Buzz
The storylines in comic books often defy the scientific principles that govern our universe. Ironically, the fictional atomic and subatomic particles, chemical elements, and substances found in Marvel and DC Comics frequently draw inspiration from real-world counterparts, albeit with fantastical and improbable twists.
This applies to iconic characters like Wolverine, Captain America, Thor, the Metal Men, Superman, Deathstroke, Flash, Dr. Doom, Wonder Woman, Luke Cage, and the Fantastic Four, as well as their superpowers, costumes, and weapons. Upon closer examination, we discover that at least one of the 10 real-world equivalents of comic book particles and elements plays a pivotal role in shaping these characters and their universes, making a significant impact.
Whether for better or worse—or, more accurately, both—the real-world versions of these particles and elements typically lack the extraordinary properties attributed to their comic book counterparts.
10. Adamantine
Without adamantine, Wolverine would be far less formidable and much more exposed, as would Captain America and numerous other Marvel Comics heroes. Wolverine’s skeleton and his iconic retractable claws, reminiscent of Freddy Krueger, are fused with this nearly indestructible alloy. Similarly, Captain America’s iconic disc-shaped shield, serving both as a defensive tool and an offensive weapon, is partially crafted from adamantine, combined with vibranium, a unique element exclusive to the Marvel universe. Adamantine stands out as an unparalleled, impervious, and nearly indestructible material in Marvel lore.
Adamantine also exists in the real world, though it bears little resemblance to its Marvel counterpart. It is used as a component in veneers and is recognized as a mineral called adamantine spar.
The celluloid veneer, a creation of the Celluloid Manufacturing Company of New York City, is utilized in clockmaking. Patented on September 7, 1880, this veneer was available in black, white, and various patterns like wood grain, onyx, and marble. In 1881, the Seth Thomas Clock Company secured the rights to use it, and from 1882 onward, they applied it as a facing on the wooden cases of their clocks.
9. Star Core
In one iteration of Thor’s legendary hammer, Mjolnir, it is crafted by elves from the core of a star, as decreed by his father, Odin. But what exactly constitutes the core of a star? In the Marvel universe, this remains a mystery. Even in our real universe, defining it precisely is challenging, particularly if we expect the explanation to involve a tangible object.
The core of a star is more accurately described as a location rather than a physical object, characterized by extreme temperatures and pressures that trigger nuclear fusion, transforming hydrogen atoms into helium and releasing an immense amount of heat. The Universe Today website illustrates this using our sun as an example—a relatively average star with a diameter of 1,391,000 kilometers (864,938 miles).
The core of our sun, spanning roughly 278,000 kilometers (172,000 miles), accounts for about 20 percent of the solar radius. Within this radius, temperatures soar to 15,000,000 degrees Kelvin, enabling nuclear fusion to occur. Larger stars possess even bigger and hotter cores. While human technology is incapable of forging anything from a star’s core, elvish craftsmanship, as depicted in Marvel lore, seems to excel at such feats.
8. Iron, Gold, Lead, Tin, Mercury, and Platinum
The Metal Men, a team of adventurers, are grouped together as a single entry on our list due to their collective nature.
The creation of DC Comics’ Metal Men was inspired by a real-world crisis. As noted in Don Markstein’s Toonopedia article, The Atom had graduated from a minor character to a leading role, earning his own comic title. This promotion left Showcase, the series where he originally appeared, without a main feature. Compounding the issue, the next installment was due at the printer in just two weeks.
Thankfully, writer-editor Robert Kanigher stepped in to save the day, inventing a team of robotic adventurers and crafting their story over a single weekend. Artists Ross Andru and Mark Esposito also rose to the occasion, completing the illustrations just in time. Assuming they wouldn’t reappear in Showcase or other DC comics, Kanigher concluded their debut story by seemingly ending their existence.
However, he later revived them, and their adventures continued after Dr. Will Magnus gathered their remnants and recreated the team, equipping them with their life-sustaining “responsometers.” The Metal Men consist of six members in total.
Each member of the Metal Men has a real-world counterpart, mirroring the properties of their respective metals. Gold, the team’s leader, embodies the characteristics of the precious metal, with a golden appearance and the ability to stretch into thin wires or flatten into ultra-thin sheets.
Lead, known for his big-hearted nature, often protects his teammates from dangerous rays and radiation. Iron, the group’s strongman, can be molded into various forms to aid in their missions. Mercury, proud and arrogant, takes pride in being the only metal that remains liquid at room temperature. Tin, the smallest and weakest member, struggles with feelings of inadequacy and stutters, though this often disappears during intense battles. Platinum, radiant and beautiful, harbors affection for her creator.
