THE X-MEN VS SUPERMAN
I've read this battle discussed before. And I have chosen the 1993 cast simply because it is the one I, and many others are familiar with, having grown up with them. So, let's examine some of the strengths and weaknesses involved in the X-Men, and how they stack against the Man of Steel, Then we can make an educated decision as to the outcome.
First off, Cyclops. As far as physical prowess goes, Cyclops is basically just an ordinary man. He is trained to use his body in combat, though it is not enhanced in any way by his mutation. His optic blast can go either one of two ways against the Man of Steel. First, since the blast can "punch a hole through a mountain", it may be enough to stun Superman and knock the breath out of him. Especially if it catches him off guard. Although, I have heard that Cyclops' blast basically comes from a power within him and it is a power similar to that of the sun. If that is the case, it is indeed possible that the optic blast may actually assist Superman, as his power is drawn from yellow solar energy. This would depend on the interpretation of Cyclops' mutant ability, though.
My feeling is that number one is more likely. It would not be anywhere near enough to take Supes down for good, though. Once Superman shakes the blast off, he will be back in action. And when he braces for impact and utilizes his super speed, Cyclops will have a hard time targeting Superman again. Then it is a simple flick to his skull to immobilize the X-Man.
The inclusion of Wolverine raises an argument as old as comic book grudge matches, and that is Adamantium vs Superman. Adamantium is supposedly indestructible and it can also cut through anything, except more Adamantium. And Superman has been known to destroy things that are supposedly unbreakable, such as diamonds. Can it then be assumed that Superman can be cut by adamantium? Or that Superman can break it? Let's examine some facts.
First, let's look the origin of adamantium. The movie X-Men Origins: Wolverine hints that adamantium is a metal that was found in a meteor from space. According to the Marvel universe though, it is actually a man-made metal created in an attempt to mimic Vibranium, a metal most well known as the material Captain America's shield is made of. Its origins are from outside of Earth. Since this battle is using Wolverine from the comic universe and not the films, however, we have to assume that adamantium is a man-made metal, created from Earth-based material. If the space origins of adamantium were true, I would lean on the side that it could cut Superman, and possibly even defeat him if the right strokes were used. This is because extraterrestrial elements, such as Kryptonite, can and have injured Superman in the past. Since it's elemental make up is Earth based, though, we have to assume that Superman could not be injured by it. It may even be probable that Superman could damage the metal itself. For the sake of fairness, let's assume that it could not, though.
Even if we were to assume that adamantium could hurt Superman, the outcome depends on the user. Despite his mutation and skills as a soldier and samurai, Logan is a human. He has shown great speed in his reflexes and attacks but this is nowhere near the abilities of the last son of Krypton. If he somehow managed to sneak up on Superman, he might be able to injure him. That is a strong might, though, as it depends on Logan's skill at attempting to surprise a man with super senses that can move almost as fast as light. That is not very likely.
An interesting discussion arises with Rogue. Rogue's abilities allow her to absorb other people's strengths and powers simply through physical contact. This weakens the person being touched. This is good to note since it actually resembles one of Superman's more powerful enemies: Parasite. Parasite regularly absorbs Superman's abilities, essentially leaving him in a human form. This leads me to believe Rogue could do the same to Superman.
The question is, though, does Rogue absorb Superman's actual powers? Would she immediately gain his strength, different vision abilities, super breath, flight and speed? Or does she simply absorb his Kryptonian physique? What's the difference?
Superman's Kryptonian physique enables him the ability to absorb yellow sunlight and utilize the lesser gravity of Earth. This is what truly gives him his powers. However, these powers do not manifest immediately, they take many, many years to reach fruition. If Rogue only inherited Superman's Kryptonian heritage, would it take years for her to reach his strength?
My guess is no. Since Rogue not only absorbs powers but also memories and emotional traits, she could more than likely absorb all of Superman's abilities at once. If she can grab up to the minute thoughts and memories, why can't she grab up to the minute abilities?
A question arises now. When Parasite touches Superman, his powers are not immediately drained. It takes time to fully drain Superman, which gives him time to shake Parasite off of him and even go toe to toe with him, albeit weakened. Would Rogue's ability affect him the same way?
