Bang's Blogs: Reaper vs U.S. Agent

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Gabriel Reyes, the Reaper from Overwatch.


Jonathan Walker, the U.S. Agent from Marvel Comics. 



Time and time again, heroes have risen in the face of impossible odds to protect humanity in its darkest hours, though none can compare to a good old-fashioned super-soldier! For these two men, all it took was a strong sense of duty to mold them into sentinels of liberty, symbols of truth, justice, and the American way. Of course, eventually, their time in the sun came to an abrupt end; America's heroes fell victim to apparent tragic demise, etching their legacies into history forevermore. Or at least, they would have. As fate would have it, the two heroes resurfaced with new purpose and new teams, outed from their on-high positions into the shadows. From then on, they would pursue their warped ideals with flaming fury, burning down their enemies to achieve real change. 


Forget those star-spangled boy scouts, because today, it's time to see which fallen super-soldier back-in-black has what it takes to survive their greatest battle yet. Can the U.S. Agent escape death? Is Reaper just another super-crook to be trampled under Walker's shield? Count your bloody stars and strap in, because it's time for a DEATH BATTLE!!!

Before We Start…

Overwatch has notoriously not benefited much when it comes to the games’ overarching story being allowed to progress in… well, the game. That said, the franchise has a plethora of lesser-known media beyond the game and animated shorts - namely, in the form of comics, short stories, novels, and a fully fledged lore book. All of these will be taken into account for the purposes of this analysis. In addition, we’ll also be covering certain developer interviews, and even more obscure web-based information that directly speaks to canon events and/or character details.


Furthermore, while Overwatch’s story progression remains in uncertain flux, we’ve decided to also take a look at less strictly canon-abiding material, so long as it generally aligns with what we know to be true. Specifically, we’re talking about gameplay here. While it is true that games of Overwatch are not canon, and interactions that occur in them are even less so, the information present in these scenarios are still valuable and are informed by the canon in some way or another. Ultimately, it’d be a bit silly to not consider the gameplay of a videogame, so long as it’s not drastically inconsistent with hard canon material.


For the U.S. Agent, all his Earth-616 appearances will be taken into account. For the sake of history, lots of his costumes or former equipment will be mentioned, and will be specified as such if they are standard or not.

Background

Reaper

“I like the way you die.”


In the near future, life is…. going extremely well, surprisingly. Rapid advancements in science and technology have allowed humanity to create non-sentient human-service automatons, flying cars, and even advanced cybernetic prosthetics! It was in this bustling and hopeful utopia that Gabriel Reyes was born into. At a young age, Gabriel's intelligence and athletic ability shone; it would lead him to joining the Los Angeles Police Department, before moving on to the U.S. Military in his twenties. Gabriel was a mustang at heart, ambitious and hard-working. This gigachad grindset allowed him to become a detective at a startlingly young age, and that didn't stop with his enlistment in the army. He quickly became a decorated and respected military officer, and just in time, too; that utopia was about to come to an abrupt, bloody end.


Omnics - the automatons designed to serve humanity - gained sentience thanks to, what else, a rogue AI that believed humanity was its' greatest threat to itself. To solve this logical inconsistency, the AI, Anubis, sent Omnics across the world in a surprise war against humanity. These machines occupied spaces in everyday life, leading to an incredible loss of life on a global scale. In response to the Omnics' overwhelming firepower and organized efficiency helmed by Anubis, the U.S. military expedited the development of, what else, a secret super-soldier enhancement program to turn the tides of war. Gabriel was offered to join this classified trial, one that, despite ethical and moral concerns, proved to be a wild success. 


Now classified as Soldier: 24, Gabriel became part of an elite squad of super-soldiers, alongside his new bestie Jack Morrison, better known as Soldier: 76. With the Omnic Crisis coming to an end, Jack and Gabriel had ultimately saved thousands upon thousands of lives thanks to their augmented abilities. This earned them the attention of the United Nations, as they formed an international task force that would become known as none other than Overwatch. 



