WARNING: The following contains spoilers for “The Last Utopian Meets the Last Son of the Gods” by Jason Aaron, Erica D’Urso, and Jason Keith from Heroes Reborn #6, on sale now.
It’s easy to dismiss the Squadron Supreme as Justice League knockoffs, given the Marvel team’s intentional reference to their DC predecessor. There’s a strong gut reaction that wants the original to be the strongest of the two, such as when comparing the cases of Wonder Woman and Zarda, aka Power Princess.
However, the latest issue of Heroes Reborn shows that Power Princess is more than just a name for the goddess of the Squadron Supreme. With Zarda wielding some of the best weapons in the multiverse and slaying the greatest threats to humanity singlehandedly, she may have proven herself to be even more powerful than Wonder Woman.
Throughout her story in Heroes Reborn, Zarda has proven to be not only confident and capable against some of Marvel’s most powerful threats, but outright superior to them. At the beginning of the latest issue, she faces off against All-Gog, a version of Mangog so powerful that he helped lay waste to Asgard after devouring such notable figures as Loki and claiming the power of Odin. Even in the face of such power, Zarda barely breaks a sweat while fighting him. After rupturing his intestines she demands he gets up just so the fight can continue.
When the fight finally does end she turns All-Gog into a trophy, and he is clearly not the first. Other stone figures in her garden include Knull, Hela, and villainous versions of Janet Van Dyne and Tigra who became riffs on the Wonder Woman rogues Giganta and Cheetah. The comic does not just play up the Wonder Woman comparison but makes it a point to establish how much deadlier Zarda is, unrestrained by Diana’s moral compass.
Her armory consists entirely either of Marvel’s most powerful weapons (such as the Destroyer armor and Stormbreaker) or even deadlier variations of Wonder Woman’s arsenal. Her uru gauntlets prove to be deadlier than Wonder Woman’s bracelets in battle, and her Utopian Chain of Veracity and No-Blade prove more lethal than the Amazon’s Lasso of Truth and invisible jet.
Although Zarda’s raw power is only glimpsed, it would still place her above Wonder Woman from the hints that are provided. A flashback shows her blocking the Necrosword All-Black, one of the most powerful weapons in the multiverse, with her bare hands. She puts the Dark Phoenix in a headlock, battles a Celestial, and when she fights Thor she delivers a single punch said to be capable of shattering the Hulk. Repeatedly it’s shown that Zarda individually takes on foes that could topple entire super teams without even resorting to her mysterious ability to turn the living to stone.
This all stands out as considerably more impressive than most versions of Wonder Woman. While shown being one of the most powerful members of the Justice League, Wonder Woman quite often sits firmly beneath Superman in power rankings and rarely takes on threats to the team singlehandedly. Her arsenal just is not as lethal or effective as Zarda’s and her willingness to use it is even less so.
The history, popularity, and characterization of Wonder Woman will always make her an important and fascinating character. But if Zarda keeps stacking up showings like these she’ll firmly prove herself to be the more powerful of the two warriors.
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