7. Kryptonite
Depending on its color, fragments of kryptonite have diverse effects on Superman and other Kryptonians, including Supergirl. These crystalline remnants originate from the planet Krypton, which exploded shortly after Kal-El’s parents sent him to Earth as an infant in a small spacecraft. Kryptonite can appear in various colors, such as green, red, blue, gold, silver, black, or white.
Green kryptonite weakens Kryptonians, causing intense pain, fatigue, and ultimately proving fatal. Red kryptonite induces mood swings and mutations, while blue kryptonite counteracts the effects of red. Gold kryptonite permanently removes superpowers, and silver kryptonite triggers extreme hunger, delusions, hallucinations, and paranoia. Black kryptonite splits a Kryptonian’s personality into good and evil versions, and white kryptonite is deadly to all plant life.
As Bill Christensen notes in a LiveScience article, kryptonite also exists in the real world. While it shares the same chemical composition as the fictional mineral (minus fluorine), it lacks the vibrant colors of its Kryptonian counterpart. Instead, it fluoresces a pinkish-orange under ultraviolet light. Fortunately, unlike the dangerous version in Superman’s universe, real kryptonite poses no threat.
6. Promethium
According to a DC Universe Infinite article on Deathstroke, his origin story has undergone multiple revisions over the years. In the original DC Comics version, Col. Slade Wilson gains superhuman abilities through an experiment, becoming a black ops agent. His friend and scientist, David Isherwood, designs a “gravity sheath” bodysuit for him, but Slade opts for custom promethium armor instead. This armor absorbs kinetic energy, rendering it bulletproof and resistant to superhuman attacks.
While promethium exists in both the real world and the DC universe, the actual element lacks the extraordinary properties attributed to it in DC Comics. According to the Royal Society of Chemistry, most of this radioactive element is utilized in research. A small amount is used in specialized atomic batteries, comparable in size to a drawing pin, which power devices like pacemakers, guided missiles, and radios. Additionally, promethium serves as an X-ray source and is employed in measuring instruments due to its radioactivity.
5. Molybdenum
In an issue of DC Comics’ Flash, the superhero is baffled as he pursues the villain Alchemy, who appears unconcerned despite being exposed. Flash soon realizes that Alchemy has surrounded the area with nearly invisible strands of molybdenum. Had Flash not detected these filaments, his super-speed charge would have resulted in a catastrophic outcome, akin to running through a shredder.
Molybdenum is a real element, and its depiction in the Flash comic is one of the rare instances where its actual properties align with its fictional use. Molybdenum is used to create corrosion-resistant wire ropes, particularly Type 316, which excels in harsh environments. This alloy, enhanced with molybdenum, offers superior resistance to industrial chemicals and chlorides, preventing pitting and corrosion more effectively than Type 304 wire rope, a basic stainless steel alloy.
The thickness of the molybdenum strands in the Flash comic is unclear, but real-world wire ropes containing molybdenum typically range from 1/16 of an inch to 4 1/2 inches in diameter. It’s plausible that Alchemy used thinner, nearly invisible strands. Given Flash’s incredible speed, he might have raced through the filaments without noticing, potentially suffering severe consequences.
4. Titanium
As Shawn S. Lealos highlights in his CBR.com article, Dr. Doom’s armor, crafted from titanium, has undergone numerous upgrades throughout the supervillain’s career. Interestingly, his original armor was created by monks and later infused with fragments of the true cross. While his suit is packed with advanced weaponry and magical enhancements, our focus here is on the titanium component.
The Royal Society of Chemistry provides insights into titanium, a real-world element with diverse applications, though none involve armor. However, its properties make it a potential candidate for such use. Titanium matches steel in strength but is significantly lighter, making it ideal for alloying with iron and other metals. These alloys are primarily used in aerospace engineering, including aircraft, spacecraft, and missiles, due to their lightweight nature and ability to endure extreme temperatures.
Titanium’s corrosion resistance, even in seawater, makes it perfect for power plant condensers, ship hulls, and submarines. It’s also utilized in desalination plants. Its biocompatibility allows for medical applications, such as joint replacements and dental implants. Additionally, titanium is widely used as a pigment in paints, plastics, and enamels, and is a key ingredient in sunscreens.
Titanium boasts an exceptionally high melting point (1,670°C or 3,038°F) and an even higher boiling point (3,287°C or 5,949°F). If Victor von Doom is paying attention, Mytour might have just inspired the Fantastic Four’s arch-nemesis with new ideas for upgrading his armor.
