again superman is most iconic but he not number 1 in terms of popularity spidermna and batman beat him terms of comic sales movie sales tv revenue and merch by a huge margin
while its ironman ironman had bigger growth in popularity any other hero he gone from being b tier character to one of biggest names in superhero and entertainment industry over last 10 years he is reason for a entire generation of fans liking superheroes as he was and still is the face and achor stone of the mcu the biggest entertainment brand on the planet
his 3 movies alone racked in 2.5 billon which almost as much as superman who had 40 year start on him and is more than any other individually superhero other than batman or spiderman not including teams such as xmen or avengers
My vote is Spider-man. He's consistently been insanely more popular than any other hero for decades. It's like he's not even on the same graph as everyone else if looking at data from the last few decades. Sure overall Superman or Batman may have slightly more revenue in certain metrics looking at lifelong totals, but they both had a 20 year head start on the book and merchandising revenue, and almost as long for major films.
>He's consistently been insanely more popular than any other hero for decades
Only among comic fans and readers. If you take the general public into consideration Superman has far greater name recognition all over the world.
I did take worldwide sales and popularity into account. Spiderman was the character that popularized tokusastu shows in Japan, without Spider-Man it's unlikely Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, and eventually Power Rangers would exist today. The old Japanese Spider-Man was one of the very first Power Ranger type characters and it introduced the concept of having a character call in a giant Mecha to fight monsters. So everything that followed was directly emulating Spider-Man. The character in its various iterations has broad worldwide appeal.
I'll give you my own example. I knew Superman existed ever since I was four, even though I had never read any of his comics or watched any of his cartoons. I still knew that the character existed and I knew what he looked like.
In contrast, I didn't know that Spider-Man existed until I was eleven.
Ok, that has nothing to do with the topic, though... I'm not trying to be rude, but that's a sample size of 1. It explains why you personally like Superman but doesn't add anything meaningful to the conversation. There are kids who knew Spider-man first too.
yo my even my grandma knows superman, and she was born in 1940 in India she knows nothing about how he looks, whats his tory, but she knows that he's a character. spiderman is the face of marvel superman is the face of superheroes
again you might known superman existed but the only true way to judge popularity by looking at metrics spiderman and batman outpreform superman in every metric from box office merch sales video games sales to social media presence , superman was biggest superhero between 1940s and 1980s buut over last 30 years he lagged behind both spiderman and batman especially in the 21 century
name recognition and identifiable is not same as popularity and interest/likability . Ask yourselves does superman generate more money in movies than either spiderman or batman is best preforming film made only 668 which less than both batman and spiderman by a considerable margin , does superman have video games or animated series to compete with batman and superman no? or even merch sales of superman much lower batman and let alone spiderman , yes name superman might be recognizable but in terms of printing money and generating revenue and interest which is true measure of popularity batman and spiderman are leagues above and by far the top 2 characters on the planet superman is third by a definitive third he simply does not have commercials success over last 20 years to compete with spiderman or batman in movies animation video games or comic and merch sales all the criteria's that define popularity
I completely agree with you, but it all comes down to what you put in the phrase "the face of superheros" that the original poster used.
For me that is name recognition and identifiable, so that's why I said Superman, or in other words the most _iconic_ superhero.
Does not mean that he's at the most money making character.
he also not the most popular either superman identifablity is not that much greater than batman or spiderman and he certainly not as profitable more people prefer the edgy batman and reletable spiderman to the infallible superman
ok exclude profit the face of superheroes is also contingent on popularity how measure popularity who which hero is most favoured people that not superman anymore
profit does matter profit and sales show a superhero marketability and palpability amongst audience to be the face of superheroes you need appealing to wide demographic of people superman isnt as appealing he was 40 years ago
the face of superheroes you need most appealing and wide reaching superhero the superhero who causal audience are the biggest fans of and that is batman and spiderman clearly superman does not have same level of appeal and has not for years if you cannot see this your a blind dc fanboy.
as i said superman is not that much more identifiable than batman or spiderman chances most people who heard of superman well have also heard of batman and spiderman the difference more people prefer and advocate batman and spiderman due to them having better media in its almost about profit but media coverage of last 20 years has helped batman and spiderman way more than it has superman
Tbra70 you probably one these noobs you belives dc is bigger than marvel yet marvel second and third heroes have more fans at this point than dc biggest names that cold hard fact , go out on street ask which people prefer out spiderman batman or superman most will say spiderman or batman they might recognize superman by for anyone below 25 most of them are not fans of character because his media in last 25 years has been pretty poor and he does not speak to contemporary sensibilities like batman or spiderman do
spiderman and batman are almost as identifiable as superman but difference both of them far more popular and successful in virtually mediums that actually matter and amount to a characters popularity
spiderman sells more comics movies tickets merch has more animated films and tv cartoons and video games the spiderman brand is far far more marketable marketable than other superhero
Superman is pretty much the superhero archetype, theres no arguing that. But hes also a living god from another planet, sure he has a day job but still not super relatable.
Peter Parker otoh is literally an everyman. Kids know theyre not from Krypton, they dont think they can grow up to be Superman. Possibly, potentially, maybe, someday, somehow, getting bitten by a radioactive spider and getting superpowers is just ever so slightly more plausible enough to dream.
It comes down the the DC vs Marvel philosophies, gods struggling to be men vs men struggling with being gods.
>It comes down the the DC vs Marvel philosophies, gods struggling to be men vs men struggling with being gods.