As the first two members of the team, Jack and Gabriel brought their years of experience and tactical brilliance to the table, becoming the faces of the operation. Jack Morisson, the all-American boy scout, proved to be a naturally charismatic leader, one that Gabriel - despite being the actual leader - recognized as more suited to the task. Overwatch grew larger, and it became apparent to Gabriel that his talents were best delivered in the shadows, meting out justice in secret when politics and legal red tape impeded Overwatch’s actions. Thus, Blackwatch was founded. Operating under the table, Gabriel undermined Jack’s leadership, believing Blackwatch to be doing the work Overwatch should, but couldn’t do. Among Gabriel’s hand-picked agents were the fallen Shimada heir, Genji, and the wayward outlaw, Cole Cassidy. 


The consequences of their recruitments paled, however, in comparison to those of the final addition to the team: Moira O'Deorain, an ambitious geneticist lacking in neither genius nor disregard for morality. Gabriel took an interest in her studies, going so far as to allow her to alter his own biological makeup in hopes of becoming a more efficient peacekeeper. In addition to the super-soldier serum flowing through his veins, he now found himself carrying a cocktail of chemicals that allowed him to morph his body into black smoke at-will. In exchange for this new power, however, Gabriel found his mental state altered by the experiments; worsening daily, creeping closer and closer to a breaking point…


Everything changed when Gabriel, along with Blackwatch, came face-to-face with a black arms dealer - Antonio -  affiliated with the Italian government. All his life, Gabriel had seen the law fail time and time again. As a police officer, he watched as crime rates stagnated, the root of the problem free to fester while lawmakers turned a blind eye. As a soldier, he helped take down authoritarian regimes, only to see megacorporations rise to power and repeat the same atrocities. As a member of Overwatch, he would bear witness to political corruption that protected society’s elite class from consequences. 


A lifetime of "what-ifs" and regrets boiled in Gabriel's mind. Time stood still as Antonio let loose a bone-chilling taunt; that ultimately, nothing would change for the better with his arrest. Despite Gabriel’s best efforts, Antonio would be back in power in no time, continuing to endanger innocent lives for his own profit. In the grand scheme of things, this conflict, Gabriel’s entire mission, perhaps even his entire life to that point, was a waste of time. At that moment, Gabriel snapped, breaking protocol as he executed Antonio right then and there.


Gabriel was, obviously, reprimanded and suspended. The rift between him and Jack grew ever deeper when Gabriel met Akande Ogundimu, - Doomfist - a notorious terrorist associated with Talon. Akande roused the seeds of doubt in Gabriel that had been growing for all his life. His dissatisfaction toward the law - no, the global order itself - was brought to the forefront of their fateful conversation. Akande was radical, dangerous… but in Gabriel's eyes, perhaps he was also a man making real change in a world set on maintaining the status quo. 


As Overwatch began to fall from international influence, the tension between Jack and Gabriel reached a boiling point. The breakup was bombastic - literally, as a mysterious explosion suddenly rang out, ravaging Overwatch’s Swiss Headquarters. As far as the world was concerned, two of America’s greatest soldiers in history perished in that blast. From that day on, Gabriel Reyes was no more. When he awoke in a laboratory under Moira’s supervision, he found himself further experimented on, his shapeshifting abilities amplified to uncontrollable levels! He was deeply aware of every single molecule as it shifted into black smoke, terrified that if he lost control for even a second, he could very well dissipate into thin air permanently. He was inexorably changed on a genetic level into something - no, someone else. His new existence was one of constant, unending physical agony, his body decaying and putting itself back together in an endless loop. With a new body and a new agenda to eliminate the people that perpetuated the failed organization known as Overwatch, Gabriel left his past life behind to become the international terrorist known only as the Reaper.  


