If We Describe Their Powers, Can You ID These Superheroes?

Aquaman is a very old character who's been around since 1941. Like many DC characters, he's a member of the Justice League but unlike many he spent literally years being made fun of, notably due to his appearance in the old "Super Friends" cartoon in which his character was so goofy and useless it was hard not to make fun of him.

Ant-Man uses something called Pym Particles to help him alter his size, allowing him to shrink down to microscopic size. In the movies, we get a glimpse of the subatomic universe and in the comics, there really is a whole universe there with its own worlds and people, too.

Thor, the son of Odin, is from the god-like race called Asgardians. He's not the only one who ever managed to wield that hammer, though. Another alien named Beta Ray Bill has used it, as have Captain America, Superman and Wonder Woman. Also a frog name Throg, Frog of Thunder.

Nic Cage famously played the Ghost Rider in movies, a sort of bounty hunter for the devil who can burn the sin out of people. In the comics, the Ghost Rider is much more than that and may, in fact, be the strongest hero on the face of the Earth. Maybe.

Captain America is one of Marvel's oldest titles and has proven to be one of the most popular, as well. The current crop of movies is not the first time the Captain has been on film though as there were several older attempts including a 1990 movie and a 1944 serial.

The Amazon Wonder Woman is one of the most powerful characters in the DC Universe, but like all characters has had to overcome some goofy history. Notably, Wonder Woman used to have an invisible jet which was especially weird since the jet was invisible but not her when she was in it.

Iron Man, who is more often than not the alter-ego of Tony Stark, has been around since the 1960s. Iron Man is not the only one in the suit in modern comics, either. While film audiences know about War Machine, there is also Ironheart, piloted by Riri Williams, and Rescue, piloted by Tony's significant other, Pepper Potts.

Black Widow, also known as Natasha Romanoff, was a Russian spy at one point. Because it's hard to compete in a world full of gods and people who can snap their fingers and end half the universe, she's been given a few technological enhancements in the comics over the years, including a healing ability.

Dr. Stephen Strange learned the mystical arts to become the sorcerer supreme of Earth. The movie starring Benedict Cumberbatch was very popular but also wasn't the first movie featuring Strange. A very low budget made-for-TV "Dr. Strange" was made back in the 1970s.

Bruce Wayne has been living a double life as Batman since 1939. In that time he's fought many enemies, but unlike most other comics he's stuck true to his roots by not having any superhuman abilities or at least none that last for very long. His power has always been his own mind.

The King of Wakanda, T'Challa the Black Panther, has become one of Marvel's most popular characters thanks to the movie, but he dates back all the way to 1966. Ironically, the political party of the same name appeared only months after Black Panther debuted as a character.

Spider-Man got his powers after being bitten by a radioactive spider, at least in the original version created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. In later versions, they updated the science a bit and made it a genetically modified spider.

Supergirl, also know as Kara Zor-El, is Superman's cousin and another Kryptonian with the same basic set of skills. There have been other people who used the name "Supergirl" over the years, however, including one that was a man-made life form created by Lex Luthor.

Bruce Banner became the Incredible Hulk after exposure to gamma radiation in his lab. Since that time there have been a lot of other Hulks including the sinister Maestro, the Grey Hulk, the Red Hulk, She-Hulk and even a gangster named Joe Fixit, among many others.

The X-Men's Storm has appeared in numerous movies now and cartoons as well. In the comics, the character is married to everyone's favorite Wakandan the Black Panther. Will that ever make it to film? You never know.

Deadpool has gotten very famous thanks to the Ryan Reynolds movies. Weirdly enough, Reynolds has played Deadpool in three movies, not just two, first taking on the task in the monumentally bad "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" films in which the character made no sense, lost his mouth and could shoot optic blasts like Cyclops for some reason.

The Green Lantern is one of many Green Lanterns who makes up the Green Lantern Corps. They're defenders of the universe from cosmic threats which include Lanterns of literally every other color, the most dangerous of whom are the zombified Black Lanterns.

Charles Xavier, better known as Professor X, is a powerful psychic and the founder of the X-Men. He's also related to a number of other popular characters in the comics universe. He's the father of Legion, who has his own show on FX, and he's brothers with the Juggernaut, who you may recall tore Deadpool in half.

