Let's kill superheroes... with science!

[Ultimate Captain America]

I have found an interesting video about size changing.



It seems that if someone could shrink to tiny sizes (such as Ant-Man or the Wasp) he would lose all his body heat and die, and if he grows to giant size (Giant-Man, Stature, Atlas) it would explode and leave the insides all over the room.

So, let's everybody get a superhero, get rid of all those convenient plot devices such as "a mutant is immune to his own powers", and imagine for a moment if he really had that fancy superpower in the real world. How would each one be screwed?


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Note: This is just a game, of course. None of this would apply for earth-616 or most others, and they are still alive and well in those universes.

[Ultimate Captain America]

For example, let's start from the begining, with the Fantastic Four
* The Human Torch? Alas, poor guy. Let's move to the next.
* The Thing? His skin is made of rocks. That means he can't sweat. He will die of overheating and heatstroke.
* The Invisible Girl? I can't think of fatal things, but if she's invisible then light passes through her, including her eyes. She should be blind.
* Mr. Fantastic? If he doesn't have solid bones, then all his internal organs are screwed. Specially his brain.

[Digifiend]

Funny you mention that, did you read Reckoning War: Trial of the Watcher? In a world where Uatu didn't warn the FF about Galactus, Sue does end up blinded due to her powers being used against her. Reed, Ben and Johnny all have bad things happen to them too, but they don't die.

[Huntsman Spider]

If we're gonna go there, Spider-Man would be completely impossible thanks to the square-cube law not working in real life the way it does in comics. A spider sized up to human proportions would actually be slower, weaker, and more fragile due to its increased size and weight and not really being physically adapted for that, which would also be a fatal hindrance to its ability to take in oxygen.

[mugiwara]

I'm not sure characters like Angel or Spiral would be anatomically possible. Unless their body doesn't look human anymore (and I'm not just talking about the extra limbs).

[MitchFox]

Justice, Jean Grey, Emma Frost, Charles Xavier and any psychics would die of heavy nosebleed and massive stroke from using too much psychic powers

Speedball can't stop bouncing around until he lands into the ocean and drowns.

Angel/Archangel would get killed by a passing airplane when he flies at a wrong time.

Ant-Man and Wasp would get eaten by any big insect-eating animal when they are stuck in their shrunken state

[Alan2099]

If you light somebody on fire and the fire burns away all their fleshy and meaty parts, they usually aren't capable of riding motorcycles.

[LordMikel]

Quicksilver runs fast causing his skin to get pealed away from the high air friction.

[Ultimate Captain America]

If you ever meet Hulk, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE. It does not matter which one of his identities is at the wheel right now, or he feels like smashing everything or not. The guy emits gamma radiation, and that's a very dangerous hazard for anyone near him.

[Digifiend]

Same for Spidey. 90s theme song had the lyric "radioactive spider blood". The rest of the spider family are radioactive too, except for Gwen (whose powers are from Venom).

[marhawkman]

Same for Spidey. 90s theme song had the lyric "radioactive spider blood". The rest of the spider family are radioactive too, except for Gwen (whose powers are from Venom).

Actually, one version of Gwen had it that it was Gwen instead of Peter who got bit.... so same as Pete... and Cindy.

Also, in some comics it's mentioned that this radiation actually HAS affected MJ.... since apparently Pete's children are somehow radioactive before they even get born. tht and close physical proximity, but that's to a lesser degree.

How is an embryo able to emit radiation when the mother doesn't consume anything radioactive though? hmm.....

[Digifiend]

Yeah, originally. We're both referring to Earth-65's Spider-Gwen. Gwen was depowered by her world's Cindy, got replacement powers by becoming host to Venom. So she's no longer radioactive.

[shooshoomanjoe]

There's actually a mini called Ruins they explores this.

[Huntsman Spider]

Yeah, originally. We're both referring to Earth-65's Spider-Gwen. Gwen was depowered by her world's Cindy, got replacement powers by becoming host to Venom. So she's no longer radioactive.

Technically, it was a combination of radioactive isotopes derived from the spiders engineered by Earth-65 Cindy with the mutagen that world's Peter Parker used to turn himself into the Lizard, but still.

[Baron of Faltine]

You know I always found this sort of "arthritis superpowers would never work I real life" kindnif stupid in hindsight. I mean funny at first. But then on cold you start realize how weird the whole thing is.
As for shrinking, freezing to death is secondary about how the atomic, molecular and cellular structure even WORK when shrinking growing, I mean the base idea of power is already raping the concept of physics as it is known as it was female protagonist of I spit on your grave !
The most basic power is anyway Flight, either winged or wingless, as It's so so very insane as power, and yet no one really mind it, even is supposedly semi realistic comic. One dude fly, unaided, without fatigue at all, not needing to refuel or whatever, and is seen as mundane! 3ven y supposedly science guyw!? WTF. how they fly? Hooooww.