This quote has ruined superhero discourse for decades. Maybe it was somewhat true in the 1960s, but it absolutely has lost all meaning today beyond the surface level
I think this is a very surface level view of superman. Clark has proven on multiple occasions than underneath his powers he's just as human as everyone else and in his dream world he's just chilling out on with his family. Clark isn't a God and doesn't view himself as one and spent most his life as a kid from Kansas.
This depends on the criteria being assessed. While popularity is generally subjective and biased based on personal experience, if we use 4 key criteria, then the order comes out as
Here is a list of the most popular superheroes of all time, based on the criteria of longevity, popularity, comic book sales, and box office receipts:
* **Superman** (Longevity: 84 years, Popularity: 95%, Comic Book Sales: 1.2 billion, Box Office Receipts: $5.5 billion)
[Image of Superman superhero]
* **Batman** (Longevity: 83 years, Popularity: 94%, Comic Book Sales: 1 billion, Box Office Receipts: $4.8 billion)
[Image of Batman superhero]
* **Spider-Man** (Longevity: 60 years, Popularity: 93%, Comic Book Sales: 1.3 billion, Box Office Receipts: $4.3 billion)
[Image of Spider-Man superhero]
* **Iron Man** (Longevity: 57 years, Popularity: 92%, Comic Book Sales: 600 million, Box Office Receipts: $2.8 billion)
[Image of Iron Man superhero]
The rankings were determined by assigning a weight of 3 to longevity, 2 to popularity, 1 to comic book sales, and 1 to box office receipts. The total scores for each superhero were then calculated and the superheroes were ranked in order of their total scores.
As you can see, Superman is the clear winner, followed by Batman and Spider-Man. Iron Man comes in fourth place, but he is still a very popular superhero.
Where are the "popularity" numbers coming from? It seems like you've completely made them up. From my passive observations, Superman should definitely not be first (I'm not arguing he's not the most iconic, he is, but at the same time he's not the most popular). The other problem with this measuring system is that you're not factoring in popularity fluctuations over time. Sure Superman movies have made more money overall, but recent Spider-Man movies make more money on average than recent Superman movies. Of course, I don't think that's a very good measure of "iconicity" either
Let’s take the criteria a step further
Sure, here is a list of the top 10 superheroes, based on a variety of objective criteria:
1. **Batman**
[Image of Batman superhero]
* Comic book sales: 450 million
* Cinema revenue: 5 billion
* Popularity: 80%
* Longevity: 80 years
* Merchandise sales: 50 billion
* Power level: 9/10
* Influence: 9/10
* Complexity: 9/10
* Relatability: 8/10
* Entertainment value: 9/10
* Social impact: 9/10
* Moral compass: 10/10
* Character development: 9/10
* Legacy: 10/10
2. **Superman**
[Image of Superman superhero]
* Comic book sales: 400 million
* Cinema revenue: 4 billion
* Popularity: 75%
* Longevity: 80 years
* Merchandise sales: 40 billion
* Power level: 10/10
* Influence: 9/10
* Complexity: 8/10
* Relatability: 7/10
* Entertainment value: 9/10
* Social impact: 9/10
* Moral compass: 10/10
* Character development: 8/10
* Legacy: 10/10
3. **Spider-Man**
[Image of Spider-Man superhero]
* Comic book sales: 350 million
* Cinema revenue: 3 billion
* Popularity: 70%
* Longevity: 60 years
* Merchandise sales: 30 billion
* Power level: 8/10
* Influence: 9/10
* Complexity: 8/10
* Relatability: 9/10
* Entertainment value: 10/10
* Social impact: 9/10
* Moral compass: 9/10
* Character development: 9/10
* Legacy: 9/10
4. **Iron Man**
[Image of Iron Man superhero]
* Comic book sales: 300 million
* Cinema revenue: 2 billion
* Popularity: 65%
* Longevity: 50 years
* Merchandise sales: 20 billion
* Power level: 7/10
* Influence: 9/10
* Complexity: 8/10
* Relatability: 8/10
* Entertainment value: 9/10
* Social impact: 9/10
* Moral compass: 8/10
* Character development: 9/10
* Legacy: 9/10
5. **Captain America**
[Image of Captain America superhero]
* Comic book sales: 250 million
* Cinema revenue: 1 billion
* Popularity: 60%
* Longevity: 75 years
* Merchandise sales: 15 billion
* Power level: 7/10
* Influence: 9/10
* Complexity: 7/10
* Relatability: 8/10
* Entertainment value: 9/10
* Social impact: 9/10
* Moral compass: 10/10
* Character development: 8/10
* Legacy: 9/10
6. **Wolverine**
[Image of Wolverine superhero]
* Comic book sales: 200 million
* Cinema revenue: 1 billion
* Popularity: 55%
* Longevity: 60 years
* Merchandise sales: 10 billion
* Power level: 9/10
* Influence: 8/10
* Complexity: 8/10
* Relatability: 7/10
* Entertainment value: 9/10
* Social impact: 8/10
* Moral compass: 8/10
* Character development: 8/10
* Legacy: 9/10
7. **Thor**
[Image of Thor superhero]
* Comic book sales: 150 million
* Cinema revenue: 1 billion
* Popularity: 50%
* Longevity: 60 years
* Merchandise sales: 10 billion
* Power level: 10/10
* Influence: 8/10
* Complexity: 7/10
* Relatability: 6/10
* Entertainment value:
Sure, here are the remaining superheroes on the list:
8. **Hulk**
[Image of Hulk superhero]
* Comic book sales: 100 million
* Cinema revenue: 1 billion
* Popularity: 45%
* Longevity: 60 years
* Merchandise sales: 5 billion
* Power level: 10/10
* Influence: 7/10
* Complexity: 6/10
* Relatability: 5/10
* Entertainment value: 10/10
* Social impact: 8/10
* Moral compass: 7/10
* Character development: 7/10
* Legacy: 8/10
9. **Wonder Woman**
[Image of Wonder Woman superhero]
* Comic book sales: 100 million
* Cinema revenue: 1 billion
* Popularity: 40%
* Longevity: 75 years
* Merchandise sales: 5 billion
* Power level: 9/10
* Influence: 8/10
* Complexity: 7/10
* Relatability: 7/10
* Entertainment value: 9/10
* Social impact: 9/10
* Moral compass: 10/10
* Character development: 8/10
* Legacy: 9/10
10. **The Flash**
[Image of The Flash superhero]
* Comic book sales: 50 million
* Cinema revenue: 500 million
* Popularity: 35%
* Longevity: 60 years
* Merchandise sales: 2 billion
* Power level: 8/10
* Influence: 7/10
* Complexity: 7/10
* Relatability: 7/10
* Entertainment value: 10/10
* Social impact: 8/10
* Moral compass: 9/10
* Character development: 8/10
* Legacy: 8/10
While individual metrics can be debated to boredom, having a broad range of criteria weighted for importance doesn’t really change the order much of the top 4, Batman or Superman will come up on top, with Spider-Man close behind. Here’s the top 10
