A Battle between Comrades

Civil War is coming, very soon. Two of our favorite heroes are going to truly face off for the first time on the big screen. But how exactly will the fight go? What makes sense?

The Morals

Always an extremely important element to a fight between friends and especially in a fight between a high street level and a mid tier. Due to a severe advantage in weapons and artillery, morality is what stops Stark from blowing Steve away in the opening moments. As it's unlikely Tony will actually being trying to kill Steve he will certainly be sticking to non-lethal means of incap (repulsors and good ol' punches).

On the other hand, Cap can't afford to hold back very much. He doesn't have to worry about hurting Iron-Man nearly as much as vice-versa and will have to abuse his advantages from the beginning.

The Setting

An enclosed space. The size of the room means one of Iron-Man's biggest advantages in a fight against Cap is effectively negated. The otherwise empty room also means that if Cap is separated from his shield he has very few options to protect himself with.

The Assets

It's a good idea to look at what each of these guys is bringing to the table before we jump into the actual fight.

Iron Man

Strength and Durability are his biggest advantages. Earlier Iron Man suits have been capable of lifting jets and supporting transports, although the best indicator of his strength actually comes from War Machine,

who was capable of lifting 60 tons (or thereabouts) of tank back in his 2012/Avengers era suit. We can safely say that Iron Man is superior to war machine in strength and his suit has improved since that time. Stark is capable of lifting 60+ tons, realistically around 70. Cap is strong, but he's nowhere near Stark.

Durability wise Iron Man's suits have taken a tank shell and not been compromised, survived an encounter with a weakened Thor (while amped) and the initial blast during the destruction of Sokovia;

The final area Tony holds an advantage is energy projection, via repulsor blasts. Although he certainly won't be using his most powerful settings (which have blown through extremis soldiers) they'll still knock the Captain around.

Captain America

Roger's holds several advantages, the first being skill;

Combat speed is another advantage he holds. While Tony has displayed some very impressive reaction times his actual H2H speed leaves a lot to be desired. Agility also lies with Cap.

Steve's final and best asset is his shield. It provides him with an excellent way to deal with the durability disparity between him and his opponent;

and is his sole way of hurting Tony;

We've look at the scenario and the players; time for the main event!

The Fight

As soon as they get into it Cap needs to be very careful. If Iron Man gets a proper grip on his shield he'll take it from it him very quickly (think WS but easier) and the first Avenger will be in a lot of trouble. Stark also has to be cautious as Steve could very well open with a shield throw which is going to do a lot more then tickle.

Assuming they make it past that point Cap is going to have to play keep away from his opponent. He'll need to dodge Stark's fists (which will likely be mixed in with the odd repulsor blast) and try to strike at weak points to force him into a vulnerable position. At point blank Steve won't be producing enough force to leave meaningful damage to Stark's suit (the man inside will tire though), he needs to attack vulnerable areas or have a wind up to do that. His end goal is to penetrate something vital (i.e his chest plate, mask) and expose some skin, either tiring Stark out or hurting his actual body enough he can't continue.

The easiest way for Stark to win is to separate Steve from his shield. Provided he can catch him the matter of grabbing his shield should be relatively easy and assuming he puts it somewhere out of reach for the rest of the fight a definite game changer. Once unarmed the Captain can continue to avoid Stark's fists and blasts for a time but eventually he'll get hit. A punch from Tony isn't coming close to one shotting him (see his fight with Ultron) but it's definitely putting him in a world of hurt. Separated from his shield and thus without a way to hurt his opponent or strong defense he'll eventually be tagged with a repulsor and put into an awkward spot or Tony's sustained blows will take there toll and he'll succumb to exhaustion.

With that said;

The Winner?

Iron Man. It's going to be a long fight but ultimately it's much easier for him to win then it is for Cap. Whilst the latter will have to work hard at breaking through his suit, Stark just needs to keep punching until eventually he starts to hit him. The strength disparity also means that if Tony can get a good hold on Cap it'll be nearly impossible for him to escape it. Make no mistake Captain America can win. But to do so he'd have to be spamming his strongest throws and strikes, at which point he would actively be trying to murder his friend. That's hardly in character, so due to superior stats and an excellent ranged game Stark wins.

This is how the fight would play out with no outside factors (teammates, prep) right now (both of these characters will improve in Civil War). The result in Civil War is up in the air.

