Batman: The Most Successful Superhero of All Time?

Now we may be a little biased, with the whole “Batman collection” we’ve got going on at home (and in our hearts), but this isn’t US saying Batman beats all other superheroes to be the most successful of all time; this is research. This is science.

A website called SlotsUp has gone into a lot of effort to bring us this newsworthy bit of research, it should give us material for petty online disputes for days on end. No but they really did put in a lot of work, here’s how they came up with the results of “Most Successful Superheroes” (and as an added bonus, “Most Successful Villains”):

They picked out 30 popular DC/Marvel heroes and villains and gave them a success score out of 100 based on the following metrics (with each metric receiving up to 10 points):

Average solo film ratings on IMDb
Hours of screen time
Google search volume
Comic book appearances
Number of solo films
Solo film success at the box office
Number of Reddit community members
Number of Cosplay Instagram hashtags
Number of Amazon toy searches
Positive sentiment

(Check out their full list of sources on their page)

So no, we won’t be finding our favorite non-blockbuster comic book characters on here. Doop will have his day.

And now. THE RESULTS!

If you’ve kept up to date on “the most popular superheroes” over the decades, it’s no surprise to see Batman, Spider-Man, Superman, and Wonder Woman at the top, as they’re often referenced as the creme de la creme when it comes to superhero popularity. If anything, it’s always been a toss up between Spider-Man and Batman. The real shift comes in from Captain America onwards, really showcasing the cultural shift that was ushered in by the Marvel Cinematic Universe over the last couple of decades. To be fair, these scores do factor in movie-time as part of the overall score, so obviously superheroes that showed up in blockbuster films will show up on the “most popular” list. I’d be curious to see how the results shift (or don’t) when movies/films aren’t taken into account.

But if the Villain results prove anything, it’s that it’s not all about the movies. Yes, it’s no surprise to see The Joker and Harley Quinn top the list with all the screen time they’ve been getting (and deservedly so), but to see Catwoman rank in the top 5, Lex Luthor coming in 7th, and Loki come in at 8th despite the differences in screentime is at least interesting.