Research shows that for every second Rogue touches her victim, they lose their abilities for sixty seconds. Knowing how fast Superman can react, could he shake her off and retain his abilities in a weakened state? Or does he revert to human for a full minute? It is also interesting to note that sometimes Rogue latches on to people that are too powerful, either mentally or physically, for her to properly absorb anything from them, even to the point of hurting herself in the process. Since Superman has extremely powerful abilities, can we conclude that she could not handle the powers in full? Her absorbtion of Miss Marvel's powers and even Juggernaut's has adversely affected her, at least temporarily.
I think it's safe and fair to conclude that Rogue could siphon off a portion of Superman's strength. This would probably level both of them out, giving them equal strength and power. Superman would be weakened, but not entirely human and Rogue would not be overwhelmed by Superman's full potential. Therefore, in my mind, Rogue presents the greatest physical threat to Superman on the X-Men team.
Beast's physical prowess would mean nothing in a one on one fight against Superman. His only ally is his keen, scientific and inventive mind. As a scientist and geneticist, it is possible that given time he could find and invent a way to take Superman down scientifically. Why is this this the conclusion I draw?
Before the 1980's, what was Lex Luthor? He was a brilliant inventor who used his intellect to attempt to destroy Superman using inventions and weaponry. Beast's intellectual skills include expertise in theoretical physics, quantum mechanics, nanotechnology, analytical chemistry, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering. These would enable him with any number of mechanical skills necessary to design and build machines or devices that could exploit Superman's weaknesses to kryptonite or red solar radiation.
Beast's abilities in this area depend on a few important factors. Are the X-Men going against Superman blind, or do they have knowledge of him before the fight? If Beast knows about kryptonite, could he gain access to it in time? What about red sun radiation? Would he be able to recreate it?
Much like Batman's advantage in most fights, I feel that if Beast was given enough time to prepare for this battle he could design a way to weaken Superman. This would at least give the team time to subdue him.
Gambit's most prominent ability is the power to convert objects' potential energy into kinetic energy. The problem with using this against Superman is that the power of his explosions is dependent on the mass of the object he is charging. For example, a charged playing card explodes with the force of a grenade. The problem is, the larger an object is, the more time it takes to charge. How could he utilize his mutant power in a fight against Superman?
One way could be that Superman would not expect a playing card being tossed at him to hold any kind of explosive charge. Gambit could toss one at him, and Superman, knowing that an attack of that sort with a regular old playing card could do nothing to him, may have his guard down. This would allow Gambit's first couple cards to probably disorient him. Gambit also carries a bo-staff that he can charge with enough energy to topple a house. Again, Superman would expect such a weapon to bounce off him harmlessly, so he would not be fully ready for the force of a wrecking ball to knock him over.
Given that this is a team match, though, could Gambit technically charge something large with enough power to injure Superman? For the sake of argument, let's assume that a Volkswagen Beetle fully charged could immobilize Superman. Could Gambit charge it with enough energy? Let us examine this.
Let's say it takes a full second to charge a playing card with the force of a grenade. How many playing cards equal a car's mass? According to some Internet searches, A playing card is approximately 1.8 grams. The mass of a Volkswagen Beetle is 810 kg. In order to fully charge the car, it would take 810,000 seconds. Could the entire X-Men team included here distract Superman for over nine days straight, giving Gambit the time necessary to charge the vehicle? I would have to answer no.
What about Storm? Could her mastery of weather allow her to immobilize Superman? Let's look at something Batman once did in a fight with Superman.
In the comic storyline "Hush", Batman used electricity to basically taser Superman. How much did he use? The entire power grid of Metropolis had to be surged into Superman's body to even remotely stall him. Does Storm have the ability to do so with lightning? According an online search, a lightning strike contains enough energy to power an average American home for a week. One home's power is nowhere near the power needed to run a city the size of Metropolis.
However, Storm could utilize more than one lightning strike, perhaps even using a continuous blast directed into Superman's body directly. If Superman is caught unawares, perhaps charging Storm without knowing her true potential, he could get knocked on his butt by numerous lightning strikes. At the very least, this could stall him enough to allow the other X-Men members time to attack or regroup, whatever the case may be.