Now, as an agent of chaos in Talon’s inner circle, Reaper executes his twisted code of violence against the world, leaving an ocean of corrupt corpses in his wake. The mission he embarked on all those years ago, beginning with the execution of a single arms dealer, became a world-spanning hunt to achieve real change, to upend the global order, to remind those who abuse their power that they, too, will soon be reaped for what they’ve sown. If you hear cackling in the darkness or the clicking of shotguns, make peace, because once he has you in his sights, not even Overwatch can save you.

U.S. Agent

“Say your prayers, meatballs...it's butt-kickin' time!!”


The Walker family was a family of patriots. There was Ma’ and Pa’ Walker, their daughter Kate, delightfully nicknamed HBO, the eldest son Mike, a U.S. Army helicopter pilot and decorated war hero, and the other son, Jonathan Walker. Wanting to honor the memory of his fallen brother, the headstrong Jonathan enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving in Fort Bragg for a time. But despite the war being over, Jon still wanted to serve his country, not really experiencing any of the action that comes with a war, but it wasn’t easy to find an opportunity. So the opportunity came to him. A recruiter for the Power Broker Inc. approached Jon and his friends with a promise; they could become super soldiers if they paid for the experience. A hard bargain, Walker was given a one-way ticket to Los Angeles, where the process was a success, and Walker was a superhuman with enhanced abilities. Now, he could truly make his parents proud.



Seeing the legendary Captain America in action inspired Jon to become a costumed superhero of his own, one that represents America, a symbol of truth and justice. With some proper fundings from his agent, the vision became a reality; and the Super-Patriot was born! Not even a moment's notice and Walker had big plans of roaming the country to promote his image as a true patriot, with rallies in his honor and true ideals preached from the hills. He argued he was the nation’s symbol they needed, and not Captain America, seeing him as outdated and standing for the people in a different time and place, and continued to further his campaign against him by staging fights with fake aggressive Captain America supporters. It wasn’t long before the Cap’n was unwillingly pit against the Super-Patriot, and the two fought for nearly an hour, but not without a warning from Cap; every great king falls, and every fraud slips, and when it happened to the Super-Patriot, he would be there. But Jon thought nothing of it, and his rise to stardom would only continue to peak after defeating Warhead and stopping a nuclear detonation. He had looked death in the face and lived, saving the city, something he had never felt before. Super-Patriot was living up to his brother Mike, and he felt like a true hero.


And it only got better. Captain America had abandoned his post after rejecting the Commission of Superhuman Activities. The Super-Patriot seemed to be the candidate to make happen, and it wasn’t long before the Commission approved, and Jonathan Walker was the new and improved Captain America. His training consisted of becoming exactly like the first Captain America, training to talk like him and even gaining his own ‘Bucky’, Lemar. When the time came for their 2nd mission against Professor Power, it was a smooth operation. Groups of Roman-dressed mercenaries were no match for Captain Walker, and they were able to stop an attempted escape in a rocket, and Professor Power was ready to be apprehended and taken back to S.H.I.E.L.D. But Walker was used to having it easy, no fighting back, no challenge, not having to roll with the hits. So what happened when Walker was hit with a single stray electro-beam? Walker snapped. Never having been challenged before, he took his shield in a fit of rage and beat Professor Power to death, not thinking about his role as Captain America. Walker knew he had stepped out of line.


But his mission wasn’t over yet, surprisingly. His debriefing only took him to his next missions, but the remorse didn’t go away, and eventually he learned the identity of Captain America as Steve Rogers, who was going by the Captain and allegedly had gone rogue and attacked the President, and Walker was tasked to take him in, but a new mission got in the way; the Watchdogs, the bad guys from his first mission, had kidnapped Walker’s parents. Lemar took the mission to take in Rogers while Walker went after the Watchdogs, coming in as a hostage to ensure their safety. The Watchdogs wanted to lynch Jon in front of his parents, but Walker broke free and engaged with them, which proved to be a fatal mistake. During the confrontation, Walker’s parents were gunned down in front of him, and the rage quickly set in again, and the Watchdogs were torn, only being stopped by the Commission, who intervened and ready to fire Walker. But the Commission was manipulated from the start by the Red Skull, who orchestrated all of this, and was behind every action that put Walker where he was now, all in the best interest of destroying the name of Captain America. 


