Superman is America’s favorite superhero according to a new poll. There was nearly a tie for first place with the Man of Steel scoring just slightly higher than Spider-Man (second place) and Batman (third place). The results shouldn’t surprise anyone as these supers have been the most visible comic heroes for decades.
American’s choices for favorite villains is a little surprising. Joker came in first place – no surprise there. The second and third choices, Catwoman and Venom, are not what I would have expected considering the outsized role of Thanos (fourth place) in the Marvel films, as well as Harley Quinn (eighth place), who is a hot comic property.
The poll on America’s favorite superheroes was commissioned by Visit Anaheim to promote the opening of the Avengers Campus at Disneyland, which was supposed to open this summer. The opening will likely be pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The park is closed, and work has stopped on Avengers Campus.
Survey participants preferred Marvel over DC (33% to 17%), Heroes over Villains (42% to 16%), and chose the Avengers as the favorite superhero team. Respondents also said they prefer watching Marvel films over other comic book brands.
SUPERMAN VS. BATMAN
Respondents were asked who would win a fight between Superman and Batman, with the Kryptonian coming out on top. Seriously, the guy is impervious to all but one thing and can shoot laser beams out of his eyes. It doesn’t matter how much money Bruce Wayne throws at this, Batman is not going to win.
Weirdly enough, 14 percent of respondents said they would be willing to name their kid after a villain. We really hope Thanos doesn’t start to trend as a baby name.
CONVENTIONS ARE POPULAR, WHO KNEW?
The survey also found that participants who like to go to conventions are willing to travel 10 or more hours to attend a fan event. Some were willing to travel internationally to attend a con.
“If you’re invested in a fandom of any kind, whether it’s science fiction TV and film, comic books or pop culture, there’s a convention for that,” said Charles Harris, chief marketing officer and executive vice president public affairs for Visit Anaheim. “Events provide a unique opportunity for fans to bond over a shared passion and to express their enthusiasm through cosplay, meeting other fans, attending panels, and more.”
Survey participants said the best part of conventions were:
- Seeing new, unreleased content
- The merchandise and things being sold
- Talking to other fans
- The panels and speakers
- Seeing fans cosplay
TOP 10 SUPERHEROES
- Superman
- Spider-Man
- Batman
- Captain America
- Iron Man
- Wonder Woman
- Aquaman
- Captain Marvel
- Black Panther
- Wolverine
TOP 10 VILLAINS
- Joker
- Catwoman
- Venom
- Thanos
- Lex Luthor
- Magneto
- Penguin
- Harley Quinn
- Mystique
- Loki