Another interesting note is that Storm is immune to extremes in temperatures. This means arctic breath and heat vision would not harm her. Though this may not even be worth noting, since Superman would more than likely die before attempting to burn any enemy to death.
Given Storm's abilities, she has also been known to remove oxygen from people's lungs or use air pressure to inflict pain on the inner ear. However, Superman holds his breath for lengthy trips through space regularly, so he could easily overcome having air removed from his lungs. Since he is impervious to pain, the inner ear pain would not affect him. Lightning is Storm's best bet against Superman.
The problem is, though, that once Superman is attacked by lightning, he can brace himself and come out of it eventually. On numerous times he has gone against Captain Marvel and Black Adam, both of whom utilize lightning strikes. Superman can eventually get away from this situation and even use it against them. So, Storm would hold the upper hand for a brief moment, but Superman would eventually overcome her.
When it comes to Professor Xavier and Jean Grey, Superman more than likely would not fair well. Why is this? Charles Xavier is the most powerful telepath on the planet. Jean Grey, even without the aid of the Phoenix, also possesses great strength in this area. Superman has shown no immunity to telepathic control, especially from one as powerful as Xavier. Combine him with Jean, and I fear Superman has no ground to stand on.
Superman is alone for this battle. However, the power rings of Green Lanterns have demonstrated the ability to block telepathic signals to the brain. If Hal Jordan, Kyle Raynor, John Stewart, Guy Gardner, Kilowog or any other ring bearer were at his side covering him in the emerald aura, he would have a shield to block the telepathic attacks. J'Onn J'Onnz could also provide telepathic resistance, though whether this would even rival Xavier's is severely in question.
So, now that we have broken down his opponents, with the exception of Jubilee who truthfully would not deliver anything anyway, let's begin thinking of how the match may progress.
The first scenario assumes that Superman is brought to the arena having no idea what he's up against. The X-Men are transported here as well, but they are only told that Superman is an alien threat that needs to be stopped. Using this scenario actually voids out Beast's inventive skills, since he would have no knowledge of Superman's weaknesses to work off of.
In this scenario, though, the X-Men have no knowledge of Superman's power. So they would probably try to approach him and talk him down first. Perhaps they would have Storm and Rogue fly to him and talk him into cooperating. Superman would of course respond suspiciously, asking what they are talking about. Xavier would read his mind, and quickly surmise that there is no threat and the match would end with no combat at all. Clearly, if we truly want to test the mettle of the combatants, we need to alter the scenario.
Scenario B says that the X-Men not only have knowledge that Superman is a potential threat, but have also seen him in action. Perhaps they are shown footage of Superman's powers. They then decide that they need to take him out swiftly, without holding back at all. In this case, Xavier and Jean would realize that the only possible way to stop him would be an instant telepathic attack, leaving Superman writhing in pain on the ground after falling from mental duress. Again, this ends too quickly, even though it proves the X-Men victorious.
Just to make this clear, so when people who know me don't assume I'm automatically siding with Superman in this fight: If Jean and Charles are in this match, Superman will be defeated. There. I said it.
But, since this is a match, and no one likes a severely one sided match, how can we make this more interesting? Let's go with scenario B again, but eliminate Xavier and Jean entirely.
So... Our new line up is:
Now, Cyclops, Wolverine, Storm, Rogue, Jubilee, and Beast are left to handle this threat that must be defeated as soon as they enter. Beast still has no knowledge of any weaknesses. It is reasonable to assume that since the X-Men are a team, they would have protocol in place as to how to handle such a threat in an effective manner.
The X-Men now basically have three viable opening attacks. One: Cyclops hits an off guard Superman with an Optic blast. Two: Storm causes immediate lightning strikes to hit Superman. And the third: Rogue flies into him, attempting to use his power against him.
Option three is not likely. Why? While Rogue can fly fast, even supersonic, Superman is much, much faster. With this in mind, Superman would probably dodge an attack before it is even an option for her to absorb anything.