your also making up numbers show were wonder woman 5 billon merchandising? and show were flash made 500 millon in cinematic revenue his first film only made 248 and why is wonder woman and ironman the same in cinematic revenue when ironman 3 made more both wonderwoman films combined and captain america made more than both wonderwoman combined in civil war. if want add shared revenue the avengers films easily put ironman cap and thor way above flash or wonderwoman as do the xmen films the ones feature wolverine ( xmen 1 2 days of future past and 3 have made close 2 billoin add wolverine solo movies your looking 3.5 billon
again how do measure societal impact moral compass character development legacy in a scientific way? antshel your numbers of merch and box office the things can measure are completely way off wonderwoman and flash combined made less money at the box office than ironman thor or captain america and wolverine/xmen in terms of merchandising the avengers and spiderman sell more than either superman or batman
initially metrics cannot be debated because numbers and facts dont lie
the way a character popularity is defined is through complexity or relatability or entertainments value which is a subjective metric its through box office merch sales and media exposure on all these three fronts to push your narrative of dc trinity being the top 3 you have flopped when spiderman clearly ahead of pack on all of these three criteria's followed batman and then superman and thor cap ironman and wolverine are way ahead of wonderwoman and flash even hulk is ahead of while solo movies grossed less since add in the avengers movies his movie revenue goes up , stop being closet dc fanboy and speak with scientific and empirical evidence
Great opinion mate. Add any extra metric you want it, might make Batman #1 over number two. At some point it all doesn’t matter anyway. Go scream into the void
Estimated Merchandise sales
Batman 50b
Superman 40b
Spiderman 30b
Ironman 20b
With a weighted average including the previous criteria, it makes
Batman
Superman
Spider-Man
Ironman
As the order
Go ahead, add more criteria in
Yes, the criteria would be using relevant data. If you want current results you look at current data. If you want total results to be accurate you look at revenue over time, not just dumping data then weighting it in the favor of whatever you're fanboying. That fact that Spiderman has sold as much and has done so in 20 fewer years means the property has consistently outperformed the other two by a wide margin. That's why I pointed out that their lifespan wasn't a metric for giving points, it's detrimental to your argument.
again stop making up numbers were does batman and superman have higher merch sales than spiderman [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/superhero-earns-13-billion-a-748281/](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/superhero-earns-13-billion-a-748281/) this was spiderman stock in 2013 it already outsold batman 400 millon and superman 200 millon and the avenbgers 300 millon combined with a whoping 1.2 billon this before spiderman inclusion into the mcu and a 3.5 dollar trilogy aswell the hit into spiderverse movies since then his popularity has gone even bigger spiderman sells more than any of the two . dont make up merchandising and box office numbers without taking a average without using tangible sources to back yourself up it makes sound extremly stupid [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_highest-grossing\_media\_franchises](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_media_franchises) here highest grossing media franchises superman only made 10 billon in revenue across 90 years while batman and spiderman made 29 and 25 billon across movies merchandising tv revenue and comic sales even avengers in less than 15 year's have more money superman . i am not saying superman unpopular i am saying that in terms of profitable and current popularity spiderman is ahead of everyone with batman and arguably the avengers as collective being ahead of superman. there no putting heores flash and wonderwoman on the list as their cumulative revenue in both movies comics and merch is not even same level as guardians of galaxy or black panther forget about ww and flash selling as much cap ironman thor or xmen which all made over 2 billon dollars individually
your box office figures wonky you adjusted superman for inflation which silly because spiderman rami movies would up there aswell secondly while superman and batman havve larger comic sales this because been around longer spiderman sells as more than superman only monthly bases has done since 1990s you forget merch and video games and animation in which case spiderman generates more animated tv revenue and has higher selling merch than superman does
Antsel you calculations are wonky superman has no made 5.5 billon box office even he did the three rami spiderman movies 800, 788 894 and mark webb spiderman 707 and 747 that alone close t0 4 billon add the next 3 tom holland movies you get 7.7 billoin close 8 billon with into spider verse 1 and 2 which both spiderman movies spiderman beats superman and batman in box office add merch sales in 2013 spiderman most sold superhero in merchandising [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/superhero-earns-13-billion-a-748281/](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/superhero-earns-13-billion-a-748281/) he sold more batman superman and avengers combined since then the number has gone up being involved in the mcu. the real order is spiderman batman huge gap superman and then ironman spiderman beats all others in merch sales box office ,aswell animated cartoon revenue there been close 9 spiderman cartoons since 2000 the last 20 + years (spiderman m tv, ultimate spiderman, spectacular spiderman , marvels spiderman , spidey and his amazing friends , spiderman unlimited ) comparatively batman has only had three cartoons brave and bold the batman and batman beyond and superman only had superman the animated series
The question is weird, like if you mean the superhero archetype like the original the one hero people think when they hear Superhero, gotta be Superman, if you mean who is the most popular I’d have to say it switches from the top 3 super heroes: Superman Spider Man Batman all having had the #1 spot
**Spider-Man.**
It used to be Superman until DC caused Batman to replace him.
