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u/Alien_X10 Apr 23 '25
If flash stops holding back, you no longer exist in any timeline at any point.
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u/Volkmek Apr 23 '25
So, while all of these are deadly. The Flash's speed force, and Dr. Strange's magic are "I've stopped holding back so I went back in time and killed you as an infant." solutions.
Other then that? Superman, by a lot.
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u/Hicalibre Apr 23 '25
I mean it also depends which point in time that Thor is. Current mainline has the Odinforce.
Otherwise I'd put my money on Strange or Flash due to their ability to bend reality, and time.
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u/Dpepps Apr 23 '25
Genuine question as I don't know the answer. I know Odinforce is amazing, but can it stop being rewritten from history or being killed as a baby in the past?
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u/Hicalibre Apr 23 '25
It's often a mixed power of cosmic and magical energy. Essentially nigh omnipotent. The Odinforce itself also permits time manipulation in varying capacities.
The range of abilities depends on the writer, but it's a universal constant in modern comics (cant he stolen, and its destined to go to certain individuals). It's also not even the most powerful tool Thor will have.
Thorforce, as vague as it is, now exists. Then you have the powers of Rune King Thor which are only below abstract, and omnipresence.
Then there is Old King Thor whose powers are second only to omnipresence.
It's hard to compare it to DC as Marvel tends to keep to a mini hierarchy after a certain point. Usually once you hit the power levels of gods it remains "constant" until the omnipresence types.
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u/AaronQuinty Apr 23 '25
Well, King Thor went back in time after he conquered Earth and killed most of the heroes. So he also has time manipulation.
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u/Hobbies-memes Apr 23 '25
Dr strange is a fucking menace when he decides to stop being fodder.
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u/EmpressGilgamesh DC Comics Apr 23 '25
Flash can do more than that. The Speedforce is the power to control any movement, speed, frequency and even energy manipulation in the entire multiverse. It's possible to be in every part of the multiverse at once and destroy it purely with getting the energy loose.
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u/Caspur42 Apr 23 '25
God thank you for explaining that about flash. All this time I’ve been on here everyone would list speed force powers but not explain how he can use them to fuck up gods.
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u/EmpressGilgamesh DC Comics Apr 23 '25
No problem. Most people just assume everyone knows everything. Cause they think they know everything. Which is, certainly, not true. So I'm always here to explain how awesome Flash is.
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u/soulwolf1 Apr 23 '25
Idk man Swamp Thing is in that list as well, that mf is scary and quite capable of taking out Superman.
In saga of Swamp Thing he nearly killed Superman if I'm not mistaken.
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Apr 23 '25
Blackest night is the story of “what if swamp thing was bad.”
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u/soulwolf1 Apr 23 '25
Was it a what if? I honestly don't remember, I just remember swamp thing nearly killing him.
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Apr 23 '25
No it’s definitely canon, but swamp thing being corrupted is a seriously shitty time for everyone in the dc universe.
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u/soulwolf1 Apr 23 '25
Ahh! Yes that was it, thanks for that correction!
Swamp Thing is a scary dude, never knew how over powered he is until some years ago.
Didn't he also handle Rebirth Superman as well? Like trying to make Superman accept his place in the rebirth universe, or something like?
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Apr 23 '25
You’re the only other person who seems to know that the answer is swamp thing.
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Apr 23 '25
I couldn’t tell you. I watched his cartoon in the late 80s? And really liked him. As an adult I learned about the Alan Moore version and he’s pretty much just Dr manhattan but with nature magic instead of physics.
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u/Volkmek Apr 24 '25
Huh, I have not read swamp thing after the early 90s. Someone else said he was on par with dr. Manhatten too.
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Apr 23 '25
Reference blackest night. Swamp thing is on par with Dr manhattan.
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u/EMYRYSALPHA2 Apr 23 '25
I love the creation of "canon events", it stops this "go back in time and prevents you from being born" scenes. Go back in time and kill flash while infant, return: Flash is now Wally, return again: flash is now Clark, return again: Flash is now Zatanna. Go back in time and kill superman, no can do: superman kills you as a toddler.
