7 Best Upgraded Versions of DC Heroes, Ranked

DC Comics is known for having some of the most powerful heroes in comics. This honestly started in the Golden Age when heroes like Alan Scott, the Spectre, and Doctor Fate had every power you could think of and Superman was getting more and more powerful. This came to a head in the Silver and Bronze Ages, when the most powerful heroes made gods look quaint. Power levels went down after Crisis on Infinite Earths, but have since come back up, even though they we haven’t gotten the ridiculous feats of the past. Buffing heroes has long been a part of superhero comics, with some upgrades making them more powerful than most realize.

Sometimes, these buffs come from being future versions of the heroes, but sometimes they come from upgrades in the present day. They are usually temporary, but some of them have been used again and again over the years. These are the seven best upgraded versions of DC heroes, the most powerful versions of the most potent heroes.

7) Swamp Thing as Avatar of the Green

Swamp Thing first appeared during the horror revival of the 1970s. He was a pretty standard swamp monster, but all of that would change when Alan Moore came along. Moore introduced the idea of the Green, a force that all plants were connected to, and made Swampie into its avatar. Since then, he’s been one of the most powerful beings in the DC Multiverse. He’s wrecked Superman, including the vastly powerful pre-Crisis Superman, like he was nothing. While the Green is now just looked as a part of Swampie, it was the ultimate upgrade once upon a time.

6) Ion Kyle Rayner

Kyle Rayner became Green Lantern after Hal Jordan’s rampage and was able to defeat him as Parallax. Kyle fought the good fight on his own for years and then joined the new Green Lantern Corps after the return of Hal Jordan. He was highly honored by his fellow Corpsmen and the Guardians decided to give him the power of Ion, the will entity. He became more powerful than ever, his control over the green energy of will allowing him to do anything with his new energies. He reached the apex of his power and became a titan.

5) Hal Jordan Spectre

Hal Jordan became Parallax after losing Coast City, becoming a villain who wanted to remake the universe in his image. However, eventually, the good man he was would shine through and he ended up sacrificing his life to relight the Sun in the underrated The Final Night. Eventually, his spirit would bond with the Spectre in Day of Judgment, stripping it from the rogue angel Asmodel, making him into the nearly all-powerful Spirit of Vengeance. He was mostly able to control its power, not doing too many terrible things, but Parallax and Sinestro would try to take control of him again, leading to him giving up the Spirit and returning to life as a Green Lantern.

4) Kingdom Come Wally West

Wally West is the most powerful Flash of them all. Sometimes, it’s hard to figure how he could get more powerful but Kingdom Come introduced us to what is probably the most powerful version of the third Scarlet Speedster. This version of Wally was constantly on the go, constantly patrolling Keystone and Central City while also fighting alongside the Justice League. He was moving at insane velocities at all times and was even able to see Norman McCay, who was outside of the normal reality at the time with the Spectre. This was the ultimate Flash, an all-powerful speed god.

3) Golden Wonder Woman

Dark Knights: Death Metal opened up with the multiverse under the control of Perpetua and the Batman Who Laughs, with Wonder Woman acting as their jailer in exchange for the lives of her prisoners. However, she also had a plan, one that involved harnessing Crisis and anti-Crisis energy in order to get the power to battle Perpetua. The Batman Who Laughs actually killed her first and Diana went ahead with her plan, now to stop him, becoming the Golden Wonder Woman. This gave her godlike power, allowing her to fight the Batman Who Laughs, who had the powers of Doctor Manhattan. She was able to win and recreate the multiverse, showing just how powerful she was in this form.

2) Hellbat Batman

Batman is known for creating weapons to use against all kinds of enemies, including the kind of all-powerful conquerors the Justice League faces. Eventually, he decided to create the ultimate armor, one that would allow him to fight even the most powerful enemies. He made the Hellbat armor, putting everything he knew into making it as potent as possible. It keeps exponentially increasing its power, but at the cost of the wearer; wear it too long and you’re dead. He’s used it to battle Darkseid and Lois Lane has wore it in battle with the Eradicator, proving just how potent the armor is.

1) Prime Superman

DC One Million is the best ’90s DC event and it introduced the most powerful Superman ever: Prime Superman. This version of the hero had absorbed millennia of solar energy and had gained godlike power. He lived inside the Sun itself and had vast reality altering powers, even recreating his wife Lois Lane when he was brought her DNA. All-Star Superman and The Justice League vs. The Legion of Superheroes would see this version of the character return, showing off how powerful he was and giving us clues about how he became who he is. Superman doesn’t really seem like a hero who needs more power, but there’s something Prime Superman that just works.

What’s your favorite upgraded DC hero? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!

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