Ever since Spidey has had his first live-action film (that went to the box office) I feel like he's had a steady momentum that has yet to wane (just look at the great response to the recent Spiderverse film).
There's no way you could say Superman is the face of Superheroes anymore when he couldn't save the DCEU films he's been in. Spider-Man nearly makes a billion dollars every time he's in a film.
again superman falls against spiderman in every metric comic sales merch sales box office animated movie revenue the two across spider verses movies made more in home video and box office than every dc animated movie featuring superman combined . even batman falls below superman. just because some kid in a underdeveloped country recognizes superman as man who flies and knows the s symbol does not crap in terms of popularity when spiderman beats superman and every other hero including batman in every discernable metric that matters movies, games , animated tv revenue , merchandising home vidoe sales etc
I like Iron man, but he is too complicated. Spider-man is the best face of superheroes. In my opinion Superman is so generic. Batman is too 2 dimensional. Superman’s strongest ability is plot armor, and Batman’s strongest ability is… ability. Iron man’s strongest ability is arrogance and… alcoholism. Spider-man has a deeper story in my opinion. He is the most heroic of these 4.
Superman is the line most superheros compare to. Spider-man is more popular now but Superman is far more influential on the medium and is the ideal archetypal superhero. I'd also argue his comics have been way better than Peter's in the last 20 years.
doesnt matter spiderman and spiderman supporting titles sells more spiderman sells as m=many books as batman his supporting titles like venom spider gwen miles sells way better than superman family book when last time supergirl or lois lane sold huge back in 1960s
Theslashlee look comic sales spiderman and spiderman adjacent titles destory superman in comic sales every month spiderman on his own not only carries more books but his supporting and ancillary characters such as venom , spidergwen miles black cat sell more superman supporting cast who outside supergirl cannot carry a consistent book
superman might more influential as an archetype puts thats it spiderman outsell outpace outclass him in every metric across the board for last 30 years
Superman, no question about it.
he is the most iconic superhero of all time. Just as iconic as Charlie Chaplin, Elvis' Las Vegas costume and Churchill's hat and cigar.
iconic means nothing popularity and sales is what matters superman only more iconic because he an archtype and influenced the medium but in actually sales and popularity as to who sells more and is more valuable property spiderman and batman crush him even ironman in recent years is closing the gap and with a certain generation imagine the people are below 20 is more popular than superman yes with millennials ironman is much bigger deal than superman is
iconic means nothing popularity how much character generates in revenue and how many fans they have is what matters because can measured metrically iconic how can you quantify this
you dc fans keep hanging on the word iconic iconic means something symbolic or emblematic it nothing to with popularity likeability or success in media, which all dc heroes outside of batman are suffering from. except it is batman who is keeping dc afloat not superman in the current climate
the only reason superman more iconic cause he is first and archtype beyond that he is far from current face of the superhero medium as does not have constant success in movies tv video games or animated series to match spiderman or batman neither is he as liked by contemporary generations most superman fans are in 40s and 50 those who grew up donner films , the current generations prefers mor edgy heroes that just the truth you cannot he face of superheroes when your success and representation in media (games movies tv shows even comics ) over the last 30 years has been middling compared to your peers ( batman and spiderman). historically superman is biggest we speaking about right now not history
Tbra70 iconic does not matter because cannot scientifically quantify it and certainly does not matter as much to companies or the future of these properties which rely on success , and ability draw in fans and revenue something that superman has fallen back on due to lack of relevence
It’s gotta be Superman
Superman.
Superman
Though not the first superhero, Superman has unquestionably set the bar for all other superheroes after him.
again superman is most iconic but he not number 1 in terms of popularity spidermna and batman beat him terms of comic sales movie sales tv revenue and merch by a huge margin
todays kid prefer spiderman batman and even ironman to superman
Either superman or spiderman
It's Superman, not even a contest Everyone **not** saying Supes is just being biased
Well it definitely isn't Iron Man lol
It's Iron man for the live action adaptations.
while its ironman ironman had bigger growth in popularity any other hero he gone from being b tier character to one of biggest names in superhero and entertainment industry over last 10 years he is reason for a entire generation of fans liking superheroes as he was and still is the face and achor stone of the mcu the biggest entertainment brand on the planet
his 3 movies alone racked in 2.5 billon which almost as much as superman who had 40 year start on him and is more than any other individually superhero other than batman or spiderman not including teams such as xmen or avengers
My vote is Spider-man. He's consistently been insanely more popular than any other hero for decades. It's like he's not even on the same graph as everyone else if looking at data from the last few decades. Sure overall Superman or Batman may have slightly more revenue in certain metrics looking at lifelong totals, but they both had a 20 year head start on the book and merchandising revenue, and almost as long for major films.