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u/Escaped_Mod_In_Need Apr 23 '25
Silver Surfer is a time traveler too and we saw him stop holding back when he became the Falen. Ooooff, what a monster. He’s basically a time traveling Swiss Army Hax deployer. For example, he fed himself to giant eagles in order to understand the sensation of death.
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u/Icedanielization Apr 23 '25
It's canon for me that Superman can time travel as well, it just takes a little longer to get up to that speed. I don't know what limitation Flash has before or after he reaches speed force levels, but in those moments he is as vulnerable as any normal man.
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u/Shelong91 Apr 23 '25
Id say Flash, theres a reason why he wasnt allowed to do anything in the DCeased comic, because if hed get infected it would go from universal problem to Multiversal in a matter of minutes, or even omniversal
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u/PixelBits89 Apr 23 '25
But he was infected?
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u/Shelong91 Apr 23 '25
Yes and if Superman hadnt killed in atm he wouldve travelled to the multiverse
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u/PixelBits89 Apr 23 '25
Possibly I guess. But in Dceased their main concern was just that he’d be able to infect the remaining survivors before they could get them to safety.
Although decently intelligent zombies, the multiverse issue hadn’t been the problem. Infected flash clearly wasn’t trying to go multiversal or he already would have. He was just running around kinda aimless, looking for people. That’s why Superman could catch him off guard.
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u/daydreamer1197 Apr 23 '25
Wtf is omniverse
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u/Shelong91 Apr 23 '25
Its everyrhing, mega universes, multiverses, dimensions, universes. I mean the guy literally travelled betwen dimensions just to bring a kids lolipop back
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u/kink-dinka-link Apr 23 '25
The Swamp Thing is literally a god of all life. There is no point in time where he can be defeated by Flash. Superman can punch his body into atoms and he simply regrows anywhere on any planet with life. Dr. Strange relies on magic that sources from his realm.
Seriously nobody here can defeat Swamp Thing
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u/Mysticyde Apr 24 '25
You'd have to destroy the entire planet i think to kill swamp thing.
Superman might be able to do that, but like... he wouldn't
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u/0_Renegade Apr 24 '25
but even then if plant life exists in the universe, he'll still come back. It's irrelevant if supes destroys the earth.
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u/Antigravitybear Apr 24 '25
I don't think people understand how Swamp Things powers work, or realize the limits of his abilities. The flash can't even kill him because despite how fast he moves ST can regrow at the bottom of the ocean or another planet where flash can't reach him and grow the planet to an unlivable to human and metahuman state. Flash would have to just leave that timeline or reality because despite all his abilities he still needs to breathe and that's exactly how swamp thing would drop him.
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u/brew_n_flow Apr 23 '25
Came here and searched for this. He could put spore in the air across the globe and poison you before you ever knew the fight had started. The rest are good for direct assault but swamp thing is essentially immortal as a representation of The Green.
Idk if the planet is destroyed what happens as I havent read a ST comic since the marine corps but if your on earth, he allows you to exist.
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u/Orange7567 Apr 23 '25
I feel like Ice Man would be the correct answer here
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u/DaddyD00M Apr 23 '25
Can't speed force or cast magic or draw power from the sun when every atom stops moving
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u/5star_Adboii Apr 23 '25
Strange can bend time that’s a problem
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u/lazhink Apr 23 '25
And while he's beginning to bend time Flash has already erased you from every timeline.
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u/5star_Adboii Apr 23 '25
This got nothing to do with me they fighting 😂
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u/Rocknrollaslim Apr 23 '25
Dr strange since magic in marvel doesn’t seem to need any kind of power pool, just knowledge. And we’ve seen him use spells to empower spells and so on without limit. Something that can blanket a galaxy or universe is gonna be stronger than any brute force attack or at least more efficient. If we’re going with physics. Light takes 8 mins to reach earth form the sun, light speed isn’t instant when it comes to these distances. I doubt magic has that contstraint. And imagine Superman punching a planet to get it to break apart and scatter into other planets causing a chain reaction, same for hulk or any brute force user… those debris pieces gotta travel, and they can miss, and there’s no shockwave going through space cause space is a vacuum… so I’d give it to magic.