Option two also may not work as well as planned. It would take some time for Storm to charge enough lightning in the atmosphere to strike Superman. We need to remember that Superman would have begun using his vision abilities to scan the area as soon as he entered the arena, so he will pick up on his opponents sooner than later. Storm does not have much time to charge the static in the air around Superman.
This leaves us with option one. Cyclops' immediate optic attack. Superman is hit immediately upon becoming airborne. Since he is not expecting it, it tumbles him through the air. He won't hit the ground, because Cyclops has to look up to see him. So, if we're in "The Dome" (My imagined 36 square mile arena built on the moon for the sole purpose of these matches), Superman would collide with the force field that protects the frame. When Cyclops tires of blasting him, Superman would then probably fall to the ground, leaving a crater.
Now that Storm has had time to charge up a decent lightning blast, she will hit him as he is starting to stand again. The lightning strikes would hit Superman the way a taser hits us humans. His muscles would freeze and he would drop again. However, having seen Superman against Captain Marvel, we can conclude that he would soon be able to move out of the path of the lightning. The next logical conclusion is to take out the threat. So, he would come after Storm. He could easily immobilize her. A tap on her forehead would do it.
Now its back to the rest of the X-Men. Cyclops would probably blast him again, but as he is flying towards the X-Men, he would more than likely be able to dodge the blast. Then he would put Cyclops down, leaving him unconscious for the match.
Who's left? Gambit, Wolverine, Rogue, Beast, and Jubilee. The team realizes that their power players are out of the game. The next viable option is now in play: Rogue using her abilities to at least attempt to drain Superman of his abilities.
This leads to an issue: Getting her bare hands on someone as fast as the Man of Steel.
My guess: There are two ways that she could manage to cop a feel. One, she would have to play the "damsel in distress" and convince Superman to rescue her. Would this really work though?
Let's think: The X-Men have been convinced that Superman is a major threat. To the entire planet. What would make Rogue think he would rescue her if she was in danger? That goes against the concept of attacking Superman to begin with. If she has even an inkling that Superman has the desire to rescue people, the X-Men would have to reconsider the fight to begin with. So, option one is not likely, even improbable.
Two: Superman, viewing Rogue as no threat upon her approach, would simply attempt to grab her, despite her bare hands. This would grant her the ability to drain Superman. This is very possible as an option. However, if Superman as already been attacked by the other X-Men, would he be more cautious now? Just a thought. For the sake of the match, I'm going to assume he would not, since Rogue shows no real threat to him at first glance. Therefore, Rogue is able to absorb a portion of Superman's powers. And drain Superman of some of his. Only briefly, though, as he would toss her off as soon as he feels the drain.
So, we have Superman drained. Let's assume he is now at his Golden age strength level (Flightless, susceptible to gases, no vision abilities, etc.) Now, our other team members can come in. Gambit's card attacks may serve to stun Superman. Beast, with animal reflexes and speed, may be able to subdue the dazed Man of Steel. Wolverine's adamantium claws may pierce his flesh. Rogue, has the upper hand with Superman's abilities. Even Jubilee, who can create energy globules she calls "fireworks", could probably cause some damage.
Remember, if Rogue touched him for a second, Superman is weakened for a minute. My best guess is that Superman would have shaken her off in a second, maybe slightly more or slightly less. Either way, his abilities are weakened for about a minute. A minute is a long time when you have five people laying it into you from all sides.
Rest assured, once he is fully restored, Superman is not falling for Rogue's touch again. And once he is back to full strength, he has an advantage: Flight. Assuming he knocks Rogue out immediately, Jubilee, Wolverine, Beast, and Gambit stand no chance against a full powered Superman in the air.
Whirlwind attacks would probably lay them out pretty quickly. As in, he flies around quickly enough to form a tornado and take down all remaining X-Men. And, by my match rules in The Dome, that would end the battle.
So. In short, the only X-Men, in this line up anyway, that could take Superman on are the telepaths Professor X and Jean Grey. Some may argue that it would be unfair. Maybe there should be some heavy hitters like Juggernaut. But the chosen lineup was what it was. I'm not saying no X-Men could defeat Superman. There are a few.
Hope you enjoyed. Add a comment if you wish.