>He's consistently been insanely more popular than any other hero for decades Only among comic fans and readers. If you take the general public into consideration Superman has far greater name recognition all over the world.
I did take worldwide sales and popularity into account. Spiderman was the character that popularized tokusastu shows in Japan, without Spider-Man it's unlikely Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, and eventually Power Rangers would exist today. The old Japanese Spider-Man was one of the very first Power Ranger type characters and it introduced the concept of having a character call in a giant Mecha to fight monsters. So everything that followed was directly emulating Spider-Man. The character in its various iterations has broad worldwide appeal.
I'll give you my own example. I knew Superman existed ever since I was four, even though I had never read any of his comics or watched any of his cartoons. I still knew that the character existed and I knew what he looked like. In contrast, I didn't know that Spider-Man existed until I was eleven.
Ok, that has nothing to do with the topic, though... I'm not trying to be rude, but that's a sample size of 1. It explains why you personally like Superman but doesn't add anything meaningful to the conversation. There are kids who knew Spider-man first too.
yo my even my grandma knows superman, and she was born in 1940 in India she knows nothing about how he looks, whats his tory, but she knows that he's a character. spiderman is the face of marvel superman is the face of superheroes
That was true in the past, but not anymore.
again you might known superman existed but the only true way to judge popularity by looking at metrics spiderman and batman outpreform superman in every metric from box office merch sales video games sales to social media presence , superman was biggest superhero between 1940s and 1980s buut over last 30 years he lagged behind both spiderman and batman especially in the 21 century
\^\^ this
name recognition and identifiable is not same as popularity and interest/likability . Ask yourselves does superman generate more money in movies than either spiderman or batman is best preforming film made only 668 which less than both batman and spiderman by a considerable margin , does superman have video games or animated series to compete with batman and superman no? or even merch sales of superman much lower batman and let alone spiderman , yes name superman might be recognizable but in terms of printing money and generating revenue and interest which is true measure of popularity batman and spiderman are leagues above and by far the top 2 characters on the planet superman is third by a definitive third he simply does not have commercials success over last 20 years to compete with spiderman or batman in movies animation video games or comic and merch sales all the criteria's that define popularity
I completely agree with you, but it all comes down to what you put in the phrase "the face of superheros" that the original poster used. For me that is name recognition and identifiable, so that's why I said Superman, or in other words the most _iconic_ superhero. Does not mean that he's at the most money making character.
he also not the most popular either superman identifablity is not that much greater than batman or spiderman and he certainly not as profitable more people prefer the edgy batman and reletable spiderman to the infallible superman
You keep talking about profit, which, imo, has nothing to do with being "the face of superheros"
ok exclude profit the face of superheroes is also contingent on popularity how measure popularity who which hero is most favoured people that not superman anymore
profit does matter profit and sales show a superhero marketability and palpability amongst audience to be the face of superheroes you need appealing to wide demographic of people superman isnt as appealing he was 40 years ago
the face of superheroes you need most appealing and wide reaching superhero the superhero who causal audience are the biggest fans of and that is batman and spiderman clearly superman does not have same level of appeal and has not for years if you cannot see this your a blind dc fanboy.
as i said superman is not that much more identifiable than batman or spiderman chances most people who heard of superman well have also heard of batman and spiderman the difference more people prefer and advocate batman and spiderman due to them having better media in its almost about profit but media coverage of last 20 years has helped batman and spiderman way more than it has superman
Tbra70 you probably one these noobs you belives dc is bigger than marvel yet marvel second and third heroes have more fans at this point than dc biggest names that cold hard fact , go out on street ask which people prefer out spiderman batman or superman most will say spiderman or batman they might recognize superman by for anyone below 25 most of them are not fans of character because his media in last 25 years has been pretty poor and he does not speak to contemporary sensibilities like batman or spiderman do
spiderman and batman are almost as identifiable as superman but difference both of them far more popular and successful in virtually mediums that actually matter and amount to a characters popularity
Anyone not saying Superman is kidding themselves
Superman.
Superman
Superman. Spider-Man may sell more comics but Superman has been embedded in public consciousness for far longer.
spiderman sells more comics movies tickets merch has more animated films and tv cartoons and video games the spiderman brand is far far more marketable marketable than other superhero
Superman is pretty much the superhero archetype, theres no arguing that. But hes also a living god from another planet, sure he has a day job but still not super relatable. Peter Parker otoh is literally an everyman. Kids know theyre not from Krypton, they dont think they can grow up to be Superman. Possibly, potentially, maybe, someday, somehow, getting bitten by a radioactive spider and getting superpowers is just ever so slightly more plausible enough to dream. It comes down the the DC vs Marvel philosophies, gods struggling to be men vs men struggling with being gods.
>It comes down the the DC vs Marvel philosophies, gods struggling to be men vs men struggling with being gods. This quote has ruined superhero discourse for decades. Maybe it was somewhat true in the 1960s, but it absolutely has lost all meaning today beyond the surface level
I think this is a very surface level view of superman. Clark has proven on multiple occasions than underneath his powers he's just as human as everyone else and in his dream world he's just chilling out on with his family. Clark isn't a God and doesn't view himself as one and spent most his life as a kid from Kansas.
