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20 Crazy Superhero Fun Facts You Won’t Believe

Who on Earth is Matter-Eating Lad? And what do Batman and a Scottish King have in common? Check out these wild Superhero facts to find out!

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Beano Facts Team
Last Updated:  July 1st 2021

1. Captain Who?

Originally, Captain America's name was going to be Super American - which we agree doesn't sound as good. But how's about the Incredible America Man, Atlantic Boy or Super Continent Bloke? Quick, someone get on the phone to Marvel!

The statue of Liberty laughing at Captain America

2. On the subject of bad ideas...

If Super American wasn't silly enough - Superman himself was originally going to be bald! What???

Bald Superman flying through the sky

3. Batman is super smart!

We all know he's super RICH - but he's also supposed to have an IQ of 190. That's way higher than Einstein's measly 160!

4. The Hulk was going to be Grey!

But the reason he's green - is actually because back when Marvel comics were printed, green ink was much cheaper to get hold of, and looked a lot better on the page than grey did. So green it was!

The Incredibe Hulk shouting YAAAR!

5. Half bat, half cat?

There have been so many different superhero stories over the years, a lot gets forgotten. One old story is that Batman and Catwoman had a baby together - guess it would be some kind of crime-fighting mole thing? Who knows!

Cat + bat = what?

6. Thor can speak Chinese!

In fact, he can speak any language at all. It's one of his powers and he calls it "All-Tongue". You could do this too by the way, you just need to practise. Lots!

Thor asks where the loo is in Chinese

7. Th....rog?

Another fun Thor fact, Marvel created a frog character with the exact same powers as Thor. He's called Throg and is part of the "Pet Avengers" (they never made it into the movies).

@natgeowild | giphy

8. The Green Lama

Not that kind of llama! No - Lama like the Buddhist leaders. DC Comics made a character called the Green Lama, who fought crime and was a practising Buddhist. It wasn't a popular character though, so there isn't much we know about him. Or her!

A llama visits the Potala Palace in Tibet

9. Once upon a time in the original Comics...

Spiderman built a time machine out of a blender, microwave and a VCR player. This would be very difficult to make nowadays, and you'd probably have to go back in time just to find a VCR player!

Spiderman is looking for a VCR player

10. Wonder Woman was pregnant during the filming of the movie!

Gal Gadot, the actress who plays Wonder Woman, was heavily pregnant when they were filming some of the scenes in Wonder Woman. To disguise it, they made her wear a greenscreen bump cover thing, and then edited it out with special effects. Go on, Gal!

@Netflix | Giphy

11. The Incredibles were a first!

...The first Pixar film to have humans as the main characters, that is! Before that they had all been animals, monsters or jumping lamps.

The Incredibles

12. Iron Man was a Challenge

The head of Marvel, Stan Lee, came up with the idea of Iron Man as an experiment. He wanted to see if people would like a character who was actually very unlikeable. Well, was this experiment was a success? You decide!

13. Silliest Superpower #1

There have been many daft and long-forgotten superheros over the years. But what about this green-fingered guardian? Introducing...Chlorophyll Kid! Named after the green stuff in plants that converts sunlight to energy, his amazing power is being able to make plants grow really big. Is there a hero with a weirder power? You bet there is!

DC Comics

14. Super Ears!

Superman's hearing is so good he can hear all the hearts on Earth beating. 7 billion hearts all pumping out of time with each other. What a racket!

@mlb | giphy

15. Christmas in the Marvel Universe

In the MCU, the most powerful mutant of all is...wait for it...Father Christmas! He inherited his powers from Melchior back in Biblical times, and was given his Elves and magic reindeer by the Norse God Odin. So that's the real meaning of Christmas!

Super Santa flies through the sky

16. Silliest Superpower #2

The next daftest superhero on our list belongs to the snappily-named Matter-Eater Lad. He's a DC superhero and comes from the Planet Bismoll - and his superpower is...being able to eat anything. And we really mean anything - lead pipes, TNT, molten lava - even brussels sprouts! Matter-Eater Lad really has eaten it all.

A plate of delicious brussels sprouts

17. Wolverine Can Regenerate

Wait, everyone knows this one. But did you know Wolverine is so good at regenerating, he can build his entire body back from just a single drop of blood? Might take a while, though.

18. The Creator of Wonder Woman...

Also invented the first lie detector machine! But unlike Wonder Woman, his lie detector was rubbish and has been proven to not work in lots of scientific tests. Turns out he was a much better comic writer than inventor!

19. Batman is Scottish?

Well not quite. But Bruce Wayne (Batman's alter ego) was named after Robert the Bruce, who was King of the Scots in the 1300s and is still a Scottish Hero. He probably didn't look much like Batman though!

20. Silliest Superpower #3

And finally, it's the Silliest Superhero of all - it's Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man! His amazing and probably pretty useless ability is being able to turn into any animal, vegetable, or mineral at the same time. So he could be a horse crossed with a carrot crossed with a lump of coal, a snake crossed with a tree crossed with a piece of granite - or anything like that. The question really is...why?

Bob Brown | Doom Patrol