10 Superheroes Who Became More Powerful Over Time

Superheroes are often defined by their ability to achieve the impossible to defeat the forces of evil. Yet, many have simple beginnings as crimefighters who dealt with down-to-earth problems like gangsters and robbers. However, as the comic book industry grew during the 1940s, writers soon realized that to keep their characters interesting, they had to embark on more spectacular adventures and pull off even crazier feats. Over the decades, many recognizable heroes received immense upgrades that became permanent parts of their power sets. Where once they could lift cars and fly faster than a plane, they could threaten reality and reshape the laws of nature on a whim. To save the day from increasingly greater threats, the heroes of DC and Marvel Comics had to evolve.

This list won’t cover temporary or alternate universe upgrades like Captain Universe Spider-Man or Superman One Million. Instead, this list will look solely at heroes who, over many decades and across many writers, have permanently transformed into god-like forces of nature.

10) Cyborg

Cyborg’s upgrade came as a result of a significant promotion. Originally, Vic Stone was a teenager who, after a terrible accident, had most of his body replaced by cybernetics to save his life. As a member of the Teen Titans, Cyborg could lift up to 20 tons and turn parts of his body into weapons. However, when the New 52 rebooted the DC Universe, writers wanted to rework Cyborg into a founding member of the Justice League. To stand with absolute powerhouses like Superman and Wonder Woman, Cyborg’s origin was reinvented to grant him a cosmic-level upgrade. In this rebooted timeline, the fateful accident was Vic merging with a New God supercomputer called a Father Box. With his cybernetics crafted by extraterrestrial gods rather than humans, Cyborg became much more advanced and powerful. He can now open portals across the multiverse, access and manipulate technology on a global scale, and fly at supersonic speeds. With powers like these, Cyborg was more than ready to join the Justice League.

9) Iron Man

When Tony made his first suit, it was from scraps in a cave, made as a desperate attempt to escape his militia kidnappers. Afterward, it’s safe to say that Tony’s initial crime-fighting armors were anything but spectacular. His first armor was big, clumsy, and slow. Even worse, the first incarnation of the chest plate that kept the shrapnel away from Tony’s heart needed to be recharged every few hours, or else he’d die. Tony, ever the innovator, recognized these problems and, over many years, has more than perfected his Iron Man suit design and built an arc reactor that didn’t need recharging. With hundreds of armors at his disposal, now even the most basic of Iron Man suits can contend with the likes of Thor, fire devastating energy beams, and fly at hypersonic speeds. This doesn’t even include armors like the Hulkbuster and Godbuster that were specifically designed to match some of the most powerful beings in the Marvel Universe, including Celestials. Iron Man is a symbol of human ingenuity and determination.

8) Iceman

Who would have guessed that a guy who threw snowballs at people was an Omega-Level mutant and an elemental force of nature? When Bobby Drake, aka Iceman, first enrolled in Charles Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, he could create snow or ice to either cover his body or freeze enemies solid. And although these ice powers were incredibly versatile, the scale at which Iceman used them was very limited. However, over the years, Iceman learned to tap into his limitless potential and discovered that he’s an Omega-Level mutant. Iceman has complete mastery over cold and ice and can even turn himself into living ice. He can transfer his mind into other bodies of ice, water, and even vapor to create new bodies or even entire legions of clones. If Iceman wished, he could effortlessly plunge the Earth into a new Ice Age. His power is so great that he has frozen Hell, light, and time itself.

7) Swamp Thing

The immense power-up of Swamp Thing came when he fully understood and embraced the nature of his existence. Originally, Swamp Thing was presented as a scientist named Alec Holland who, after a lab accident, was turned into a plant monster with standard superhuman strength and regeneration abilities. That all changed when Alan Moore rebooted the character. Moore revealled that Swamp Thing was, in reality, a sentient mass of plant life that, because of the lab accident, absorbed the deceased Alec Holland’s memories. Swamp Thing was no longer just a swamp monster, but instead the avatar and champion of the Green; the spiritual and sentient hivemind that connects all flora in the multiverse. All flora on Earth is Swamp Thing’s to command, and he can manifest anywhere that there’s plant life. As a literal force of nature, Swamp Thing is now an unkillable, practically unstoppable being who serves as the primary defender of the Green.

6) Hulk

The Hulk may be the strongest there is, but over time he’s become much stronger. Even from the Jolly Green Giant’s debut, he was able to wrestle with Thor and destroy mountains. Still, as the villains he fought became more powerful, the Hulk’s rage and strength increased to eclipse them. Soon enough, he was punching holes into reality and shattering universes with a thunderclap. Yet the Hulk became a truly Lovecraftian, unstoppable beast in the Immortal Hulk storyline. In this iconic tale, it’s revealed that gamma radiation originates from the One Below All. This ancient, primordial entity opposes the creator of the Marvel Multiverse and seeks to destroy all of existence. Not only that, but when a gamma mutant like the Hulk dies, their souls go to the Below Place, where they can enter through the Green Door to come right back to life. The Hulk also found that his regenerative abilities have drastically increased, as he can now pull himself together even after being cut to bits. Now, not even death can stop the Incredible Hulk.