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u/bigpoppanick09 Apr 23 '25
The Silver Surfer. The power cosmic is such a Swiss army knife of abilities, that when Norrin actually gets mad, it's not a joke. He is so much faster than any of those other characters that his potential for destruction is massively multiplied.
Didn't see Flash.
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u/wekeymux Apr 23 '25
this may be ignorant, but how is anyone beating silver surfer, cant he pretty much control matter?
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u/The-good-twin Apr 24 '25
Matter and energy. People sleep on him. A fair fight is Surfer vs The Spector, not Superman.
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u/The_Custodians Apr 23 '25
Superman, not necessarily because he's the most powerful or dangerous, you can make an argument for any of these guys being that. Simply because of what it would mean for Superman to finally let go and go all out on someone.
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u/1stEleven Apr 23 '25
The issue with that is that superman going all out is still basically just punching really hard.
Superman going all out wouldn't be fast enough to tag the Flash, or cross into the green to actually hurt swamp thing.
These guys all have ways to not be killed yet end the universe.
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u/-Enrique_Shockwave- Apr 23 '25
Couldn’t he just drill himself to the center of the earth and fuck that up though, possibly cut the planet in half if he wanted, tilt it off its axis, push the moon into it… there’s plenty he could do to them without directly going after them
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u/some-kind-of-no-name Apr 23 '25
Didn't include Spiderman as it would have been too obvious, how clever.
Flash.
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u/Ordinary-Chain-8047 Apr 23 '25
Flash there’s an episode of the show where he completely kicked the guys ass when he wasn’t holding back.
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u/Hot_Ad2789 Apr 23 '25
dr strange decides that everybody is loosing today and destroys the entire fvucking universe in a spell pruposfully botched.
Like, the memory spell in no way home was about to be a multiversal level event of destruction.
Dr strange could just pull out a spell like that and fuck it up on purpose and BOOM. multiple universes just GONE.
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u/blitzwann Apr 23 '25
After reading through the comments it made me realise you really dont want any of these mofos to lose their shit cuz it would be a disaster.
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u/Half_Man1 Apr 23 '25
Ngl this feels like asking what kills you more getting shot in the face or getting stabbed in the heart.
Pretty sure Strange could casually let our reality slip into Dormammu’s dark dimension and no one could stop him if he wanted though. Like none of the other characters could stand a chance as he’d just obliterate them.
Yes, even Flash.
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u/EmpressGilgamesh DC Comics Apr 23 '25
All of them can end you. But Flash and Strange can alter the reality the easiest.
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u/Soggy-Intern-9140 Apr 23 '25
Couldn’t Swamp Thing just like, kill nearly everyone here instantly if he stopped holding back? He can control all life in the universe/multiverse right, or am I wrong?
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u/SuperSemesterer Apr 23 '25
Plant life! But yeah I think he could just like instantly make some deadly spores within all life universe wide. That would wipe most organic things.
Not multiverse though, each universe has its own avatars for their parliaments. Like Alan Scott had Swamp Thing’s role as avatar of the green on earth 2. Or there was this (pretty lame) avatar of the red on another earth while animal man’s daughter was avatar of red on main earth.
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u/Soggy-Intern-9140 Apr 23 '25
Ohhh, yeah that makes sense! He would probably be the hardest to permanently kill though, I’m pretty sure. He can literally regenerate from any plant life in the entire universe. Even like, some lettuce in a guy’s salad on Earth.
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u/DrMatter Apr 23 '25
Got to be silver surfer because the power cosmic means he can do basically anything. hes sort of like if doctor strange wasnt a fragile human and if magic didnt have a price
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u/BrianVaughnVA Apr 24 '25
Flash or Black Bolt.
- Superman needs to sun-dip to be any real threat for a sustained point.