Daredevil is also known as "The Man Without Fear" and often crosses paths with characters like Spider-Man fighting crime in New York City. Though the Netflix show about Daredevil was fairly serious, the comic Daredevil has had his share of goofy storylines, notably against the perennially ridiculous villain Stilt-man.

Shazam is also known as Captain Marvel but of course, Marvel also has a Captain Marvel. How did that happen? Captain Marvel was originally a Fawcett Comics character from the '30s. DC said it was a ripoff of Superman and sued them. Marvel trademarked the name in the '50s, but DC bought the character from Fawcett. So they had the guy but couldn't call him Captain Marvel and instead started calling him by his power word - Shazam.

The Flash got his powers after a one-two punch of zany chemicals and a lightning strike. Like many characters, he never fully pushed the limits of his abilities very often, but at one point Barry Allen actually turned into a literal lightning bolt and went back in time to make himself into the Flash.

Catwoman has been an on and off villain/ally of Batman for decades now. That said, in the comic book world at least things have smoothed out quite a bit since Catwoman and Batman actually got married. Good for them!

Quicksilver has appeared in both the MCU films and the X-Men films played by two different actors, which is only vaguely confusing. His character died in "Age of Ultron" but lives on in the X-Men franchise where the special effects involved in the use of his power make the whole world seem to slow to a crawl.

The Silver Surfer shows up very often in the Fantastic Four and appeared in one of their films as well, even though no one liked it. Part of his powers include the ability to transform matter and energy, which means he never needs to eat he can just sustain himself.

Nightcrawler is one of the more popular X-Men members thanks to his unusual personality and appearance. He's a devout Catholic but looks like a blue demon, which at some point in the comics we learn is because of who his parents are. His father is Azazel, a teleporting, demon-like character from the movie "X-men: First Class" and his mother, weirdly enough, is Mystique.

Wolverine, also known as Logan, also known as James Howlett, is a very old mutant, although in the comics he didn't show up until the 1970s when he made his debut alongside the Incredible Hulk fighting a monster called Wendigo.

The Martian Manhunter is a green-skinned alien and founding member of the Justice League. You didn't see him in the recent Justice League film, but he did show up in a made-for-TV adaptation in the 1980s that is best forgotten by everyone, everywhere.

Cyclops is one of the founding members of the X-Men and often depicted as their leader. While it seems like he just fires lasers from his eyes, in over 50 years of history writers have established that Cyclops actually absorbs solar energy that he uses to open a small portal to another universe from where his optic blasts originate.

Dr. Manhattan is the most powerful being in "The Watchmen" and basically transcends the human race entirely as the story progresses. He becomes a god-like figure and doesn't seem to particularly enjoy it all that much, either.

One of the oldest heroes in comics, Superman's original set of abilities did not include the power of flight. What he could do at the time was run at great speed and jump like nobody's business, which is why the old cartoons used to say he could leap tall buildings.

Al Simmons became Spawn after he died and went to Hell, which sounds like a rough deal. The character is one of the flagship heroes from Image comics, which was formed in the '90s by a handful of the top writers and artists who had previously made their names at Marvel and DC.

Hit Girl comes from the comic and movie "Kick-Ass," in which no one has any real superpowers, just a lot of skill, determination and maybe psychosis. Chloe Grace-Moretz played the murderous vigilante in the movie when she was just 11 years old.

Neil Gaiman's "The Sandman" was one of the best-reviewed books of all time and is still incredibly popular today, years after the series ended. It's one of the few comics that has not been successfully adapted to a film franchise and, in fact, Gaiman has said he would rather have no Sandman movie than a bad Sandman movie.

The Toxic Avenger has had four movies and a comic book from Marvel even though most people have likely never seen or heard of the character. The ultra-low budget first movie was released by Troma films, which is where James Gunn, director of "Guardians of the Galaxy" got his start.

Rogue's ability to absorb the powers of others allowed her to get an upgrade in the comic books when she encountered Captain Marvel and siphoned off her powers enough to get a permanent upgrade allowing her to fly.