5) Aquaman

For decades, Aquaman was the punchline of the DC Universe. With the strength to only lift a few dozen tons, the ability to talk to fish telepathically, along with the weakness of only being able to live outside of the water for an hour, Aquaman is oftentimes seen as a complete joke. However, over the years, many writers have sought to make Aquaman worthy of his title as the King of the Seas. Now, Aquaman is strong enough to push tectonic plates and fight on par with Wonder Woman. His new trident allows him to command planet-spanning storms and fire powerful lightning strikes. Even his telepathy has been upgraded to give people seizures and to enhance the strength of the billions of sea creatures he commands. And instead of constantly needing to be submerged in water to stay alive, Aquaman is now the master of the Blue and thus has complete command over all forms of water in the multiverse, making him a certifiable god. With powers like these, Aquaman has come a long way from being the loser who talks to fish.

4) Flash (Wally West)

As the first Kid Flash, Wally West had a lot to live up to if he was ever going to succeed his successor, Barry Allen. And while Wally was certainly fast as the Kid Flash, he was nowhere near Barry’s ability to run faster than light or travel through time. Wally’s time to shine came after his mentor’s unfortunate passing, and he took up the Flash mantle. Soon after, Wally discovered the source of power for every speedster in the DC Universe: the Speed Force. This infinite cosmic energy field is the source of not just the Flash’s power, but of all motion and time in the multiverse. Wally quickly mastered the Speed Force and began pushing the boundaries of what was possible with it. Soon enough, Wally began performing some of the most outrageous feats in comic book history, including outrunning instant teleportation, the Big Bang, death, and even the Speed Force itself. From humble beginnings as a subpar adolescent speedster, Wally has more than proven himself to be the Fastest Man Alive.

3) Jean Grey

From the very beginning, Jean Grey was recognized as the most powerful member of the original X-Men, with potent telepathic and telekinetic abilities. Nonetheless, originally, her telekinetic powers were predominantly limited by what she could physically carry. However, under the great tutelage from Professor X, Jean soon mastered her telepathic and telekinetic powers, enabling her to read and manipulate countless minds simultaneously and manipulate objects on a molecular level. Of course, during a mission into space, Jean received one of the most iconic power-ups of all time when she merged with the Phoenix Force; a giant omnipotent being that personifies multiversal death and rebirth. At first, such overwhelming power drove Jean mad when she found herself capable of destroying planets. However, over time, Jean soon mastered the Phoenix Force and became an unstoppable force of nature that could create universes and threatened to destroy the multiverse. Now, a part of Jean’s spirit lives in every part of existence as she’s creation personified.

2) Scarlet Witch

As Scarlet Witch shows, magic has no true limits. When Scarlet Witch made her debut as a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, she believed herself to be a mutant who could create spells called Hexes that could tilt probability in her favor. At first, these Hexes were mostly small things like making machines explode or causing an enemy to trip over nothing. However, as Scarlet Witch’s Hexes grew stronger, she discovered that her powers drew from the primordial force known as Chaos Magic, which was gifted to her by the Lovecraftian god Cthon. By harnessing even more of this Chaos Magic, Scarlet Witch found that she could manipulate time, space, minds, souls, and reality with just a thought. Such power led her to reshape the entire Marvel Universe and even threaten to destroy the infinite multiverse. And where such power used to threaten her sanity, Scarlet Witch has since learned to control this infinite power and is now the new Sorcerer Supreme, giving her an even greater power boost.

1) Superman

When Superman got his start in 1938, he was known as the man who’s faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and could leap tall buildings in a single bound. And while that’s all certainly impressive, it’s nothing compared to the god-like being that he is now. Almost off the bat, Superman began acquiring new powers as plots demanded. Some powers like flight, heat vision, and freeze breath stuck, while others like telepathy and shapeshifting were quickly forgotten. Superman’s powers also increased to such great levels that he could destroy solar systems with a sneeze, pull a galaxy’s worth of planets, and fly fast enough to break the bonds of infinity. Superman became so ridiculously overpowered that DC rebooted the multiverse with Crisis on Infinite Earths to tone down his more outlandish feats. Yet across multiple reboots, Superman keeps regaining his lost power, allowing him to lift an infinite amount of weight and destroy a multiverse. Superman’s ever-increasing power is a core part of his character because it represents humanity’s infinite potential to do good and capacity to overcome any hardship.

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