Not all superheroes wear capes and, in fact, many of them don’t even have superpowers. Some of the greatest superheroes in movie history have been mere mortals with a sense of justice, unmatched bravery, and some really cool gadgets. Specialized training and an iron will are also helpful in taking on superpowered villains bent on destruction.
While it may seem like cheating, since supervillains are antagonists to the extreme, good intentions aren’t enough and human heroes need some impressive tech to level the playing field. Not everyone can wield this technology, and even fewer have the guts to take on evildoers of unimaginable power. The best movie superheroes without superpowers have inner strength and drive that in a way that seems like superpowers.
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10 Captain America Was The First Avenger
With his impressive physical abilities, acrobatic moves, and sheer butt-kicking skills, it certainly seems like Captain America has superpowers. In reality, or more specifically, in Captain America: The First Avenger, Steve Rogers is an average person who was given the Super Soldier serum, which enhanced his strength, speed, and agility, but not beyond peak human performance levels.
Captain America is also equipped with items that give him the appearance of having superpowers. His suit is actually made from a high-tech blast-resistant fabric that protects him from blades and bullets alike. His shield, made of a vibranium and adamantium alloy, is bullet-proof but also an effective throwing weapon that returns to him.
9 Nick Fury Has a Different Kind of Power
In Marvel Comics, Nick Fury is a cigar-smoking commando who, as his name would suggest, can unleash some rage. He has no superhuman powers, other than his aging has been slowed down by the Infinity formula. He lost vision in one eye due to a grenade blast in WWII and eventually would head up S.H.I.E.L.D.
In the Marvel movies, Nick Fury is also the leader of S.H.I.E.L.D. but is more of a management type than a hands-on bone-breaker. He, too, lacks any superpowers and lost vision in one eye, though that was from an alien cat named Goose in Captain Marvel. While he may not be the baddest dude in the MCU, he has strong leadership qualities and assembled The Avengers.
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8 Hawkeye Always Hits The Bullseye
Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye, doesn’t have much of a backstory in the MCU, but in the comics, he grew up in the carnival, becoming a master archer and trick-shot attraction. After catching a glimpse of Iron Man, he decided he wanted to apply his skills to being a superhero. After a slight misunderstanding, he was invited to join The Avengers.
Hawkeye in the Marvel movies has a similar story arc in that he joins Iron Man in The Avengers and has no otherworldly powers beyond his amazing marksmanship skills. Hawkeye is basically a regular guy, who happens to be awesome with a bow and arrow and can also hold his own in a world of superheroes and supervillains.
7 Web of the Black Widow
Natasha Romanova, known professionally as Black Widow, is a hero with such extraordinary skills that it seems hard to believe she isn’t superpowered. Trained as a KGB spy, she was schooled in the ways of hand-to-hand combat, weapons, and even ballet. She fights like a war god, but she is mortal.
She’s also a founding member of The Avengers because her abilities are superhuman caliber. Often coming off as cold and almost robotic, she embodies the most human qualities of empathy and self-sacrifice. In Avengers: Endgame, she chooses to die so that the Soul Stone can be obtained, making it possible for the Blip to be reversed.
Howard the Duck has no super-human abilities nor is he even human. Unlike other aliens such as Kryptonians, who all have superpowers, denizens of Duckworld only have the power to look like anthropomorphic ducks. Howard does know “Quack-Fu” and can hold his own, but that’s about it.
There’s no question that Howard has no superpowers, but does he actually qualify as a superhero? In the 1986 cult classic, Howard the Duck, he beat up some thugs, took out a crooked manager, and was able to defeat a Dark Overlord of the Universe. It doesn’t get much more superly heroic than that.
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5 Hit-Girl Delivers the Hits
Mindy McCready is an average 11-year-old girl, but when she dons her Hit-Girl persona, she can stomp a grown man, or group of men, into dust. Her only powers are the intense martial arts and weapons training she received from her father, Damon “Big Daddy” Macready, and while they are spectacular they are definitely not super.
In the 2010 movie, Kick-Ass, she kicks way more butt than the title character, who is an unremarkable doofus, pretending to be a superhero. Hit-Girl, on the other hand, is the real hero of the film, racking up a body count that would earn a thumbs-up from The Punisher. The fact that she’s a young child actually gives her way more street cred.
4 The Giant Abilities of Ant-Man
Scott Lang can make himself as small as a sub-atomic particle or as big as an office building. This certainly sounds like a shape-shifting superpower, but it’s all due to a special suit, developed by scientist Hank Pym, that shortens the distance between a person’s molecules, reducing their size while maintaining mass.
Though he can both grow and shrink in size, Lang chose the name Ant-Man rather than Giant-Man, probably due to the fact that Pym’s creation was called the “Ant-Man suit.” Also, the helmet contains a device that allows the user to telepathically communicate and command ants, plus the movie was called Ant-Man.
3 The Punisher’s Superpower Is Revenge
Considering his propensity for violence and killing efficiency, it’s hard not to think that Frank Castle has some kind of carnage-producing superpower. It turns out that his special ops training and thirst for vengeance are all he needs to turn him into the killing machine known as The Punisher.
The 1989 film, The Punisher was cheesy, although it did have an impressive body count, but the 2004 adaptation took violence to an art form and is the most underrated Marvel movie. Not only can Frank Castle dole out the punishment, but he can also take it too. The fight against The Russian showcases his near-superhuman ability to absorb pain.
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2 Batman Can’t Be Beat
Batman is arguably the most famous superhero and inarguably one of the best. Unlike any others on a subjective top ten list, however, he doesn’t have superpowers, magic, or even off-world technology. What he does have is some really cool gadgets, a rad set of wheels, and an unbeatable unarmed combat style.
As a wealthy socialite, Bruce Wayne has the disposable income to finance all of the Bat-gear, plus plenty of free time to fight crime as the Caped Crusader. It doesn’t matter if it’s the Tim Burton-era Batman movies or the Christopher Nolan Dark Knight trilogy, Batman is one of the greatest superheroes who doesn’t rely on superpowers.
1 Tony Stark Is a Hero in an Iron Man Suit
Iron Man is the mightiest Avenger and possibly the most consequential superhero there ever was, for the simple fact that he saved the universe in Avengers: Endgame. He’s also an average human named Tony Stark, with zero super-human abilities. His suit, on the other hand, is a marvel (pun intended) of modern advanced technology. Capable of flight, it’s an armored assault vehicle in the shape of a person.
There are haters who would argue that it’s the suit, and not the person, that makes Iron Man so effective, but that’s simply not true. War Machine has a similar get-up and he’s not half the hero Iron Man is. Heroism isn’t just strength, speed, and destructive power, it’s also character, and Tony Stark demonstrated that with his self-sacrifice to stop Thanos.
Some of the greatest movie superheroes, from Captain America to Iron Man have no superpowers, just cool gadgets and bravery. Read More