The truth was out to the Commission, and amends had to be made for the attempts on taking down Steve Rogers, who was offered the mantle of Captain America. Rogers rejected it initially, but Jon convinced Rogers to become Captain America again, since he is Captain America, and nobody else. He accepted, and Walker decided to have the Commission fake his death as Captain America so Steve could resume the role, but his time with the Commission wasn’t over. He still wanted to serve, to make amends for the things he had done. Donning a variation of the original Captain America costume, Jon Walker reemerged, still the same man who will put his country before anyone else, but under a different name, of the U.S. Agent. His rise and fall.

Experience & Skill

Reaper

Gabriel Reyes was a big deal long, long before donning the cloak and mask. He graduated from university early with a degree in criminology, and, upon joining the Los Angeles Police Department, became a detective in his twenties; a testament to Gabriel’s driven nature and sharp intellect. Not satisfied with just being Californian Columbo, Gabriel enlisted in the U.S. military, where he underwent further physical training and honed his mental acuity even further. 


Within the span of 9 years, Gabriel worked through the ranks of the military, eventually becoming a commanding officer. The training didn’t stop there, of course, as Gabriel was accepted into the Soldier Enhancement Program, where he continued to hone his skills - physical and mental - specifically for the battlefield. During this time, Gabriel is on record as having taken more low-key missions, something that would later be reflected in his field work as head of Blackwatch and later, Talon. Even with this preference, Gabriel fought directly alongside other super-soldiers on the battlefield against brutal murder-robots during the Omnic Crisis.


Indeed, the shadows are where Gabriel prefers to operate most. He has infiltrated “countless” black sites, developing a keen eye for identifying and disabling surveillance and security systems with haste. Furthermore, he’s apparently developed a sort of ‘sixth sense’ for danger; which is probably to be expected from a soldier who has spent the past 40-ish years of his life in a constant grind, whether it be as a police officer, soldier, superhero, or, uh, terrorist. As they say, there is no rest for the wicked.


In battle, Gabriel is defined by his lightning-fast, brutal efficiency. He isn’t exactly the loose-cannon type to go in blindly, guns blazing (that would be Mauga, much to Gabriel’s chagrin), but he certainly does enjoy dispatching hordes of armed guards before they really have a chance to even react. More to the point, Gabriel very much has a tendency to capitalize on his Wraith-like transformation, allowing him to sneak behind unsuspecting victims… all the easier to pick off, one by one. Even when put up against tricky opponents, such as the time-skipping Tracer or tech-genius Sombra, Gabriel gains the upper hand by analyzing their abilities and strategies, then adapting his own attacks accordingly. And it should go without saying that Gabriel can certainly hold his own in unarmed, hand-to-hand combat, given his track record against fellow super-soldier and decorated war veteran, Jack Morrison.


We may not know much of the specifics of Gabriel’s military training, but given that Overwatch takes place in the near future, and Gabriel was an extremely accomplished and lauded soldier, he undoubtedly should have some understanding of real-world military skills. As a commanding officer, these would include a proficiency in applying first aid, battlefield navigation, personnel management (demonstrably, quite well, given he’s able to keep tabs on Sombra’s whereabouts), and general logistics. To think, he had a handle on all these skills well before becoming a super-soldier; after that, he’d be even better at everything mentioned, given one of the perks of the enhancement project includes heightened mental acuity.