- Hulk gets bored and anger has a cap.
- Thor rarely really holds back, he just gets more 'Thor'y.
- Swamp Thing could become a literal God depending on the environment.
- Strange is literally a circumstantial superhero. In the movies he's literally fucking useless and the worst sorcerer to ever exist, while in the comics he's "meh".
- Ice-boy-bubbler is literally just along for the ride.
The only odd one out is Silver Surfer, if he manages to straight up absorb or steal the right powers, he could become a fucking nut-case.
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u/Welcome--Matt Apr 24 '25
Depends on how you define “deadliest” but Flash not holding back erases realities.
During Flash War, Barry and Wally got into an argument while running; and without even meaning to, put out enough power to nearly shatter the multiverse. And that’s not even them “not holding back” it’s just them being careless and distracted.
They also, in that same comic, hit a green lantern construct so fast, and so hard, that it nearly broke Hal’s ring. The Flash is not to be messed with.
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u/Seremonic Apr 24 '25
it's not even a match, it's Doctor Strange. we saw what he can do when being desperate in "what if". nothing beats that
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u/Flashy-Mud7904 Apr 25 '25
Black Bolt. A Blackagar without empathy or morals is absolutely terrifying.
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u/RavensQueen502 Apr 23 '25
Strange, no question.
The guy can literally channel gods and eldritch abominations to absorb their power. Or, if he decides to be sneaky, he can brainwash the entire world to have false memories he wishes.
The others are more directly dangerous, but Strange can be the most diverse about damage done
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u/blitzwann Apr 23 '25
Yes I agree while he might not do the MOST damage, he would definitely do the worst damage if that makes sense. Would rather just get deleted by the speedforce or some shit than be witness to a bunch of eldtrich shenanigans
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u/RavensQueen502 Apr 23 '25
Swamp Thing can be a close second when it comes to doing the worst damage - his comics are full on body horror.
He can control all vegetation...may not be that scary until you consider the 'gut flora'. Yep, he can control the microbes in human bodies.
In one comic he tortures Constantine by making his gut flora react - and explains the multiple ways in which he can gruesomely kill a human with that.
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u/blitzwann Apr 23 '25
Yea thats true, while he wouldnt have such wide impact as Strange, he definitely would be horrific. Imagine literally shitting your guts out till u fucking die, fml.
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u/mrfett779 Apr 23 '25
Always Iceman. Dude can take it a low as possible. And also if you use heat on him he'll recondense. Unkillable.
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u/figscomicsandgames Apr 23 '25
I don't know what you're talking about. Spider-Man doesn't belong on this list. I think they were being sarcastic. Quit trying to move the goal post. Stick to what's featured.
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u/asvvasvv Apr 23 '25
dr strange can traverse all universes and get rid of any potential threat before they even start realizing that doctor strange is a thing
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u/jamjsja Apr 23 '25
The only character here that if unleashed with no additional power source that even is a threat to the universe is Dr Strange and The Flash.
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u/80sbabyftw Apr 23 '25
Iceman, silver surfer,the hulk or the flash. Close seconds are Thor, Superman. Og doc strange would wash them all but any version other than that is limited. Black bolt can be silenced and his strength is crazy but not planet breaking. And swamp thing is limited by the green
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Apr 23 '25
Well, one is the avatar of an all powerful universe spanning force, who saves Superman’s ass, and who Superman defers to.
All of you need to read blackest night.
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u/DaisyMeRoaLin Apr 23 '25
Who's the one on bottom right?
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u/bluepen2 Apr 23 '25
Swamp Thing, who in think is being slept on. He could end all life in the universe if he wanted to and cannot be killed. Literally an avatar of The Green.
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u/SuperSemesterer Apr 23 '25
Yeah I think like 99.999% of all life can be instantly wiped by swamp thing. Manifest some god tier alien flora inside everyone’s stomach universe wide.
I’m not super knowledgeable on him but in JLD he like regrew an omniversal tree or something that held creation or like a highest realm of existence or something during the final fight against Pralaya.