3. Cosmic Radiation
In the world of comic books, radiation exposure has transformed ordinary individuals into superheroes—or, occasionally, supervillains. Among these are Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm, famously known as Mr. Fantastic, The Invisible Woman, The Human Torch, and The Thing, collectively called The Fantastic Four. Their extraordinary abilities—super elasticity, invisibility, combustion, and superhuman strength—were acquired after being exposed to cosmic radiation during the testing of an experimental spacecraft.
Cosmic rays are a real phenomenon, posing a genuine threat to space travelers. As explained by The Space Review, galactic cosmic rays create a constant background radiation that, without proper shielding, could lead to severe health issues or even death for astronauts. While shielding can absorb cosmic radiation, it also presents a challenge: cosmic rays interacting with the shielding generate secondary charged particles, potentially increasing the overall radiation exposure.
Dr. Jeffrey Hoffman, a former astronaut and current MIT professor, suggests that Earth’s natural shielding offers a solution. He proposes a hybrid system combining magnetic fields and passive absorption to protect against cosmic radiation and solar flares. Hoffman explains, “That’s how Earth does it, and there’s no reason we can’t replicate that in space.”
While cosmic rays are real, they wouldn’t grant superpowers like those of The Fantastic Four. As highlighted in the Reactions video “Can Radiation Give You Superpowers,” featuring Professor Dan Claes, Ph.D., Earth’s inhabitants are constantly bombarded by cosmic radiation—up to 115 times per second. In space, within the Van Allen Belt, the Fantastic Four would have been struck by cosmic rays approximately 15 million times per second, or ten times more during a solar flare.
However, the likelihood of all 75 trillion cells in the crew’s bodies being struck by cosmic rays in the exact same manner, each resulting in a unique superhuman ability, is astronomically low, as Claes explains. It is far more probable that Richards, Susan Storm, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm would have perished rather than transforming into The Fantastic Four.
2. Bulletproof Skin
While Luke Cage’s bulletproof skin might seem like a comic book fantasy, a headline titled “Bulletproof Human Skin Made From Spider Silk” hints at a real-world possibility. Although spider silk isn’t human skin, it can be used to create a material that makes skin resistant to bullets.
As detailed in the article, a Dutch research team developed a “bulletproof” skin using specialized U.S.-made spider silk and human skin cells. Their experiments showed that this hybrid material could deflect bullets, provided they weren’t traveling at extremely high speeds. With further advancements, this technology could potentially make soldiers immune to bullets in the future.
1. Photons
DC Comics doesn’t specify the material used to forge Wonder Woman’s magical sword, but Wonder Woman: The Ultimate Guide to the Amazon Princess by Scott Beatty reveals that its blade is sharp enough to strip electrons from atoms.
In the graphic novel Kingdom Come by Alexis Ross and Mark Waid, Wonder Woman’s sword cuts Superman when he unsheathes it before she can caution him about its effects. Kyle Hill, in one of his YouTube videos, explains the extraordinary impact such a sword would have in reality. While a regular blade cuts by applying pressure to break molecular bonds, Wonder Woman’s sword operates on a far more precise level.
Her sword slices through the spaces between atoms and their electrons, directly targeting the ionic and covalent bonds that hold materials together, as Hill notes. This action ionizes atmospheric atoms, creating a trail of lightning with each swing. It would be the sharpest object in existence, capable of cutting through Luke Cage’s bulletproof skin, Wolverine’s adamantine skeleton, or Captain America’s vibranium shield.
According to Stephen Reucroft and John D. Swain, physics professors at Northeastern University, three things can separate electrons from atoms: electromagnetic radiation, particles, and heat. Heat is energy, particles are matter, and radiation can be either. Once electrons are removed, only the atomic nucleus remains.
This leaves us with two broad possibilities for Wonder Woman’s sword: it is made entirely of particles or pure energy. If composed of particles, it could take a material form, as most particles are matter. However, pure energy likely cannot form a tangible object. As Ethan Siegel explains in his Forbes article, energy exists only as part of a system of particles, whether massive or massless, and is never observed independently.
The only exception? Dark energy, which drives the accelerating expansion of the universe. It might also represent energy intrinsic to the fabric of the cosmos itself. However, even if dark energy exists independently of matter, it cannot be produced by any known technology. As Siegel concludes, “Generating energy independent of particles? While the universe might achieve this, humanity cannot replicate it until we master the creation or destruction of spacetime itself.”
Therefore, Wonder Woman’s sword must consist of some form of particles, such as light particles, which can be shaped into a blade. These particles, or photons, are capable of dislodging electrons from their atoms. In the realms of magic and fantasy, after all, the impossible becomes possible.