U.S. Agent

U.S. Agent’s status as a super soldier makes him a tactical and dangerous fighter to go against, and has been described as a ‘hand-to-hand combat specialist’. Ever since his time as Captain America, he has studied the original Captain America’s fighting style extensively, with Captain America even saying Walker is one of the best fighters he’s ever encountered. Eventually when becoming Captain America however, he had a lot more to learn to hold up to the mantle of the shield. He started training with test dummies, and shows improvement on the shield spin with his throws, being able to accurately throw it through the dummies and shows adequate dodging until he gets hit from behind with rubber bullets. He took his training to the next level by employing the help of the mercenary Taskmaster, who taught Walker how to improve his form, stance, and shield throw in two hours. By the end of it, Walker had mastered all 18 of the lessons Taskmaster had for him. In just eight weeks, the narration says he had ‘come a long way’ in his training, being able to perform judo-throws by the end of it, and has become a teacher and sparring partner for other Avengers like Wonder Man.


U.S. Agent’s skill has allowed him to stand up to all sorts of threats, and his combat expertise has dismantled groups of enemies that boast super strength like his like the Mandarin’s army. Against the wider array of Marvel superheroes, he’s very dangerous to those who come across him. Sam Wilson claimed he was no match for him, and he won a one vs three fight in just a few moments against Electro, Taskmaster, and Whiplash. U.S. Agent is also a skilled tactician, being described as someone who thinks ahead and is an excellent planner, crafting strategies to take down enemies far tougher than him on the fly, like when he subdued the Iron Monger with electrical wires from the walls to overload the suit, or when he faked slipping on ice to launch a surprise attack with his shield. He also knows various methods in torture and is a very capable pilot and skilled in aviation, often serving as the one to fly the Quinjet for the Avengers West Coast and keeping the ships intact with his piloting skills, and has piloted foreign alien crafts without much issue. 

Equipment

Reaper

Reaper Mask

Fitting for a fallen hero turned to the dark side, Gabriel hides his misfigured face behind an ominous mask; though beyond simply looking sick as hell, it also comes equipped with an internal HUD, a gas filter, and an omnidirectional communication system, with a GPS to boot. Not to leave his Darth Vader cosplay incomplete, the mask also seems to have a voice modulator; very important. Additionally, the mask is made of suitably durable material, likely even tougher than his actual body armor. While facing off against former allies Soldier: 76 and Captain Amari, his body armor failed to block a piercing round from Amari, though his mask (and gauntlets!) could do so with little issue.

Hellfire Shotguns

Reaper’s bread and butter in battle are his signature RPNT Class G Hellfire Shotguns. Their exact origins are unknown, but these twin firearms are far from ordinary. For starters, Reaper seems to have an unlimited supply of shotguns that he can, according to the ever-observant Junkrat, “magically replenish”. It’s not just a game mechanic, either, seeing as how Reaper has lost or outright discarded his shotguns in various cinematics, only to roll up with another pair afterward.  


More importantly, every Hellfire Shotgun is equipped with special shells laced with a peculiar biological agent; courtesy of, who else, Moira. When applied to organic tissue (so, say, whenever he shoots someone), these shells induce rapid cellular necrosis, in essence making any wounds inflicted that much more difficult to heal from. Even super-soldiers with advanced tissue regeneration and heightened immunity, like Soldier: 76, struggle to overcome the damage these shells leave in their wake. 


That said, these shotgun shells are not all-powerful. It’s important to remember that Soldier: 76’s regenerative abilities are implied to have slowed with age, a side effect of the Soldier Enhancement Program’s unexpected consequences. When aided by Mercy, the wounds left by Reaper’s shotgun shells were ultimately still mendable, and didn’t even require the use of specialized equipment, like the Caduceus Staff. 


Oh, and apparently, the Hellfire Shotguns are not a one-size fits all deal. We’ve seen Reaper display multiple variants, from comically small pistols to larger firearms that can make use of those grenades he keeps strapped on his uniform.

Hacking Device

A humble little gadget that, when applied to a computer database, can forcibly siphon encrypted data. Not only is it discreet, it must also be capable of transmitting data remotely; given Reaper was, y’know, disintegrated, he would have been unable to retrieve the device after his defeat at the hands of Winston. Even so, we know for a fact he succeeded in stealing at least part of the Overwatch database, allowing Talon - and Reaper - to systemically hunt former and current Overwatch agents down, Order 66 style.

