12 Best DC Movie Superpowers To Have In Real Life

There are many fantastic DC movie universe superpowers that would be amazing to have in real life. Big-screen adaptations of DC Comics stretch back to the Batman serials of the 1940s, but they kicked off in earnest with 1978’s Superman: The Movie. With its then-revolutionary visual effects, Superman: The Movie would live up to its tagline of “You will believe a man can fly,” but it would not be the last time that would happen for either the Man of Steel or other DC characters. Every DC movie released since owes everything to Richard Donner’s iconic original.

Many other heroes and villains from the pages of DC Comics have since made their respective debuts on the big screen, with increasingly advanced VFX bringing their powers to life in new and unique ways. There’s no doubt that Warner Bros’ upcoming DCU movies will introduce even more as audiences demand innovation and escalation too. In bringing superheroes to the screen, DC movies have also highlighted all the different ways that the superpowers of DC characters could be true gifts in reality. Here are the top 12 DC movie superpowers to have in real life.

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12 Poison Ivy’s Control Of Plant Life

While not a power featured to a great degree Batman & Robin, Eco-terrorist Pamela Isly a.k.a. Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman) carries the ability to communicate with and control plant life and even summon plants as her personal army. As a villain, Poison Ivy’s power might seem like one to be feared, but it has many positive uses to benefit humanity and the ecology of Earth. In the right hands, Poison Ivy’s power over plants could do everything from irrigating farmland, growing fertile crops, and replenishing rainforests subjected to deforestation.

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11 Superman’s X-ray Vision

Hiding anything from the Last Son of Krypton, his Kryptonian cousin Supergirl, or any other Kryptonians is an exercise in futility, with Kryptonians able to see through solid matter with their X-ray vision. The only known material capable of blocking Kryptonian X-ray vision is lead, and having this ability in the real world would be incredibly useful. From being a tool for hostage situations to an E.R. physician’s greatest asset, X-ray vision could be of great help in so many different scenarios. With this only one of his many abilities, it’s no wonder Superman is the most powerful Justice League member in the DCU.

10 Shooting Lightning Bolts Like Shazam

DC’s characters with a connection to the Greek Gods often carry the ability to shoot powerful bolts of lightning from their hands. This is a power wielded by characters like Billy Batson (Asher Angel) and his superpowered alter ego Shazam (Zachary Levi) in the Shazam! movies and Teth-Adam (Dwayne Johnson) in Black Adam. Other characters like Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) can channel lightning through her bracelets, and this would indeed be a stupendous ability to have in real life – one that also provides an instant fix for power outages, as well.

9 Martian Manhunter’s Shape-Shifting

Zack Snyder’s Justice League would unveil General Swanwick (Harry Lennix) in his true form of J’onn J’onzz, a.k.a. Martian Manhunter, and would do so with one of his signature powers of shape-shifting. Thanks to his Martian origins, J’onn can alter his appearance to look like anyone or anything, and can even match their voices perfectly. To be able to disappear in plain sight would be an amazing ability for a myriad of situations, while J’onn, through his purity of heart, also sets an example of using shape-shifting powers for the greater good.

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8 Superman’s Heat Vision

The Man of Steel’s power set includes his famed heat vision, with Superman and his fellow Kryptonians able to blast literal beams of fire from their eyes. Superman, of course, never uses this against anyone other than metahuman or alien villains, but his heat vision has a great deal of other uses beyond simply being a tool in combat. Superman can use his heat vision melt down steel doors, weld metal into place, thaw ice, and in countless other ways, making his heat vision a great tool for saving lives if one could use it in reality.

7 Green Lantern’s Power Ring

Members of the Green Lantern Corps wield the most powerful weapon in the universe known as the Power Ring, enabling each Lantern to create solid light constructs of pure green energy. As seen with Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) and Yalan Gur’s use of their respective Power Rings in Green Lantern and Zack Snyder’s Justice League, the Power Ring is a true conduit of one’s imagination fueled by the power of will. Additionally, the Power Ring comes with such other powers as flight and translating any language in the universe.

6 Aquaman’s Telepathy With Marine-Life

Arthur Curry a.k.a. Aquaman (Jason Momoa) is the King of Atlantis, and as a bridge between the surface world and the underwater kingdom, Arthur can also telepathically communicate with aquatic life. This has often made Arthur the butt of countless jokes, but 2018’s Aquaman would show Arthur using this power to lead an army of sea creatures to prevent a war against the surface. Aquaman’s power of aquatic telepathy would give any human using it a window into an entirely new world, and would be another amazing DC superpower to carry.

5 The New Gods’ Incredible Life Spans

The New Gods of Apokolips are featured in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, including DC’s greatest villain Darkseid (Ray Porter), and one of their defining traits is their lifespans of eons of Earth years. With the Fourth World as their home, the New Gods of Apokolips and New Genesis are almost immortal (though they can be killed by gods or metahumans as seen in Steppenwolf’s beheading by Wonder Woman.) With the New Gods’s extremely extended lifespans, they are able to amass the knowledge and grandeur of the multiverse in all its glory, which would surely be a power of immense interest to many.

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4 Cyborg’s Control Of Technology

Zack Snyder’s Justice League, the nearly dead Victor Stone, a.k.a. Cyborg (Ray Fisher), gains a new metal body and technological abilities beyond his wildest imagination, including being able to interface with any form of technology in the universe. As his father, Dr. Silas Stone (Joe Morton), explains, Victor’s power over technology knows no limit, and needless to say, would be an immense ability to possess in the world’s digital and internet age. Of course, with Victor able to single-handedly launch every nuclear warhead on Earth, his ability to manipulate technology must also be wielded with the greatest of care.

3 The Super-Strength Of Superman, Wonder Woman, & Other DC Characters

Metahumans in DC Comics often carry the power of superhuman strength, and their film adaptations typically bring their strength powerfully to life. Characters like Superman and Wonder Woman are some of DC’s metahuman heroes who display super-strength the most prominently on film, but their fellow heroes like Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Cyborg, Hawkman, and others carry vast superhuman strength themselves. Super-strength is also a common power in DC movie anti-heroes and villains like Black Adam, Darkseid, Steppenwolf, and General Zod, and possessing such strength in reality would be nothing short of incredible.

2 The Flash’s Super-Speed

The Flash carries the title of The Fastest Man Alive for very good reason, with Barry Allen’s (Ezra Miller) connection to the Speed Force granting him velocity well beyond the speed of light. Barry’s super-speed not only enables him to run unbelievably fast, but also has numerous side powers related to it, including phasing through solid matter, a metabolism that runs on overdrive, time-travel, and inter-dimensional travel. To carry the Scarlet Speedster’s super-speed would be another of the greatest powers seen in DC movies to carry in real life.

1 Flight

So many DC superheroes and villains carry the power of flight, most famously Superman himself, and it is arguably the greatest superpower ever conceived. To take to the skies faster than a speeding bullet is the fantasy of billions of people, and characters like Superman, many of his fellow heroes, and even DC villains provide the ultimate vicarious thrill in their powers of flight. Naturally, flying would be a useful power to have in real life in an array of ways, and the ability to go up, up, and away would be the ultimate dream come true of any DC movie superpower.

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