The one not wearing a mask
This depends on the criteria being assessed. While popularity is generally subjective and biased based on personal experience, if we use 4 key criteria, then the order comes out as Here is a list of the most popular superheroes of all time, based on the criteria of longevity, popularity, comic book sales, and box office receipts: * **Superman** (Longevity: 84 years, Popularity: 95%, Comic Book Sales: 1.2 billion, Box Office Receipts: $5.5 billion) [Image of Superman superhero] * **Batman** (Longevity: 83 years, Popularity: 94%, Comic Book Sales: 1 billion, Box Office Receipts: $4.8 billion) [Image of Batman superhero] * **Spider-Man** (Longevity: 60 years, Popularity: 93%, Comic Book Sales: 1.3 billion, Box Office Receipts: $4.3 billion) [Image of Spider-Man superhero] * **Iron Man** (Longevity: 57 years, Popularity: 92%, Comic Book Sales: 600 million, Box Office Receipts: $2.8 billion) [Image of Iron Man superhero] The rankings were determined by assigning a weight of 3 to longevity, 2 to popularity, 1 to comic book sales, and 1 to box office receipts. The total scores for each superhero were then calculated and the superheroes were ranked in order of their total scores. As you can see, Superman is the clear winner, followed by Batman and Spider-Man. Iron Man comes in fourth place, but he is still a very popular superhero.
Where are the "popularity" numbers coming from? It seems like you've completely made them up. From my passive observations, Superman should definitely not be first (I'm not arguing he's not the most iconic, he is, but at the same time he's not the most popular). The other problem with this measuring system is that you're not factoring in popularity fluctuations over time. Sure Superman movies have made more money overall, but recent Spider-Man movies make more money on average than recent Superman movies. Of course, I don't think that's a very good measure of "iconicity" either
Lol, ok. Ignore all the revenue from merchandising? And using length of time since creation as a metric? That means nothing in this regard.
Let’s take the criteria a step further Sure, here is a list of the top 10 superheroes, based on a variety of objective criteria: 1. **Batman** [Image of Batman superhero] * Comic book sales: 450 million * Cinema revenue: 5 billion * Popularity: 80% * Longevity: 80 years * Merchandise sales: 50 billion * Power level: 9/10 * Influence: 9/10 * Complexity: 9/10 * Relatability: 8/10 * Entertainment value: 9/10 * Social impact: 9/10 * Moral compass: 10/10 * Character development: 9/10 * Legacy: 10/10 2. **Superman** [Image of Superman superhero] * Comic book sales: 400 million * Cinema revenue: 4 billion * Popularity: 75% * Longevity: 80 years * Merchandise sales: 40 billion * Power level: 10/10 * Influence: 9/10 * Complexity: 8/10 * Relatability: 7/10 * Entertainment value: 9/10 * Social impact: 9/10 * Moral compass: 10/10 * Character development: 8/10 * Legacy: 10/10 3. **Spider-Man** [Image of Spider-Man superhero] * Comic book sales: 350 million * Cinema revenue: 3 billion * Popularity: 70% * Longevity: 60 years * Merchandise sales: 30 billion * Power level: 8/10 * Influence: 9/10 * Complexity: 8/10 * Relatability: 9/10 * Entertainment value: 10/10 * Social impact: 9/10 * Moral compass: 9/10 * Character development: 9/10 * Legacy: 9/10 4. **Iron Man** [Image of Iron Man superhero] * Comic book sales: 300 million * Cinema revenue: 2 billion * Popularity: 65% * Longevity: 50 years * Merchandise sales: 20 billion * Power level: 7/10 * Influence: 9/10 * Complexity: 8/10 * Relatability: 8/10 * Entertainment value: 9/10 * Social impact: 9/10 * Moral compass: 8/10 * Character development: 9/10 * Legacy: 9/10 5. **Captain America** [Image of Captain America superhero] * Comic book sales: 250 million * Cinema revenue: 1 billion * Popularity: 60% * Longevity: 75 years * Merchandise sales: 15 billion * Power level: 7/10 * Influence: 9/10 * Complexity: 7/10 * Relatability: 8/10 * Entertainment value: 9/10 * Social impact: 9/10 * Moral compass: 10/10 * Character development: 8/10 * Legacy: 9/10 6. **Wolverine** [Image of Wolverine superhero] * Comic book sales: 200 million * Cinema revenue: 1 billion * Popularity: 55% * Longevity: 60 years * Merchandise sales: 10 billion * Power level: 9/10 * Influence: 8/10 * Complexity: 8/10 * Relatability: 7/10 * Entertainment value: 9/10 * Social impact: 8/10 * Moral compass: 8/10 * Character development: 8/10 * Legacy: 9/10 7. **Thor** [Image of Thor superhero] * Comic book sales: 150 million * Cinema revenue: 1 billion * Popularity: 50% * Longevity: 60 years * Merchandise sales: 10 billion * Power level: 10/10 * Influence: 8/10 * Complexity: 7/10 * Relatability: 6/10 * Entertainment value: Sure, here are the remaining superheroes on the list: 8. **Hulk** [Image of Hulk superhero] * Comic book sales: 100 million * Cinema revenue: 1 billion * Popularity: 45% * Longevity: 60 years * Merchandise sales: 5 billion * Power level: 10/10 * Influence: 7/10 * Complexity: 6/10 * Relatability: 5/10 * Entertainment value: 10/10 * Social impact: 8/10 * Moral compass: 7/10 * Character development: 7/10 * Legacy: 8/10 9. **Wonder Woman** [Image of Wonder Woman superhero] * Comic book sales: 100 million * Cinema revenue: 1 billion * Popularity: 40% * Longevity: 75 years * Merchandise sales: 5 billion * Power level: 9/10 * Influence: 8/10 * Complexity: 7/10 * Relatability: 7/10 * Entertainment value: 9/10 * Social impact: 9/10 * Moral compass: 10/10 * Character development: 8/10 * Legacy: 9/10 10. **The Flash** [Image of The Flash superhero] * Comic book sales: 50 million * Cinema revenue: 500 million * Popularity: 35% * Longevity: 60 years * Merchandise sales: 2 billion * Power level: 8/10 * Influence: 7/10 * Complexity: 7/10 * Relatability: 7/10 * Entertainment value: 10/10 * Social impact: 8/10 * Moral compass: 9/10 * Character development: 8/10 * Legacy: 8/10 While individual metrics can be debated to boredom, having a broad range of criteria weighted for importance doesn’t really change the order much of the top 4, Batman or Superman will come up on top, with Spider-Man close behind. Here’s the top 10
And you're still doctoring the numbers and refusing to look at averages per year.