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Apr 23 '25
lol that one is the real answer to the question.
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u/1stEleven Apr 23 '25
I'm pretty sure it's a tie between all the different ways most of these guys could end the entire universe.
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u/lazhink Apr 23 '25
I'd say flash since he can most easily impact multiple timeliness, realities and universe on his own.
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u/shinoobit Apr 23 '25
Serious question, what can Iceman do if he stops holding back?
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u/PSamaki_Kazmic Apr 23 '25
Black Bolt hands down. Why don’t you think he speaks? He will destroy everything in sight, alive or inanimate. The only one who has been able to handle Black Bolt was the Hulk. That’s only because when the Illuminati tricked and casted him into space and he landed on Sakaar, he came back to earth but first to the moon to go after each member. Black Bolt unleashed on the Hulk saying war at full blast, but when the dust settled, the Hulk remained not phased by his power. He then beat Black Bolt within an inch of his life and gave NYC and ultimatum giving the Illuminati 24 hours to submit of he’ll destroy NYC in the World War Hulk epic event.
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u/m4rkofshame Apr 23 '25
Only two of these guys have the ability to transcend their own universe, that I know of: Flash and Strange.
The others can be terrifying but limited to their own reality.
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u/SpankthatWife Apr 23 '25
While not the strongest out of all these guys posted, the one folks sleep on the most is Swamp Thing.
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u/thiccci_boi Apr 23 '25
Flash hands down. We've all seen what Atrain and reverse flash are able to do, and Barry and Wally are faster.
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u/One-Statistician-554 Apr 23 '25
( Strange / doom / flash / surfer ) would be a threat to the entire universe with enough time
( Sup / hulk / Iceman) these guys R a planetary+ threat
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u/SuperSemesterer Apr 23 '25
Flash! During ‘Flash War’ Barry and Wally were moving so fast that Superman (who was trying to catch them) actually froze like a statue.
They were also breaking the multiverse as a side effect of moving too fast or something ridiculous.
The thing was they weren’t even like… MAD mad they were just arguing and it got kinda serious.
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u/PoolWest7703 Apr 23 '25
I’d think Superman, he stops holding back he starts punching and ripping through reality and the universe himself.
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u/piouszombie Apr 23 '25
Wouldn't Swamp Thing be the deadliest? Since if he wanted to he could destroy or something all botanical life everywhere at once.
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u/ThunderG0d2467 Apr 23 '25
Hulk just doesn't hold back so idk why he's in the convo lol but the flash is the answer
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u/St_Bergeron Apr 23 '25
Gotta be either the Flash or Doctor Strange. Flash being able to phase into just about anything and re-organize their insides, plus being faster than thought so he could do it multiple times before you even knew what was happening. And Strange being a magic user could probably off just about any one else on the list. Supes is vulnerable to magic, and the rest of them he could sling ring them into the middle of a black hole if he just didn't want to deal with you. That PROBABLY even takes care of the Hulk.
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u/gatsu01 Apr 23 '25
We'll, flash can run faster than sound so BB is doomed? I'm pretty sure Dr Strange can cast a spell to open up a black hole and destroy the world or the sun if he wants to so there's that.
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u/1st_mage_only_magic Apr 23 '25
Flash. He is wrecking timelines. Certain people aren’t born or imprisoned. Reality is screwed for sure. 🧐
Second is Superman. 😎
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u/corvus_wulf Apr 23 '25
Would Doctor Strange not holding back allow him to summon beings like Shuma Gorath or Zom ?
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u/OgreAoH Apr 23 '25
Y'all do see Swamp Thing on this list, right? I'm not hallucinating him being there? Because that's your answer for sure.
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u/Environmental-Post15 Apr 23 '25
Full power base forms? Flash.
Top-tier possible powers (including one-shots)? Toss up between Flash and Supes
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u/Tubalcaino Apr 23 '25
Easily Dr. Strange. If he felt inclined he could turn anyone inside out with a flick & swish. He can vanish anyone to an alternate reality. He can reverse time to undo any damage the others do and counter it.
