Today we answer the most important of the great questions left unanswered throughout time: who’s better — the Justice League or the Avengers? They have their similarities (both teams have a billionaire in a fancy suit and a mythical god’s royal offspring, after all), but only one group can come out on top. We will compare each team’s combined power, teamwork, and critical reception and (finally!) declare a winner.
Combined Strength
For the sake of fairness, and balance, our comparison is limited to each team’s first movies, 2012’s The Avengers and 2017’s Justice League.
The Avengers
The Avengers is a worthy and capable team. Captain America, suit aside, is an able leader and his Vibranium shield deals as much damage as it prevents. While the shield’s flying, Captain America is in top form, dealing massive damage with his super soldier strength. Add Iron Man and the Hulk to the fray, and you have a near-unstoppable force. Tony’s flight-enabled Mark VII suit, capable of destroying a Chitauri Leviathan‘s armour within seconds, packs repulsors making him a valuable asset, especially at range. The Hulk’s raw strength, near-limitless stamina, and durability make him the most powerful Avenger. However, his rage makes him easy to outsmart.
Thor more than compensates for the Hulk’s weakness, as his trusty hammer, Mjolnir, grants him the ability to control lightning and fly at supersonic speeds. With no discernible weaknesses, Thor is, overall, the strongest Avenger, but his human team members, Black Widow and Hawkeye weigh him down. A world-class spy before joining S.H.I.E.L.D., Black Widow has lethal hand-to-hand skills. She knows more languages than Google Translate, and her physical abilities surpass Olympians, but she is human. She can be killed. Hawkeye possesses similar athletic prowess and is a sure-shot with his bow and arrow. However, he only shines at a distance, which knocks off a few points.
The Justice League
The Justice League, led by the powerless Batman, is a force to be reckoned with. Batman is a capable fighter, with peak human strength, an arsenal of gadgets, and a ton of childhood trauma. He is intimidating but mortal. Enter the immortal Wonder Woman, packing superhuman speed. Armed with the golden Lasso of Hestia and the bulletproof Bracelets of Submission, Wonder Woman held her own against both Doomsday and Ares. Bringing, even more, speed — and his healing factor — to the team is the Flash. I won’t do the maths, but trust me, he’s quick. He can evade anything and everything thrown his way; to beat him, you have to out-think him or outrun him.
The Flash may be the fastest on land, but the sea is Aquaman’s domain. The mysterious human-Atlantean hybrid not only has superhuman strength and durability but is an excellent trident thrower as well. Naturally, he can breathe underwater — where he moves the fastest and is the strongest — and communicate with sea animals. Rounding out the team is Victor Stone, a young man with robotic body parts, hence the name ‘Cyborg.’ He can fly, interface with any technology, and transform his body into different weapons. Most notably, he’s constantly gaining new abilities through his body’s autonomous upgrades. You won’t find any weaknesses here.
Comparing the two teams, it becomes clear that, on the whole, the Justice League is more powerful than the Avengers.
The Justice League takes this round!
Synergy
The Avengers started off with animosity after being forced into a team — their personalities initially clashed. Between Tony’s arrogance, Steve’s righteousness and Bruce’s reluctance, there were a lot of teething problems. However, by the time they fought Loki, they were a strong unit. Their skillsets meshed together well as they fought, with everyone having their own place to be useful. They synergised perfectly in the end.
In a similar way to the Avengers, the Justice League got off to a rough start as a team. Bruce found it difficult to inspire the fledgeling League, plus there was quite a bit of tension thanks to a lot of mistrust and one major disagreement. However, as soon as they entered battle, they put all of that aside. It’s immediately clear that their strength lies in their teamwork — Aquaman surfing on the Batmobile and The Flash’s many speedy assists are perfect examples. However, there were few real, human moments between them all, and nothing close to the camaraderie of the Avengers. You won’t see the League eating shawarma together anytime soon.
The Avengers win this one!
Critical Reception
Now to take a slightly more meta look at both team’s films; specifically, how they’ve been received by critics. Justice League members have appeared in 5 films so far, averaging a Metascore score of 52, largely propped up by surprise hit Wonder Woman. Meanwhile, over the 13 films the Avengers have appeared in, the average Metascore is 66, a marked improvement over DC’s offerings.
Let’s address Justice League. With a Metascore of 46 and a Rotten Tomatoes rating of just 39%, the general consensus is that it’s yet another miss for DC’s extended universe. The League members were fantastically realised, but they were bogged down by the choppy end product. With a villain on the level of Marvel’s worst (remember Malekith the Dark Elf? Me neither.), glaring pacing issues and some wonky special effects (including one notable upper lip), these iconic heroes deserved better.
Avengers: Infinity War doesn’t arouse the same level of concern as Justice League did for audiences. The MCU has delivered 13 consistently enjoyable movies (even if some are weak links) and odds are they’ll do it again. The franchise in good hands. While we wish we could trust DC going forward, the Justice League sadly didn’t make us believers.
Overall winner: the Avengers!
