The First 10 Members of the Squadron Supreme, Ranked by Power

In 1985, Marvel Comics introduced a new idea that asked one simple question: What would happen if the Justice League team of the world’s most powerful heroes decided that they wanted to take over the world? Years before this, the Squadron Supreme of Earth-712 debuted in The Avengers #85 (1971), created by Roy Thomas and John Buscema, as the heroic counterpart to the villainous Squadron Sinister, which was that team wanting to conquer the Marvel Universe. The various members appeared in Avengers and Defenders comics before their official team-up was codified in a 1985 maxiseries by Mark Gruenwald, Bob Hall, and Paul Ryan. This was where the Squadron Supreme went from heroes who protected the world to heroes who decided to rule over it. This series killed off heroes with brutal frequency, which was a constant across Gruenwald’s series, and it contains the team’s most memorable moments in Marvel Comics history.

Here is a look at the first 10 members of the Squadron Supreme in Marvel Comics, ranked by power.

10) Nighthawk

Nighthawk is Kyle Richmond, and his counterpart was one of the most famous members of the Defenders‘ early lineups. The Squadron Sinister villain version of Nighthawk debuted in Avengers #69-70 (1969) before the Earth-712 version showed up. He is the Squadron’s Batman, a hero with no superhuman powers, but with a winged costume that provides flight, claws, and other Bat-style gadgets. In Mark Gruenwald’s maxiseries, he was the one person to stand against Hyperion’s Utopia Project because he felt the Supreme should serve and not rule. He fought back against Hyperion and died in that series.

9) Golden Archer

Golden Archer is Wyatt McDonald, a man who fought crime on Earth-712 as a hero known as Hawkeye, before he changed his name to Golden Archer. He is a Green Arrow analog and uses a variety of trick arrows. Like Nighthawk, he has no superhuman powers, but he has a mastery of archery, athletics, and hand-to-hand combat, making him a more dangerous fighter than Nighthawk. He ends up forced off the team in disgrace when they learn that he used Tom Thumb’s behavior modification to force Lady Lark to love him. He is killed in the final battle by Blue Eagle.

8) Lady Lark

Lady Lark is Linda Lewis, a pop singer on Earth-712 whose vocal cords were destroyed in an accident, and Dr. Decibel rebuilt them, with Lark gaining sonic powers instead of a singing voice. She is the Squadron Supreme’s version of Black Canary, with some elements from Hawkgirl as well. Her powers include sonic blasts, sonic screams, and disorienting hypersonic frequencies that induce vertigo in opponents. She is, at one point, the victim of Golden Archer’s sexual assault, but she outranks him here because of her actual superhuman powers.

7) Tom Thumb

Tom Thumb is Thomas Thompson, an intellectual genius in the body of a dwarf. He used his brain to become a member of the Squadron Supreme and was the team’s version of the Atom from DC Comics. He was the chief scientist and inventor for the team, and he designed all the technology to implement the Utopia Project that the team used to conquer the world and transform it into their vision. He has no superhuman powers, although his intelligence makes him a very powerful member. He ended up dying when he learned he had brain cancer, and refused to tell his teammates so he could continue his work until he passed away.

6) Amphibian

Amphibian is Kingsley Rice, a founding member of the Squadron Supreme who was born to a human mother and Atlantean father on Earth-712. He is the team’s version of Aquaman. His powers include superhuman strength and durability, superhuman swimming speed, oceanic-pressure resistance, and telepathic communication with marine life. However, like Aquaman, he becomes “land sick” if he is out of the water for too long. He is one of the members who grows disillusioned with the Utopia Project and leaves the team rather than fight for either side. He is very powerful, but ranks below the elite heroes from his world.

5) Nuke

Nuke is Albert Gaines, and he is the Squadron Supreme’s version of Firestorm. He was a nuclear power plant worker exposed to radioactive waste, granting him the ability to generate, store, and release nuclear energy from his body and to fly via nuclear propulsion. He was the team’s recruit after they fought the Overmind, but he ended up with one of the most tragic arcs on the team. His uncontrolled radiation accidentally poisons his parents, and when Tom Thumb couldn’t save them, he lost control. Doctor Spectrum had to encase him in a bubble to stop him, leading to Nuke’s continued attacks, which burned out all the air and suffocated him to death. This was a moment that ruined the team’s moral standing.

4) Whizzer

Whizzer was originally called Blur, and he is the team’s version of the Flash. Stanley Stewart gained super-speed after passing through a strange fogbank, and he was a founding member of the Squadron Supreme. His powers include supersonic running, running up walls and across water, and creating tornado-like vortexes by circling. However, he has to eat a large amount of calories to keep himself fully powered. He has an almost unbeatable mobility, evasion, and tactical reach in a fight, and he was one of the big weapons in the Redeemers’ battle.

3) Doctor Spectrum

Joseph Ledger is Doctor Spectrum, and he gained his powers from the alien Power Prism, a sentient gem given to Ledger by the Skrullian Skymaster, an alien he rescued, and Joseph used it to become the Squadron’s version of Green Lantern. He can generate hard-light constructs, including blasts, shields, and complex shapes, as well as the ability to fly, become intangible, and override mechanical devices, all powered by willpower. He was a founding member, and he was loyal to Hyperion’s Utopia Project. He proved his power when he caused Nuke’s death, one of the team’s most disturbing moments.

2) Power Princess

There are two powerhouses at the top of the Squadron Supreme, and Zarda is Power Princess, the team’s version of Wonder Woman. However, unlike Wonder Woman, who is an Amazon, she is a Utopian, which is the equivalent of Earth-616’s Inhumans, which makes her a product of Kree genetic experimentation. Her powers include superhuman strength, speed, agility, and flight, drastically slowed aging (she is centuries old), the ability to drain life force, and a transparent Utopian shield that blocks tank fire and slices metal. She is the most skilled fighter on the team, but only the second most powerful.

1) Hyperion

Hyperion is the most powerful member of the Squadron Supreme, and the team’s version of Superman. Mark Milton is the last survivor of a race of Eternals from Earth-712, adopted as a child by the Milton family, and he serves as the Squadron’s unquestioned leader. His abilities include Class-100 super-strength, flight at roughly 3,000 mph, invulnerability rated at the level of withstanding hits from Thor, a cosmic-energy-fueled healing factor, and atomic vision generating temperatures above 12,000 degrees Fahrenheit. He is the architect of the Utopia Project, where the team took over their world. To understand Hyperion’s full power, the Mark Milton variant from Earth-13034 once held two Earths apart during an Incursion, although he eventually fell.

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