Whether it is today or decades ago, superhero characters have been loved by people even though they are likely to never appear in reality. A man with supernatural powers, protecting the weak, fighting for his place, defeating the villain and ultimately living happily at the end is what we call a basic plot in superhero comics, series or movies. However, some of the superhero universes like MCU and DC have created a mythology of their own spanning both space and time, featuring hundreds of characters ranging from being a few years old to millions and even beyond that.
Here is a list of the top ten oldest superbeings of the MCU and DC Universe ranked in order of the youngest to the oldest. Some of the characters in the list have been mentioned just a few times in the books or movies, while the others have remained in the pivot.
Zealot: 3000 Years Old
Lady Zannah, who is also known as Zealot, belonging to the planet Khera, is a Coda warrior who started out as a part of Wild C.A.T.S but ended up being a part of DC with the other members of Wildstorm imprint. She is estimated to be around 3000 years old, with a huge duration of time residing on Earth, occupied in a war against the Daemonites. She has mastered both armed and unarmed combats and possesses powers like telepathy and teleportation. She is immortal because of her alien physiology and might get as old as some of the oldest characters present on this list in future.
Thor: 4000 Years Old
The Asgardian God of Thunder, Thor can basically be considered as a teen in the Marvel Universe (compared to the age of other superbeings) though his actual age is ambiguous. A little like Wonder Woman, his age depends on the one who works on him at a particular time. In the MCU, it was revealed that Thor is about 1500 years old, but in a 2008 comic book, named ‘The Truth of History,’ a flashback showcased Thor visiting ancient Egypt during the time of construction of pyramids (between 2630 and 664 BC). This indicates that Thor is aged between 2600 and 4600 years.
Apocalypse: 5000 Years Old
One of the first mutants of the MCU world, Apocalypse is among few of the strongest characters of the Marvel franchise. He was a major antagonist for the original X-Factor team and later in the spinoff teams but currently, he is an ally in the ‘Dawn of X’. When Thor had visited Egypt, he might have come across an Egyptian known as En Sabah Nur, who later went on becoming Apocalypse. Apocalypse can be considered as the other name of destruction. He also has the ability to heal very quickly and repair any damage caused to his own body. The present age of Apocalypse is over five thousand years who, in the 11th Century, had combatted against a young Thor.
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Superman Prime: Millions Of Years
Superman Prime is a DC character who serves as an alternate version of Superman, belonging to the 853rd century, who turns himself into a supervillain from a superhero. He is regarded as the Last Son of Krypton and owes his golden colour to the centuries he had to spend within the sun, giving him the name, the Golden God making him nigh-unstoppable. Prime showcases the complicated but charming uniqueness of the DC Multiverse. He has been living for millions of years and is more or less immoral in the franchise.
Odin: Millions Of Years
The king of Asgard and the father of Thor, Odin had been alive for millions of years according to the comic books before he finally died during the events of Ragnarok. Odin, just as any other Asgardian, ages at a lot slower rate than human beings and therefore he looked healthy and strong even after living for thousands of years. He has been showcased to be a fragment of the Avengers in the year, 1,000,000 BC. Moreover, he had a love affair with the tag-team partner of Jean Grey, the Phoenix Force, who is an ancient cosmic entity. If you are still not clear about his age, you can recall the time when Thor stated how he knew Odin had killed Surtur, the evil ruler of Muspelheim, millions of years ago. Odin was, therefore, the most powerful and oldest god of Asgardian, capable of using the Odinforce.
Martian Manhunter: 225 Million Years Old
One of the final set of living beings of the Martian race, Martian Manhunter, who is also known as John Jones and J’onn J’onzz, is one of the oldest characters in the DC Comic books. He had been living for more than 225 million years, which is millions of time more than the age of a human being. He came to earth after a failed experiment but prior to that, he had been surviving for untold centuries on Mars in isolation. The character of Martian Manhunter appeared in the Detective Comics #225 for the first time in the story ‘The Manhunter from Mars’. One of the seven founder members of the Justice League of America, Martian Manhunter is not only a character stronger than Superman, but also more powerful than most of the superbeings in the DC Universe.
The Monitor: Billions Of Years Old
The Monitor was a cosmic entity, who had Bin existing before the birth of the planet Earth and maybe before the main DC world. Although there has been some evolution in his backstory since he was created; nevertheless, he was build at the recreation of the Multiverse by Perpetua— who is also the creator of DC Multiverse and is someone with extreme cosmic power. Although the current age of The Monitor is beyond the real conception, we know for sure that he was one of the first inhabitants to be a part of this new realm, which indicates he had been living for billions of years. He served as the guardian of the positive-matter realm but was destroyed by his brother, The Anti-Monitor.
Galactus: Before Time
Galactus is a cosmic entity, formally a mortal being, who consumes planets in order to sustain his life and also has an important role in upkeeping the primary Marvel continuity. Although Galactus had been originally regarded as an antagonist, there have been times that showcased him reasonable enough in his actions, especially in the Fantastic Four books. Galactus needs to eat a lot, however, it is something designed by nature. In phase three and four of the MCU franchise, he replaced Thanos as the major villain and was proven to be a greater threat to the Avengers since he was more powerful than the Infinity stones and was bigger than a planet in size. He is currently the oldest superbeing of the MCU world and existed even before the existence of all the ancient characters which were later created.
The One Above All: Before Time
The One Above All is the creator and the Supreme God of the Marvel Multiverse.
Although The One Above All is no one specific in the MCU comic books, he plays an important role in the franchise. To understand how powerful he is, we can lay forward the fact that the judge of the Omniverse, the Living Tribunal, reports everything to him. The character of The One Above All was introduced during the Fantastic Four books and appeared taking the appearance of Jack Kirby, working on comic books. He has been referred to as a character itself without any form but has the ability to take different forms as needed. His age is not stated specifically in the books but his identity and powers reveal a lot since how long he must have been existing.
The Presence: Beyond Time
The Presence is a character considered equivalent to the God of the Abrahamic in the DC Universe. He remains one of the most enduring mysteries of the DC Universe and has been existing in the books since the 40s. Although his entity has never been seen, with no appearance this far, he is the one who gives commands to the allegiance of the host of angels which also includes Zauriel. He is an immortal character who cannot age and be harmed by any means. He has been existing beyond the existence of this universe itself. In simpler terms, his character is as old and as powerful as the One Above All in the MCU world, both being the ultimate Gods, creators and the Prime Alpha of their respective worlds.
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