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The 6 Best Super Powers In Cinema

Once upon a time, the phrase ‘super power’ conjured images of stony-faced world leaders posturing on the international stage. These days, however, its closest association is with the superheroes that increasingly crowd our cinema screens – battling it out against nefarious foes with sinister plans. It is imperative that these champions of justice possess the necessary means to ensure our fictional safety and, over time, we have seen a vast array of super power combinations employed on screen.

Genius Intellect

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Many superheroes boast high, intimidating levels of intelligence among their range of super powers, and this goes hand-in-hand with the common skill-set of tactical expertise. While it sounds fairly generic, genius intellect is actually a vital element in superhero lore, as it opens up the genre to include a broader range of characters.

Without the inclusion of ‘genius,’ the position of superhero would be limited to those aliens from another world that draw power from our yellow sun (Superman, Supergirl), those humans that fall victim to terrible accidents (Daredevil), those unfortunate enough to fall foul of scientific experimentation (Captain America, Hulk, Deadpool, Dr Manhattan, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Darkman), and mutants (The X-Men). While these types of characters are enjoyable to watch, they are not especially relatable.

Of course, few people are able to relate to ‘genius,’ but when ‘genius’ allows characters that technically have no organic ‘super powers’ of their own to create those abilities externally, we benefit from characters in the genre that are more ‘everyman’ and ‘everywoman’ than their naturally ‘super’ counterparts. It is ‘genius’ that gives us Batman, Iron Man, The Shadow, The Green Hornet and Rocket The Raccoon, for example.