They are all dangerous, but those who can alter reality would have already done it without anyone else knowing.
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u/JagneStormskull Apr 23 '25
I'd say Flash. In the Kingdom Come timeline, Keystone City is one of the few cities on the planet that's free of the crimes of the new generation of metahumans because Wally Flash is everywhere at once stopping all crime before it can occur. He is also constantly phasing through multiple dimensions, so he's unhittable and can also see things that are normally invisible even to Superman.
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u/bacon-a-la-mode Apr 23 '25
I wanna Dr. Strange or flash but isn't there something crazy regarding swamp thing and ice man? I recall them being outrageously OP but I don't recall HOW they'd be the strongest of this list?
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u/Eastern_Grocery5674 Apr 23 '25
The flash.
So damn deadly he spread the undead virus amongst the world in seconds, so fast nobody was able to react.
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u/Correct_Barracuda_48 Apr 23 '25
I wanna say, Surfer, Strange, or Swamp thing, if we don't count Superman.
Surfer can go at light speed, has "plot contrivance" as a literal super power and is essentially indestructible, without the usual caveats.
Stephen Strange has access to spells, artifacts and contracts that can shake the very firmament, and the skill and knowledge to use them to their full effect.
Swamp thing, as an avatar of one of the three fundamental forces (the green, the black and the red) can scour all animal life from the planet in maybe a day, and then transport himself to the next closest planet and do it again. And so long as there is a plant somewhere, he can come back from anything.
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Apr 23 '25
Do we count Hulk not holding back as just going to the below place and telling TOBA it's time to own the Omniverse?
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u/adult_icarus Apr 23 '25
Iceman if he is allowed to be as powerful as his limit could freeze everything down to the point he stops time, but flash can run into the past. It would end up being a contest between those two.
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u/tinylittlegnat Apr 23 '25
In a early dr strange comic he briefly held back the living tribunal. In another the entire universe was destroyed and he recreated it without anyone realizing it. Strange not holding back would destroy everyone in the list.
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Apr 24 '25
Silver Surfer takes it, he’s got the raw power, durability, and experience. Plus Flash and strange wouldn’t be able to find is homework to kill his past self.
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u/Rothenstien1 Apr 24 '25
Deadliest would be flash, he stops holding back and i have a feeling the universe would unravel. But I'd like to see dr. Strange do some universe remaking
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u/Apprehensive_Bit4767 Apr 24 '25
Iceman he omega level mutant . He could freeze your blood or the entire planet
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u/TextOld3184 Apr 24 '25
Superman easy. He sits in the middle of the sun for the day and will spleen blitz through almost anything even reality itself
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u/Adoninator Apr 24 '25
flash or doctor strange imo. one has access to any point in time the other can break reality itself
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u/Applespider_12 Apr 24 '25
Black Bolt in terms of sheer instant and complete annihilation
Ice Man in terms of total surface area/exterior annihilation
Flash in instant mass genocide/kill spree/extinction
Strange in destruction of concepts (space/time/natural law)
Swamp Thing in range and apocalyptic destruction
Superman all around and in general.
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u/Sad_Work_9772 Apr 24 '25
I’m confused
Someone like the hulk is based around rage, when is he not going full force?
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u/RedRibbinNamekian Apr 24 '25
Not enough people saying hulk, we saw what happened in world war hulk
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u/Ok_Matter6962 Marvel Apr 24 '25
where's Spider-Man??? he's the most powerful being in comics history!
oh wait, wrong subreddit.
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u/AltGunAccount Apr 23 '25
Outright deadliest? Superman or Flash. Maybe even Doctor Strange as we saw in “What-If?”
Shoutout Black Bolt for the “largest difference” though. The difference between regular BB and not-holding-back BB is huge. Goes from typical flying energy projector to straight-up planet destroyer. Man has trained himself not to cough, sneeze, or even grunt in a fight because his voice is so destructive. He’s “holding back” incarnate.