It’s safe to say that Superman is a character that needs little introduction. Whether it’s through television, films, comics, video games, old school radio serials or beyond, the Last Son of Krypton is and always will be the shining beacon of DC Comics, and one of the most transcendent fictional characters in modern history.
Across the vast multiverse that makes up DC there are an untold number of versions of this iconic character that can accomplish unknown feats with seemingly no upper limit. But with all of his unstoppable power and nigh-invulnerability (save for that pesky Kryptonite weakness), which version of Superman is actually the strongest?
Created in 1938 by the pairing of writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, Superman immediately became a hit amongst the burgeoning nerd crowd and regular public alike. Standing for truth, justice and the American way, Superman has always been synonymous with strength and the ability to overcome any odds. But as the character developed over the decades, more and more version of the alter ego of Clark Kent began popping up across the multiverse, with many matching or even surpassing the original in terms of raw strength.
Ranging from the extremely powerful Russian-based Red Son Superman, to the Earth-3 doppelganger of Superman (named Ultraman), to the annoyingly strong yet severely emotionally unstable Superboy-Prime, there’s no shortage of versions of Superman to pull from when figuring out which is the strongest. Two of the most overpowered, however, come in the form of Grant Morrison’s All-Star Superman, who had so much power pent up that it was actually killing him, and Superman Prime One-Million, a future version of this character that is clad in gold and quite literally has been hanging out inside the sun for untold centuries, growing exponentially stronger with every passing second. Both are in the upper echelons of the strongest Supermen around, but there’s one final iteration of this character that truly takes the cake as the most powerful.
Recently seen in DCeased: Dead Planet #4 after the anti-life equation has turned the entirety of the DC Universe into zombie-like creatures with most of the mainstay heroes having been slaughtered in the chaos, Jonathan Kent, son of Clark Kent, has taken up the Superman mantle to carry on his father’s legacy. The narration - provided by Batman - explains that due to Jonathan’s unique physiology and innate powers, that Jonathan will one day surpass his father in terms of strength and power.
So while Superman might be the crowning jewel in DC’s repertoire, the strongest incarnation of the character isn’t actually any version of Clark Kent, but his son, Jonathan. Having all of the abilities that his father has and then some, Jonathan might not currently hold the title as the strongest Superman, but give him a couple years to realize his full potential, because in the end, Batman is always right and it’d be foolish to disagree.