U.S. Agent

Super-Patriot Suit

The very first suit of Walker, made to stand as a symbol while he crossed the country, spreading patriotism and claiming to advocate for America’s true ideals, one for the whole nation to see.

Torchsword

His first weapon as the Super-Patriot was an energy sword he used in his very first fight against Captain America, powerful enough to chop through cars and destroy them.

Throwing Stars

Has a couple of star-shaped metal projectiles that he can throw, capable of cutting through the chainmail of Captain America’s suit.

Captain America Suit

Trial as you may, U.S. Agent for a brief time donned the mantle as Captain America, with the iconic star-spangled suit and red white and blue shield due to Steve Rogers retiring from his post thanks to Red Skulls involvement in the Commission on Superhuman Activities. His time was short, and when Steve was ready to pick up the mantle again after multiple missions and redemptions from Walker’s shortcomings, Walker faked his death as Captain America, and Steve resumed the mantle. 

Force Works Suit

The second alternate suit in his history as U.S. Agent, this suit was made when he joined Force Works, a team built from the ruins of the Avengers West Coast. It was designed by Tony Stark, equipped with a built-in energy shield made of hard light, capable of harming foes such as the Lich, one of the Mandarin’s avatars. The shield can be used as a ranged weapon in the form of photon blasters, which are stated to be twice as powerful as his old shield, and is bright enough to light up a forest like Times Square New York. He can also focus the energy from the shield into both his hands to shoot photon blasts 

Eagle Shield

His third alternate shield he used in place of his vibranium shield, it is an eagle-shaped shield that can be controlled mid-air via remote control.

US Government Suit

While working as the leader of S.T.A.R.s for the U.S. government, Walker dawned another suit with yet another shield. This suit has body armor that protects him from knives, and his shield is a photonic shield, capable of absorbing and deflecting damage.

Energy Truncheon

As a law enforcement officer, he was given a truncheon made of energy, which he uses along with his strength to deliver attacks that can shatter steel and burn right through it, or function as a taser. When Walker later dawned his original black U.S. Agent suit, he was shown to still be holding onto the energy truncheon and using it.

Star Shield

The fourth alternate shield, once again vibranium but with five sharp pointed blades that represent a star, with the names of terrorists engraved on the shield.

U.S. Agent Suit

Easily the most iconic and consistent suit the U.S. Agent wears. The armor is composed of synthetic chainmail, as shown when it withstood the bite of the super-villain Viper, and should be relatively comparable to the blue suit used by Captain America.

Vibranium Shield

The primary weapon of the U.S. Agent. A disc-shaped shield colored red, white, and black, composed primarily of vibranium and a unique proto-adamantium that has never been replicated, along with a strong layer of steel alloy. U.S. Agent can use the shield in a couple of ways, such as bashing them in their skull, throwing it at them to knock them out or incapacitate them, or to tank damage that Walker himself cannot normally tank, as the shield can absorb a tremendous amount of kinetic energy from the impact of deadly attacks. Surprisingly, the shield has gone through many revisions, but in its best state it has been called ‘perfectly balanced’ for throwing.

Disposable Shields

U.S. Agent implied that due to being stripped of his official status, at one point he lost the luxury of having near indestructible vibranium shields, and would see his current shields be torn up by simply cutting through a taxi, so Walker keeps plenty of weaker shields to spare, but it is never implied if they are vibranium or not, or even partially so. Even still, weaker shields have been able to hold up to strong attacks despite being pale imitations, such as when the shield took a blow from the Ninth Immortal with the strength of the Chinese population, though it was warped.

Infrared Goggles

Has a pair of infrared goggles that let him track the heat trails of people or objects.

Pym Particles Capsule

Sometimes Captain Walker needs to take a seat, or to surprise an enemy. He keeps a small capsule of pym particles explicitly used to shrink down his shield to fit in a compartment on his utility belt, and whenever he needs to take it out again, the shield will grow right back to its normal size.

