# Marvel comic characters...who can fly from the Earth to the Moon, unaided? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 18, 2015, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-comic-characters-who-can-fly-from-the-earth-to-the-moon-unaided/717974 "2015-04-18T07:25:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-comic-characters-who-can-fly-from-the-earth-to-the-moon-unaided/717974/41 "2015-04-20T15:32:53Z")
Wonder Man can survive in the vacuum of space (does not require food or oxygen), but I don’t think he’s quite capable of getting there on his own. His strength is on a par with Thor’s, but I doubt even Thor could break the bonds of Earth’s gravity by jumping alone. Edit: And there you have it, two minutes too late. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-comic-characters-who-can-fly-from-the-earth-to-the-moon-unaided/717974/42 "2015-04-20T16:13:29Z")
I’d assume The Beyonder could do it. As a side note, the Rachel Summers Phoenix once punched Nova to the moon, so she has the power to assist someone else in reaching the moon. Nova, of course, was able to return under her own power, although she was impressed with Rachel’s right hook. No indication was given that people started calling Nova “Alice” behind her back. Also in that same issue of Excalibur, The Watcher came down to earth to watch Galactus kill the Phoenix force, so, them, too, as previously mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-comic-characters-who-can-fly-from-the-earth-to-the-moon-unaided/717974/43 "2015-04-20T16:52:11Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Even if the Hulk could jump to the Moon (which boggles the mind - wouldn’t he nudge the Earth out of its orbit as he pushed off?), how long could he hold his breath once he got there? Wouldn’t explosive decompression get him? Do rocket ships do this? I’m sure there’s a calculable change, but it’s not going to be even the size of small meteor impacts. The Hulk only weighs 1000 pounds or so. The Earth weighs 13,170,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 pounds. Or so. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-comic-characters-who-can-fly-from-the-earth-to-the-moon-unaided/717974/44 "2015-04-20T17:08:55Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Even if the Hulk could jump to the Moon (which boggles the mind - wouldn’t he nudge the Earth out of its orbit as he pushed off?), Wrong question, I think. It’s more like, what could Hulk push against that would allow that kind of jump? From a physics standpoint, I don’t think it works. Dirt, rock, or concrete would just become powder, and steel would buckle, compress, or possibly vaporize. ---
**Author:** ![Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ac8455/32.png) [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Your_Great_Darsh_Face)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-comic-characters-who-can-fly-from-the-earth-to-the-moon-unaided/717974/45 "2015-04-20T17:09:05Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > To give an idea of the difference between taking off from Earth to taking off from the Moon, compare the two ships the Apollo teams used. > [Saturn V](http://mailman.thegeek.nu/~dahanson/rockets/misc/saturn_v_06.jpg) > [Lunar Ascent Module](http://airandspace.si.edu/webimages/highres/3836h.jpg) True up to a point, but the Saturn V had a much bigger payload. If the Ascent Module had even had to lift as much as the Command Module for return to Earth, it would have had to be much bigger and more powerful… and so recursively on right back to the far larger launch rocket that would have been needed. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-comic-characters-who-can-fly-from-the-earth-to-the-moon-unaided/717974/46 "2015-04-20T17:53:52Z")
Firelord could easily do it. He flies faster than the speed of light and is immune to all of the effects of space. Most incarnations of Captain Universe should be able to as well. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-comic-characters-who-can-fly-from-the-earth-to-the-moon-unaided/717974/47 "2015-04-20T17:55:48Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > Wrong question, I think. It’s more like, what could Hulk push against that would allow that kind of jump? From a physics standpoint, I don’t think it works. Dirt, rock, or concrete would just become powder, and steel would buckle, compress, or possibly vaporize. Related, my cat has taken to jumping from my bed to a windowsill. A few days ago, I noted that he seemed unusually hesitant and when he made the jump, he hit low and had to scrabble for it. I thought it was strange since he was jumping off a pile of pillows and the extra height should make it easier for him. No dice; he could make a much better leap off the firmness of the mattress - the height offered by the pillows was more than offset by the disadvantage of the softer launchpad. The whole world is a pillow, to the Hulk. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-comic-characters-who-can-fly-from-the-earth-to-the-moon-unaided/717974/48 "2015-04-20T17:57:36Z")
Wrong thread ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-comic-characters-who-can-fly-from-the-earth-to-the-moon-unaided/717974/49 "2015-04-20T18:11:09Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > The whole world is a pillow, to the Hulk. So that’s why he’s always turning it upside down… ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-comic-characters-who-can-fly-from-the-earth-to-the-moon-unaided/717974/50 "2015-04-20T20:23:06Z")
To achieve an Earth/moon transfer velocity Hulk would have to achieve about twenty thousand miles an hour simply by pushing with his legs against the earth. His legs would need to flex and straighten in a minute fraction of a second. In effect he’d be driving his legs into the ground against his own inertia like a piledriver- most of the momentum would be swallowed up by a crater excavated by his feet, and he wouldn’t get anywhere near the moon. Jumping is a rubbish method of interplanetary propulsion. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-comic-characters-who-can-fly-from-the-earth-to-the-moon-unaided/717974/51 "2015-04-20T21:14:01Z")
