Who's the most powerful comic book superhero on the planet? Students at the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom used scientific principles in a seven-year long study to come up with their definitive answer to this question.

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And who's the greatest. It's ... Superman!

No surprise there for the Man of Steel's millions of fans worldwide. And who's the wimp among some of the greatest superheroes in the Marvel and DC universe included in the study?

Sorry bat freaks. It's Batman.

The superpower showdown study sought to answer the question about which superhero would win in a stand-up fight against other superheroes. Involved in the study were Superman, Wolverine, Mystique, Thor, the Flash, Spider Man, Batman, The Lizard, Iron Man, Silver Surfer, Black Bolt and Iceman.

Of the 12, nine are Marvel heroes; the rest from DC. Except for Mystique and The Lizard, all the rest are superheroes.

The study comes in time for Superman Day on June 12. That coincidence has led skeptics to question the scientific rigor of the University of Leicester study, however.

Students at the university used simple calculations to explain the feasibility of the powers behind of some of the world's most famous superheroes. Based on their study, Superman is tops followed by Wolverine, Mystique and Thor. The latter three are with Marvel and were selected based on their special powers.

The student researchers concluded Superman might be the best superhero of them all on account of the variety of his superpowers and his high density muscles. Wolverine, Thor and Mystique are also top tier because of regenerative abilities (Wolverine), high energy output (Thor) and gene manipulation (Mystique).

What the study concludes is that Superman is the best equipped to win a battle against all the 11 other superheroes and supervillains in the study.

Black Bolt, the voluntarily mute leader of The Inhumans, is the single most destructive superhero based on the incredible energy he can muster. Batman comes out last because he's, well, just a human being, albeit a very smart one.

The students presented their findings in a series of short articles for the Journal of Interdisciplinary Science Topics and the Journal of Physics Special Topics, two peer-reviewed student journals run by the University's Centre for Interdisciplinary Science and Department of Physics and Astronomy.

The student-run journals are designed to give students practical experience of writing, editing, publishing and reviewing scientific papers.

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