Live-Action Power Ranking

So I thought it'd be fun to make a ranking for some of the CBM hero's and villains . Please note that this list is not based entirely on who would win in a fight, or who is the most powerful, but rather a combination of both. If it were this list would move around a bit. Above all, this list is my list. I've tried to make it as logical as possible but yours might be different, and that's okay.

I'll be updating this list, so expect to see Scarlet Witch and Vision when they get some feats, although really both could be high up here right now.

(Still adding sections so at the moment entries are quite brief).

20. Hulk-Buster

Tony Stark's Hulk-Buster is a walking feat of human engineering. This mechanical behemoth has an excessive amount of firepower, flight and the ability to repair on the go. Detachable and transforming armor pieces provide some valuable versatility.

Why 20?

His durability is lower then most people on the list, the suit is reliant on repairs which is an extreme weakness given even Hulk was capable of working out he had to stop them.

19. Faora

Faora is a Kryptonian commander possessing the usual superhuman physicals of her race as well as being.

Why 19?

She's the fastest combatant here, but her base durability is lower then the other MOS Kryptonians, as well as her adapter which lowers her effective durability even further. She can beat Stark by exploiting his reasonably weak durability and by being fast enough to disrupt his repairs.

18. Hulk

The Green colossus.

Why 18?

Hulk has the potential to be the strongest combatant here, but at base he's inferior to others on this list. Strength is Hulk's thing, and people here can do it better then him. He can beat the Hulk-Buster without the effects of mind control on him and has the physicals and versatility to shut down Faora's superior speed and skill.

17. Wonder Woman

Why 17?

Her sword allows her to beat Hulk and Stark. Against Faora she's beaten in speed by a lot but the sword again allows her to prevail. She can't win against people that not only have flight but also outmatch her physically provided they don't underestimate her.

16. Zod

Basically a weaker Superman. He is physically trailing the Man of Steel in all aspects, has less experience and isn't as refined at using his powers. His lack of morals is an excellent advantage though.

Why 16?

(See Superman).

15. Hulk (Ang Lee)

I wouldn't blame you if you'd forgotten about Ang Lee's Hulk film. On the upside of this questionable movie is the fact this version of the Hulk is extremely powerful. His base strength is very impressive and he grows in strength (and size) very quickly. He's also absurdly fast, keeping pace with helicopters and deflecting missiles. He also possesses abilities like Gamma bursts and limited absorbing powers.

Why 15?

He's physically capable of dominating those above him and is extremely fast compared to most of them bar Faora. His ever growing stats combined with his size and agility grant him solid majorities all round.

14. Superman

The Man of steel. Incredibly strong and durable.

Why 14?

He can BFR Hulk, Faora and Wonder Woman if he wishes, and can beat the former two in a purely physical confrontation due to superior stats, but could succumb to WW's sword if he chooses to fight with his fists. He's already defeated Zod.

13. Thor

The mighty Thor. He has the standard high tier physicals (class 100, superhuman durability, etc.) as well as a variety of powers via Mjolnir.

Why 13?

Faora, Wonder Woman and Hulk are at his mercy due to there lack of flight, Zod and Superman are physically superior but against his superior versatility, striking power and a noticeable skill advantage they are slightly lower.

12. Ultron Prime

One of the most durable people on this list. Ultron's final Vibranium form was capable of overpowering Thor fairly easily and surviving a combined attack from Vision, Thor and Iron-Man. He possesses a form of telekinesis in addition to his flight and lasers.

Why 12?

No one has the means to put him down and no one listed thus far has the strength to bully him. He needed more feats to be higher, but so far his only weakness is his arrogance.

11. Kurse

Kurse is a pretty clear jump from the regular high tiers (Thor/Hulk/MOS) in terms of basically everything. He's survived being in the middle of massive explosions, shrugged off a bloodlusted Thor's throw, stomped the hell out of Odinson and literally punched through force-fields. His only shortcoming is his lack of mobility, as he never displayed any super leaps or dashes, although his reaction time is formidable.

Why 11?

Kurse can dominate everyone (bar No.1 and potentially Ultron) physically. Outright crushing Thor puts him well ahead of the pack. Several characters may be able to pull a few wins here and there (Superman and Thor BFR, WW's sword) but for the most part anyone who tries to tango with him is in for a shock.