I’d say that [Darwin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_(comics)) could do it. He could survive the trip, anyway. He can turn himself into pure energy, which theoretically would allow him to escape Earth’s gravitational pull. Since his body constantly evolves to allow him to survive any environment, and he’s already been sucked into space, he doesn’t need oxygen. I think he qualifies. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2015, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-comic-characters-who-can-fly-from-the-earth-to-the-moon-unaided/717974/52 "2015-04-20T23:51:20Z")
> [@eburacum45](#): > > In effect he’d be driving his legs into the ground against his own inertia like a piledriver- most of the momentum would be swallowed up by a crater excavated by his feet, and he wouldn’t get anywhere near the moon. Jumping is a rubbish method of interplanetary propulsion. Not to mention that unless he brings some extra mass to fling away to perform mid-course corrections, the Hulk, famously not the sharpest knife in the drawer, is going to have to compute his trajectory perfectly based on a single microsecond impulse, including accounting for air resistance while leaving the atmosphere. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-comic-characters-who-can-fly-from-the-earth-to-the-moon-unaided/717974/53 "2015-04-21T01:32:01Z")
Eh, that depends on the version of Hulk we’re talking about. Some versions retain Banner’s genius, which is arguably enough (for comic books, anyway) to do the calculation. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-comic-characters-who-can-fly-from-the-earth-to-the-moon-unaided/717974/54 "2015-04-21T01:33:46Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > the Hulk, famously not the sharpest knife in the drawer Not actually true for a significant chunk of his comic portrayal. I’m not a huge Hulk fan, so I’m not 100% sure, but I think right now Hulk’s generally portrayed as quite intelligent, though the Banner personality is the more intellectual. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-comic-characters-who-can-fly-from-the-earth-to-the-moon-unaided/717974/55 "2015-04-21T01:38:11Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Eh, that depends on the version of Hulk we’re talking about. Some versions retain Banner’s genius, which is arguably enough (for comic books, anyway) to do the calculation. At one point, they floated the idea that, even in his “dumb rage monster” persona, the Hulk is still using Banner’s intellect to do things like calculate the trajectory of every brick in a building he’s just smashed, to make sure none of them hit innocent bystanders. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-comic-characters-who-can-fly-from-the-earth-to-the-moon-unaided/717974/56 "2015-04-21T02:20:08Z")
Not reading other responses, so if there’s redundancy, oh well. Thor was first that came to mind. Yes, he’d need his hammer, but that’s not a spacecraft. It would be strange for him to do so, though, as he could use his hammer to teleport there instead of fly there, but still he could do it. Quasar could do it, quantum bands wouldn’t count as a spacecraft. Pretty much the Marvel Comics equivalent of a DC green lantern ring. Iron Man has a suit for that. Not sure if that counts or not, it’s not his everyday suit, but it’s also not quite a spaceship, is it? Any of Galactus’s heralds (the flying ones anyway). Silver Surfer already mentioned, also Nova, Firelord, I forget who else he had could fly. I’m guessing not Terrax. The black woman Captain Marvel could, by turning to light (her power). Not sure about the other Captains Marvel, though I’m almost certain Genis Vell could. I’m sure Phoenix could. The real Phoenix that just pretended to be Jean, not Jean herself. Gladiator from the Shi’ar Imperial Guard, since he’s a bit of a Superman approximation. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-comic-characters-who-can-fly-from-the-earth-to-the-moon-unaided/717974/57 "2015-04-21T02:28:04Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Jean Greg flew to other galaxies while possessed by the Phoenix Force, so the Moon shouldn’t be too hard. > [@Mince](#): > > Of course you mean “Grey.” Nitpick (would it be a comics thread without it?) Jean wasn’t possessed by the Phoenix Force, it stuck her in a egg in the bottom of some body of water and assumed her form and identity. Later on she absorbed some of its memories and experiences (as well as some from her clone Madelyne Pryor), but it wasn’t her flying to those galaxies. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-comic-characters-who-can-fly-from-the-earth-to-the-moon-unaided/717974/58 "2015-04-21T19:56:27Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Even if the Hulk could jump to the Moon …how long could he hold his breath once he got there? Wouldn’t explosive decompression get him? Still wondering. ---
**Author:** ![eburacum45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eburacum45/32/8690_2.png) [@eburacum45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eburacum45)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-comic-characters-who-can-fly-from-the-earth-to-the-moon-unaided/717974/59 "2015-04-21T21:29:10Z")
Explosive decompression doesn’t seem to be a problem for Hulk; judging by this image, he can even talk in space [![](https://www.incrediblehulkonline.com/powersabilities/jumping.JPG) ](https://www.incrediblehulkonline.com/powersabilities/jumping.JPG) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-comic-characters-who-can-fly-from-the-earth-to-the-moon-unaided/717974/60 "2015-04-21T22:17:37Z")
There’s got to be some way to get there via a sufficiently large number of squirrels. I mean, I have no idea how that would work, but it’s a certainty that there must be some way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-comic-characters-who-can-fly-from-the-earth-to-the-moon-unaided/717974.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/marvel-comic-characters-who-can-fly-from-the-earth-to-the-moon-unaided/717974.md?page=4)