Superman is 400,000 times stronger than the Hulk in the comics

Even though Hulk just pulled off one of his most impressive feats of strength, Superman's biggest power achievement completely overshadows Marvel's Green Goliath. When focusing strictly on the mechanics of physical force, DC's strongest heroes include the likes of Martian Manhunter, Atom Smasher, and Shazam. Marvel counters DC with cosmic heavyweights like Sentry, Thor, and Captain Marvel.

DC's Superman and Marvel's Hulk set the bar for physical power in their respective realities, albeit through entirely different biological mechanisms. Superman is a solar-powered engine at peak efficiency. Meanwhile, Hulk is a living cycle of fluctuating rage, able to push his limits indefinitely. Both heroes embody the extreme high-end of the power scale, where a single punch can neutralize most enemies.

One of the best ways to measure a superhero's strength is pretty common in real life: how much can they lift?

Superman Has Lifted Four Hundred Thousand Times More Weight Than The Hulk

Superman's Strength Is Astounding When Measured

In DC's New 52 continuity, specifically in Superman #13, Clark Kent pushes his Kryptonian physiology to its absolute limit to test his strength without the benefit of yellow sunlight. Superman spends five days straight in a specialized research facility bench-pressing the equivalent weight of the entire planet Earth. While the Earth’s mass is approximately 5.97×1021 metric tons (or about 6 sextillion tons), Superman performs this feat for 120 hours without breaking a sweat, eventually stopping only because the machine can't add any more weight. This establishes a maximum limit for Superman's strength.

Hulk’s strength reaches a terrifying level in Hulk: Smash Everything #5. After a series of catastrophic events involving the Leader and a journey through the Earth's core, Hulk finds himself beneath the Antarctic continental plate. In a moment of pure unadulterated rage, Hulk shoulders the entire weight of the Antarctic continent to prevent the Earth from falling apart from the inside out. Given that Antarctica consists of roughly 15 quadrillion tons of ice alone, not including the massive continental rock beneath it, this push-up overshadows Hulk's previous record of holding up a 150-billion-ton mountain during 1984's Secret Wars.

Although lifting a continent is a sextillion-ton level feat depending on how much of the tectonic plate is moved, Superman’s planetary bench press involves the theoretical weight of the entire globe: every ocean, mountain, and tectonic plate combined. That said, Superman’s feat takes place as a controlled exercise in a lab, whereas the Hulk’s is a desperate, explosive burst of strength during an apocalyptic event. While Superman surpasses Hulk in measurable weight, Hulk’s feat proves that his strength is limitless.

Superman & Hulk's Strength Records Are Incredible, But Physical Power Isn't Everything

Power-Scaling Is Always All Over The Place In Fiction

While Superman and the Hulk’s planetary strength records are impressive, they highlight the inherent chaos of comic book power-scaling, where official stats take a backseat to the needs of the narrative. Every character’s limit is usually whatever the current writer needs it to be for a dramatic finish. This leads to massive internal contradictions: the same Superman who can bench-press the planet for five days straight has, in other stories, struggled to hold up a crumbling bridge or is knocked unconscious by regular enemies. Similarly, the Hulk has moved tectonic plates, yet he has also been temporarily incapacitated.

This inconsistency is particularly evident when comparing high-end feats to low-end anti-feats. For example, Spider-Man is consistently a 10-to-20-ton hero, yet he has famously staggered the Hulk with a punch and once used a massive concrete table to halt Hercules, a character with strength rivaling Thor. In DC, the Silver Age Superman was once capable of sneezing away solar systems and traveling infinite distances, whereas his modern counterparts are often scaled back to planetary levels.

Physical power is also secondary to strategy and moral resolve. Characters like Batman or Iron Man have stolen victories from gods by exploiting specialized weaknesses like Kryptonite or siphoning gamma radiation. In DC K.O., the Joker kills and outlives DC titans as strong as Shazam, Aquaman, and Hawkman. In Age of Ultron, Hawkeye famously outlives a significant number of Avengers. Still, Superman and Hulk have the privilege of staying among the strongest characters in their respective universes.

Who do you think would win in a no-holds-barred battle to the death, Superman or Hulk?