10. Sebastian Shaw

A powerful energy absorber, Shaw is capable of absorbing any type of force, whether it be energy or kinetic.

Why 10?

Some severe Hax or specific types of BFR are required to defeat Shaw, many brawlers above get destroyed due to a lack of means to counteract his powers.

9. Vision

A new powerhouse with a lot of potential, his rank is still in flux. Powerful phasing abilities, an infinity gem, flight and physicals on par with Thor amount to an extremely powerful hero.

Why 9?

He can beat most of this list with just his physicals and the gem, phasing is reserved for those he can't.

8. Green Lantern

Hal has the standard GL abilities such as making constructs, shields, flight, ability to survive in space and some good durability.

Why 8?

He can BFR anyone on this list who doesn't instantly kill him and can't travel in space independently. Failing that he has a whole variety of options with which to kill most of the powerhouses and is capable of taking hits.

7. Doomsday

Doomsday has extremely powerful heat vision, physically one of the strongest on the list and has a form of energy absorption which allows him to evolve (and consequently release huge blasts of energy), growing more powerful over time.

Why 7?

No one before Superman has even a fools chance against him, without BFR no one after him does either. He's simply too powerful to be put down by most of the MCU/DCEU high tiers through conventional means.

6. Magneto

The Master of magnetism can manipulate metal to an extreme degree. He's able to lift gigantic structures, manipulate microscopic metallic particles, create force fields, react to bullets and generally just be a badass.

Why 6?

His telekinetic strength is extremely formidable and his utility is ever present. As of his latest appearance he's capable of manipulating metal the world over, all at the same time. He can defeat people above and below him who have metal on there persons, as well as some who don't.

5.Apocalypse

Extremely impressive powerset. Possesses teleportation, transmutation/high level matter manipulation, force fields that resisted assault from multiple extremely powerful beings, telekinesis capable of lifting hundreds of thousands of tons and destroying cities a healing factor and extremely impressive reaction speed. He doesn't have telepathy per say, but when approached in a mental battle he is extremely formidable. He also has a variety of other powers that'll be easier to assess once the movie comes out proper.

Why 5?

His powerset means he can destroy basically everyone below him with fairly mild difficulty. His shields were resisting sustained assault from planetary beings. A resistance to transmutation is relatively uncommon in live-action, which dooms the majority of this list to fail against him.

4. Phoenix

When possessed by the Phoenix entity Jean Grey's telekinetic and telepathic abilities are increased to insane levels. She's also able to disintegrate matter on a large scale effortlessly. Her only weakness is that she still has human physicals in this state.

Why 4?

She can disintegrate a lot of the other powerhouses and failing that just TP them. It was clear that once she let go she was more powerful then Apocalypse, so despite having overall inferior feats she rests here.

3. Dr Manhattan

The Godlike figure of Dr Manhattan might as well be one for all the power he holds. Able to teleport, see his own timeline (both past and future), manipulate matter and even reform his own being.

Why 3?

Matter manipulation sorts out basically everyone above him. He lacks the feats to be higher.

2. Silver Surfer

The Silver Surfer has an absouletly stacked power-set. He can effect the abilities of other powered individuals, phase, use energy blasts and absorb energy and physical objects. He has a degree of matter/molecule manipulation as well as the usual super stats specific to powerhouses.

Why 2?

At his best Norrin has damage output comparable to Ronan (although he knocked himself out using it) and through his variety of other abilities he can shut down most people on this list very easily. It's impossible to exploit his only weakness (being separated from his board) without an extremely high level of matter manipulation. This is the reason that Dr Manhattan could take some wins over him (the first person to do so) but due to a lack of feats against quality opponents and a disparity in offensive power the Surfer takes the majority.

1. Ronan

Ronan (with the Power Gem, naturally) is perhaps the most powerful character in CBM's to date. He's face-tanked a weapon stated to destroy moons and through his hammer has planetary level offense.

Why 1?

Fairly obvious. He's got the most powerful offensive output in this list and enough durability that most of the other powerhouses combined won't even phase him.

Note

This list is becoming increasingly more about power with less emphasis on actual fighting. Some of the ordering is also debatable, particularly the top 5 (which realistically I can see being switched around totally and still being debatable).

To be added: Prof X, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver