Superman is surprisingly shorter than Marvel’s biggest superheroes

I always thought of Superman as this giant hero, towering over his enemies while his red cape flutters in the wind behind him. If you do some research though, you’ll realize that compared to other superheroes, he’s not as tall as you think he is—and I have the comparisons to prove it.

Maybe it’s the fact that he can fly that fools you into thinking that Superman is a larger-than-life character. I’m sure he towers over everyone he encounters at the Daily Planet while living in the real world as Clark Kent, but when you place him side by side with his fellow crime-fighting peers, the illusion takes a little bit of a beating.

Whether you’re getting ready for the next Action Comics epic or just looking forward to Superman: Legacy, here’s a quick look at just how tall Superman really is. 

How tall is Superman in DC Comics? 

In DC Comics, the fully-grown Superman is 6’3”, or 192 cm. Of course, that’s mighty tall for any regular person walking down the street, but if you take a look at the comparisons below, it’s not as impressive as it sounds.

Superman’s height was first confirmed in 1997’s JLA: Secret Files #1 and then in 1998’s Superman: Secret Files one-shot, so we do have official confirmation of his size.

Both those heights are from when Superman was split into his Red & Blue energy forms, but you can go as far back as 1990’s Who’s Who in the DC Universe #1 to find the height matches up with a more traditional Superman.

Superman isn’t even DC’s tallest hero

You might think that as their flagship character, Superman towers over everyone in the DC Comics universe. That’s not the case though, as several characters are taller than him, and a few are very close.

For example, both Batman and Wonder Woman are listed as 6’2″, or 188 cm in recent comic appearances, so they are only an inch shorter than the Caped Crusader. Starfire has an inch on Superman, while Cyborg is a full three inches taller than the man from Krypton.

You can take a look at their size comparison below.

It’s interesting to see that even though he’s an alien with superstrength, flight, and laser eyes, he’s only 4 centimeters taller than Batman, who is essentially a rich kid with no actual powers. On the flip side, the metal behemoth Cyborg has a healthy advantage over Kent, with an almost 9cm gap between the pair.

It gets worse for Superman in the Marvel universe

So not only is he not impressively tall in the DC universe, but he looks quite average once we get to the Marvel world. Hawkeye is one of the weakest Avengers, with just a bow and arrow to defeat enemies, but somehow he’s the same height as the man from Metropolis.

Deadpool and Star-Lord, two characters who you don’t think of as impressively tall, are just four centimeters smaller, while both Iron Man and Thor both have 9cm on him. The Hulk practically dwarves Superman, with his height listed at between 213cm to 243cm.

Take a look at how Superman compares with his Marvel counterparts below.

His height is all over the place in the movies

When it comes to Superman on the silver screen, his height can range from 182 cm to 195 cm depending on the actor portraying him, as displayed in the image below.

Christopher Reeve is by far the biggest, towering over his castmates in the 70s and 80s at 195 centimeters.

He’ll be joined there by David Corenswet, who will debut as the hero from Krypton in 2025. It’s interesting to note that both will actually be taller than Clark Kent is in the comics. Should I become a film star in my 30s, that’s unlikely to be an issue I run into.

Brandon Routh stood at 188 cm, while both George Reeves and Henry Cavill measured in at 185 cm. Finally, Dean Cain and Tyler Hoechlin are the smallest, at a very respectable 182 cm.