Firearms

U.S. Agent is an expert marksman, so if need be, he is more than capable of closing the distance with bullets rather than his shield. He has used a wide variety of guns such as a submachine gun, a tommy gun, automatics, an M9 semi-automatic handgun, or just normal handguns.

Motorcycle

Because what's a street tier without having at least one vehicle, even if everyone has it?

Abilities

Reaper

Super-Soldier Enhancements

As a survivor of the Soldier Enhancement Program, Reaper is one of the toughest people in the Overwatch roster. In the program’s infancy, it was used to enhance the speed, strength, mental processing, and endurance of small mammals; factors that all carried over into the human test subjects flawlessly. In addition to these physical boons, super soldiers boast impressive viral immunities and tissue regeneration, as well as heightened agility. 

Regeneration

Originally, Gabriel Reyes had fast-acting regeneration as a result of the Soldier Enhancement Program; potent enough that he never needed any medical attention in his prime, because his wounds would simply heal themselves. One time, fellow super-soldier Jack Morisson was grazed by three bullets, and he didn’t even realize he was tagged until well after the mission was over. 


After being experimented on Moira multiple times, Reaper’s body, perhaps as a side effect of the Soldier Enhancement serum, mutated to a whole other level. His body simultaneously decays and regenerates in an endless loop, not dissimilar to the constant state of agony endured by someone like Deadpool. Just like the Merc with a Mouth, Reaper’s body can regenerate molecular level; he’d have to, since his body decays into smoke, before flowing back into flesh and blood. This regeneration is so great, he managed to survive total bodily vaporization at the hands of Winston’s Tesla Cannon. We should note, however, that this feat of survivability is rather vague. We have no idea how long it took for Reaper’s body to re-constitute after this defeat, and we also don’t know where he reformed, either. 

Wraith Form

As a result of Moira’s genetic experimentations, Gabriel Reyes gained the ability to transmute his body’s molecules into a black smoke. While Reaper cannot actively attack whilst fully engaged in his Wraith form, he does gain a variety of options to aid him in battle. He can create massive smokescreens, extending his… molecules, I suppose. He’s used this ability to augment his Death Blossom technique, an attack that would otherwise leave him vulnerable, by cloaking himself in shadow. As you might expect, this ability is also useful for passing through tight spaces that an ordinary human otherwise could not; ideal for infiltration and stealth. He can also inexplicably teleport long-distances with a bit of startup cast time, covering battlefields in the blink of an eye.


Furthermore, Reaper can use his Wraith form to traverse the air around him, either to avoid incoming attacks or to scale large vertical distances; essentially mimicking flight. Not only that, but Reaper can selectively choose what parts of his body enter the Wraith form, allowing him to achieve that unparalleled mobility while maintaining his upper body form - thereby freeing his arms to continue engaging in combat. Or, he can just use the Wraith form to perform some sick parkour jumps without fear of smashing his old ass 60-year old man knees. Not very necessary, when he could just stay in Wraith the entire jump, but that wouldn’t look as cool, now would it?

Death Blossom

Reaper’s Ultimate Ability is Death Blossom, a frantic Beyblade roleplay that essentially consists of a lot of gun shootin’. Even before becoming Reaper, Gabriel Reyes demonstrated a rudimentary form of this technique. Since then, it would appear that Reaper’s newfound abilities have enhanced the speed and viability of the Death Blossom, thanks to the built-in smokescreen and infinite ammo he can now draw upon at-will. Since Reaper’s healing abilities activate with every bullet he lands in this frenzied spin, Death Blossom can be a surprising last-ditch survival technique when used against many foes at once. 


…too bad he can’t do that here!

The Reaping

Dealing damage… get this, it heals Reaper! Wow! 


At its peak, the Reaping allowed Reaper to heal up to 50% of any given damage he inflicted on his targets, though that number has fluctuated around the 30-35% range more consistently. 