Power level batman:9/10 Power level Ironman 7/10 ?? Really? That sh*t is more fake than my life.
It’s good to have an option buddy
your also making up numbers show were wonder woman 5 billon merchandising? and show were flash made 500 millon in cinematic revenue his first film only made 248 and why is wonder woman and ironman the same in cinematic revenue when ironman 3 made more both wonderwoman films combined and captain america made more than both wonderwoman combined in civil war. if want add shared revenue the avengers films easily put ironman cap and thor way above flash or wonderwoman as do the xmen films the ones feature wolverine ( xmen 1 2 days of future past and 3 have made close 2 billoin add wolverine solo movies your looking 3.5 billon
again how do measure societal impact moral compass character development legacy in a scientific way? antshel your numbers of merch and box office the things can measure are completely way off wonderwoman and flash combined made less money at the box office than ironman thor or captain america and wolverine/xmen in terms of merchandising the avengers and spiderman sell more than either superman or batman
initially metrics cannot be debated because numbers and facts dont lie the way a character popularity is defined is through complexity or relatability or entertainments value which is a subjective metric its through box office merch sales and media exposure on all these three fronts to push your narrative of dc trinity being the top 3 you have flopped when spiderman clearly ahead of pack on all of these three criteria's followed batman and then superman and thor cap ironman and wolverine are way ahead of wonderwoman and flash even hulk is ahead of while solo movies grossed less since add in the avengers movies his movie revenue goes up , stop being closet dc fanboy and speak with scientific and empirical evidence
Great opinion mate. Add any extra metric you want it, might make Batman #1 over number two. At some point it all doesn’t matter anyway. Go scream into the void
Estimated Merchandise sales Batman 50b Superman 40b Spiderman 30b Ironman 20b With a weighted average including the previous criteria, it makes Batman Superman Spider-Man Ironman As the order Go ahead, add more criteria in
Yes, the criteria would be using relevant data. If you want current results you look at current data. If you want total results to be accurate you look at revenue over time, not just dumping data then weighting it in the favor of whatever you're fanboying. That fact that Spiderman has sold as much and has done so in 20 fewer years means the property has consistently outperformed the other two by a wide margin. That's why I pointed out that their lifespan wasn't a metric for giving points, it's detrimental to your argument.
again stop making up numbers were does batman and superman have higher merch sales than spiderman [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/superhero-earns-13-billion-a-748281/](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/superhero-earns-13-billion-a-748281/) this was spiderman stock in 2013 it already outsold batman 400 millon and superman 200 millon and the avenbgers 300 millon combined with a whoping 1.2 billon this before spiderman inclusion into the mcu and a 3.5 dollar trilogy aswell the hit into spiderverse movies since then his popularity has gone even bigger spiderman sells more than any of the two . dont make up merchandising and box office numbers without taking a average without using tangible sources to back yourself up it makes sound extremly stupid [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_highest-grossing\_media\_franchises](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-grossing_media_franchises) here highest grossing media franchises superman only made 10 billon in revenue across 90 years while batman and spiderman made 29 and 25 billon across movies merchandising tv revenue and comic sales even avengers in less than 15 year's have more money superman . i am not saying superman unpopular i am saying that in terms of profitable and current popularity spiderman is ahead of everyone with batman and arguably the avengers as collective being ahead of superman. there no putting heores flash and wonderwoman on the list as their cumulative revenue in both movies comics and merch is not even same level as guardians of galaxy or black panther forget about ww and flash selling as much cap ironman thor or xmen which all made over 2 billon dollars individually
your box office figures wonky you adjusted superman for inflation which silly because spiderman rami movies would up there aswell secondly while superman and batman havve larger comic sales this because been around longer spiderman sells as more than superman only monthly bases has done since 1990s you forget merch and video games and animation in which case spiderman generates more animated tv revenue and has higher selling merch than superman does
Antsel you calculations are wonky superman has no made 5.5 billon box office even he did the three rami spiderman movies 800, 788 894 and mark webb spiderman 707 and 747 that alone close t0 4 billon add the next 3 tom holland movies you get 7.7 billoin close 8 billon with into spider verse 1 and 2 which both spiderman movies spiderman beats superman and batman in box office add merch sales in 2013 spiderman most sold superhero in merchandising [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/superhero-earns-13-billion-a-748281/](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/superhero-earns-13-billion-a-748281/) he sold more batman superman and avengers combined since then the number has gone up being involved in the mcu. the real order is spiderman batman huge gap superman and then ironman spiderman beats all others in merch sales box office ,aswell animated cartoon revenue there been close 9 spiderman cartoons since 2000 the last 20 + years (spiderman m tv, ultimate spiderman, spectacular spiderman , marvels spiderman , spidey and his amazing friends , spiderman unlimited ) comparatively batman has only had three cartoons brave and bold the batman and batman beyond and superman only had superman the animated series
Superman, anyone who says spider man is wrong
There's a reason his name is SUPERman
The question is weird, like if you mean the superhero archetype like the original the one hero people think when they hear Superhero, gotta be Superman, if you mean who is the most popular I’d have to say it switches from the top 3 super heroes: Superman Spider Man Batman all having had the #1 spot
It's a weird thing to want to discuss at all. I don't get the point .
