sell Books Fast, Study.com, and Free Arts among others. A graduate of Arizona State University with a PhD in 20^th Century American Literature, Michael has written novels, short stories, stage plays, screenplays, and how-to manuals.

Michael’s background in storytelling draws him to find the most fascinating aspects of any topic and transform them into a narrative that informs and entertains the reader. Thanks to a life spent immersed in comic books and movies, Michael is always ready to infuse his articles with offbeat bits of trivia for an extra layer of fun. In his spare time, you can find him entertaining kids as Spider-Man or Darth Vader at birthday parties or scaring the heck out of them at haunted houses.

Visit Michael Jung’s website for information on how to hire him, follow him on Twitter Michael50834213, or contact him directly: michael(at)michaeljungwriter(dot)com.

More From Michael Jung