Justice League vs. The Avengers: Who Would Win & Why It Doesn’t Matter
By: J Preston
Tags: Comics, Justice League, Avengers, Marvel, Dc

As an avid comic book reader, I loathe this question. Let me explain why…

Imagine this. Wonder Woman, Superman, Batman, and the rest of the Justice League descend onto an open field. About a football field away, you see Captain Marvel, Captain America, Thor, and the rest of the Avengers walk through a Dr. Strange-like portal. The greatest superheroes of all time are about to face off in a battle-to-the-death. It sounds amazing (well, amazing to watch at a safe distance anyway).

But who would win?

Let me ask you another, more relevant question:

Why does it matter?

I’ve read about or heard of this event from time to time, and have even discussed at length with a few of my friends who are also comic nerds.

TLDR, it was 4 votes out of 4 for the Justice League. But, we also determined that the question itself was pointless. In any event, let’s entertain this epic battle for a few moments.

Before all the elitist Marvel fanboys say anything, I’m very indifferent towards either the Justice League or The Avengers, whether it’s the movies or the comics. I watch both, I read both, they’re both awesome. I’m not apt to pick one over the other — they both have their fair share of strengths and weaknesses, so let’s put that argument aside. Watching any of these heroes go toe-to-toe would be absolutely awesome.

Reel it back. Let’s keep things in context and go with current comic book teams. The lineups are:

Justice League

- Batman

- Superman

- Wonder Woman

- Green Lantern (John Stewart)

- The Flash (Barry Allen)

- Aquaman

- Cyborg

The Avengers:

- Black Panther (T’Challa)

- Captain America (Steve Rogers)

- Iron Man

- Thor

- Captain Marvel

- She-Hulk

There are some notable exclusions here for those who do read comics, like Martian Manhunter and Bruce Banner’s Hulk. These are the current core teams at this very moment.

For the sake of equality, we’ll take Cyborg out of the fight, leaving teams balanced at 6 against 6. We can take a few stabs at 1v1 scenarios, such as Batman vs. Iron Man; Thor vs. Wonder Woman; Aquaman vs. Black Panther; all great fights, but there’s a pivotal problem here:

If this were truly a fight to the death, Superman and/or Wonder Woman would likely take out any Avenger.

Stay with me here and think about this for a minute. Thor is easily the most powerful of all Avengers in this lineup, followed by Captain Marvel and She-Hulk. However, when Thor is faced with any emotional backlash or strife, he immediately breaks down and wallows in his own guilt. After Wonder Woman hits him with the Lasso of Truth to face his demons, he’s done. Yes, it really is that simple for the Amazonian princess.

On top of that, it was revealed during a past crossover (and a Jane Foster Thor issue) that both Superman and Wonder Woman can wield Mjolnir.

The two snippets on the right of this scene reveal what appears to be Superman and Wonder Woman holding Mjolnir.

Whether they are still worthy to do so, and whether they would use this to their advantage, is another question. But I would place my bets on, at the very least, Wonder Woman being able to wield the thunder god’s hammer. Now, even without his hammer, Thor is still incredibly powerful. He has proven time and again that it’s not the hammer that makes him who he is. He’s just…not Superman and Wonder Woman powerful.

Aquaman vs. Black Panther would be a hellofa fight to watch. I give a slight edge to Black Panther because of his intellect, suit, and sheer fighting ability, but we would have to consider that Aquaman is some 150 times stronger than the average human. On top of that, we need to consider the venue of said fight. Is this in or near the ocean? If so, Aquaman wins. Is this on dry land? In that case, T’Challa wins.

Next up are the genius-level billionaires, Batman vs. Iron Man. Here’s where things get tricky. Two men, Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark, both without actual powers, but with more than enough money and smarts to buy them superhero getups. Batman always has a contingency plan. Iron Man’s many suits are considered top-level Earth nanotech. In many ways, both men allow their egos to get in their own way. What do you get when two men with giant egos and plenty of money go head to head? Destruction. A lot of destruction. I’ll call this one even with an edge towards Batman, the man with the (backup) plan. Even if he were beaten, I’m sure there would be one final ace up his batsuit sleeve.

The next few contestants in our fight are a little harder to match up. We have Captains Marvel and America with She-Hulk, against Superman, The Flash, and Green Lantern. Let’s go with a 3 vs. 3 here.

Superman and The Flash’s super speed and The Flash’s connection with the Speed Force make this a no-brainer in contest with She-Hulk and Captain America. I know Steve Rogers is the guy that never gives up, and I have a lot of respect for him, but he’s simply no match for either Superman or The Flash. Again, we can go into where this action takes place — if this were Earth-616 (the Marvel Earth), The Flash loses his connection to the Speed Force and is left in a much weaker state — but overall, ol’ reliable is not up to par with these two Justice Leaguers.

Though she does get stronger the angrier she gets and is arguably the strongest Avenger in terms of pure strength, She-Hulk would likely fall to Superman alone. When Jen Walters does fight as She-Hulk, it’s often unabated anger that has no clear direction, something Superman is all too familiar fighting against. Against The Flash, she’s far too slow. It would almost take a lucky swing to land a hit on Barry. Then again, the question remains on whether The Flash would be able to do any damage to She-Hulk. With Barry Allen’s high IQ, I’m sure he’d figure it out.

Captain Marvel is easily one of the most revered super heroes in the Marvel universe. Her immunity to toxins and energy absorption abilities bring her up to par with some of the top-tier superheroes. Captain Marvel would be carrying this team of 3 Avengers, but it simply wouldn’t be enough. We haven’t even factored in Green Lantern, who’s ring is considered one of the most powerful objects in the DC universe. This fight goes to the Justice League.

The next question I’ve brought to the forefront — does this argument even matter?

It doesn’t. There would never be a moment, without being force-fed to fans, that these two teams would go against each other in a fight to the death. If anything, they would work together as they’ve done so in the past even if they do clash for a fight or two. As such, this is all speculative and debatable material. I’m sure I could be countered into a viable Avengers-winning argument, an argument I’m open to. There are so many revolving members for both teams that it’s tough to keep tabs on who is part of the team and who is not at any given point in time. On top of that, there are several off-shoots of both teams: Savage Avengers, West Coast Avengers, Secret Avengers, Dark Avengers, Justice League Dark, Justice Incarnate, Justice League Beyond, etc. etc. etc.

It’s fun to think about, perhaps even aggravatingly fun for some. But for now, I’ll continue to enjoy my comics for what they are — some of the best stories ever made.