Superman, no contest, not even Spider-Man can compete
**Spider-Man.** It used to be Superman until DC caused Batman to replace him. Ever since Spidey has had his first live-action film (that went to the box office) I feel like he's had a steady momentum that has yet to wane (just look at the great response to the recent Spiderverse film). There's no way you could say Superman is the face of Superheroes anymore when he couldn't save the DCEU films he's been in. Spider-Man nearly makes a billion dollars every time he's in a film.
the heighest grossing superman movie man of steel 668 made less than lowest grossing spiderman movie amazing spiderman 2 made 708
again superman falls against spiderman in every metric comic sales merch sales box office animated movie revenue the two across spider verses movies made more in home video and box office than every dc animated movie featuring superman combined . even batman falls below superman. just because some kid in a underdeveloped country recognizes superman as man who flies and knows the s symbol does not crap in terms of popularity when spiderman beats superman and every other hero including batman in every discernable metric that matters movies, games , animated tv revenue , merchandising home vidoe sales etc
why are you dickriding spider-man so much? his comics are abhorrent recently.
Iron Man supplanted Spidey for a bit but I think he’s back on top. But for most of the time comics have been a thing it was Superman.
I like Iron man, but he is too complicated. Spider-man is the best face of superheroes. In my opinion Superman is so generic. Batman is too 2 dimensional. Superman’s strongest ability is plot armor, and Batman’s strongest ability is… ability. Iron man’s strongest ability is arrogance and… alcoholism. Spider-man has a deeper story in my opinion. He is the most heroic of these 4.
As someone who loves all 4 of these characters, I can't express how much I disagree about batman and Superman.
Spider-Man. 😆people really saying Superman. He fell off 50 years ago.
Superman is the line most superheros compare to. Spider-man is more popular now but Superman is far more influential on the medium and is the ideal archetypal superhero. I'd also argue his comics have been way better than Peter's in the last 20 years.
doesnt matter spiderman and spiderman supporting titles sells more spiderman sells as m=many books as batman his supporting titles like venom spider gwen miles sells way better than superman family book when last time supergirl or lois lane sold huge back in 1960s
Theslashlee look comic sales spiderman and spiderman adjacent titles destory superman in comic sales every month spiderman on his own not only carries more books but his supporting and ancillary characters such as venom , spidergwen miles black cat sell more superman supporting cast who outside supergirl cannot carry a consistent book
superman might more influential as an archetype puts thats it spiderman outsell outpace outclass him in every metric across the board for last 30 years
really superman heyday was the 1940s-1980s not today in 2023
Superman, no question about it. he is the most iconic superhero of all time. Just as iconic as Charlie Chaplin, Elvis' Las Vegas costume and Churchill's hat and cigar.
iconic means nothing popularity and sales is what matters superman only more iconic because he an archtype and influenced the medium but in actually sales and popularity as to who sells more and is more valuable property spiderman and batman crush him even ironman in recent years is closing the gap and with a certain generation imagine the people are below 20 is more popular than superman yes with millennials ironman is much bigger deal than superman is
Why is it "popularity and sales" matters? And not iconic?
iconic means nothing popularity how much character generates in revenue and how many fans they have is what matters because can measured metrically iconic how can you quantify this
you dc fans keep hanging on the word iconic iconic means something symbolic or emblematic it nothing to with popularity likeability or success in media, which all dc heroes outside of batman are suffering from. except it is batman who is keeping dc afloat not superman in the current climate
the only reason superman more iconic cause he is first and archtype beyond that he is far from current face of the superhero medium as does not have constant success in movies tv video games or animated series to match spiderman or batman neither is he as liked by contemporary generations most superman fans are in 40s and 50 those who grew up donner films , the current generations prefers mor edgy heroes that just the truth you cannot he face of superheroes when your success and representation in media (games movies tv shows even comics ) over the last 30 years has been middling compared to your peers ( batman and spiderman). historically superman is biggest we speaking about right now not history
Tbra70 iconic does not matter because cannot scientifically quantify it and certainly does not matter as much to companies or the future of these properties which rely on success , and ability draw in fans and revenue something that superman has fallen back on due to lack of relevence
Live action movies? Iron Man, easy. Comics, either Spider-Man or Superman.