Role Passives

As a DPS, Reaper benefits from both global and role-specific passive abilities that augment his capabilities in battle. Any damage Reaper deals to an opponent, even if it’s only 1 point, will reduce any healing his target receives by 10-20%. This healing restriction applies to healing that originates from both outside support and self-regenerative abilities, though the effect is only temporary without constant follow-up attack.


Not only that, but since Reaper is, uh, a playable character in Overwatch 2, he also benefits from the All Heroes Passive. This ability grants Reaper (and everyone) a passive health regeneration, so long as he does not take active damage for 5 seconds. There is no upper limit to the passive, so Reaper can fully heal from 1 HP, as long as he avoids being hit for long enough.

U.S. Agent

Super Soldier Enhancements

U.S. Agent underwent the Power Broker experiments, the same process that gave Captain America his physical augmentations, and Walker became a superb soldier in combat. He possessed far greater superhuman strength then that of Captain America, enhanced reflexes and coordination that compliments his dexterous shield-throwing capabilities, and his body now has superhuman durability, making him harder to hurt physically and more resistant to attacks that could prove fatal to any normal human. The latter especially shows in moments where he should’ve died such as when he nearly drowned, but his bigger lungs allowed him to survive underwater while unconscious, or when his thicker neck muscles prevented him from being strangled by a noose.

Regeneration

As a fellow super-soldier, Walker should have the same heightened tissue regeneration that Steve Rogers has. While it’s certainly not on the level of a Wolverine or Deadpool, Cap can still heal from bullet wounds faster than others. His metabolism and regeneration are so strong that, with time, his body has recovered from life-ending injuries, even after being presumed dead by doctors.

Superhuman Agility

One of the U.S. Agents best abilities are his incredibly acrobatic abilities and agility in a fight. He is stated to be highly trained in agility and acrobatics and can leap over 20 feet in the air. Oftentimes he employs acrobatics in his fights, whether it's doing flips to make an entrance, dodging or jumping over oncoming attacks such as lasers, or making himself hard to hit as you take down a group of thugs. He is capable of jumping down great heights and landing without injury, clear buildings with just a couple of leaps even while carrying two people at once, clearing tall distances like fences with some well-maneuvered flips, or the Lincoln Monument with many jumps.

Superhuman Endurance

U.S. Agent’s superhuman physique allows him to push through tremendous injuries and wounds while still fighting, having fought Captain America for 27 minutes straight in their first fight. He’s proven that even without a shield he can tank severe punishment, able to power through attacks that should knock him out, such as when he remained conscious despite being hit with his own shield, and Golubeb even admitted he couldn’t pummel him unconscious with his psychic powers, and this was all before managing to throw his shield despite being overcome by telekinesis. He’s even courageously endured attacks that brought him to the brink of death and still had fight in him, and can fight through being shot. 

Marksmanship

U.S. Agent’s shield-throwing is his most vital ranged attack, and he has trained himself to continuously get better at throwing it where it is most advantageous, and can pretty consistently take out groups of enemies with just a single shield toss or disarm enemies of their weapons. Even super soldiers like Nomad have complimented Walker’s ability to use the shield to its maximum potential. Walker is also a competent marksman when it comes to firearms, stated to be skilled with pistols, automatics, and rifles, capable of shooting Wolverine with one hand from a helicopter.

Resistances

Feats

Reaper

Overall

Power

Speed

Durability

U.S. Agent

*Editor's note: Walker actually knocked out the Collective Man, who has the strength of China’s population; NOT the Ninth Immortal.

Overall


  • Started his costumed career as the Super-Patriot and fought Captain America to a standstill

  • Briefly took up the mantle as Captain America

  • Defeated Flag Smasher, Left Winger, Right Winger, Scourge, Diamondback, and Demolition Man

  • Joined the Avengers West Coast and Force Works

  • Helped Dr. Doom battle the now-evil Scarlet Witch

  • Fought Sam Wilson, the new Captain America

  • Led Kingpin’s new team of Thunderbolts to stop vigilantism in New York

  • Served as the warden of the Myridon Superhuman Prison

Power

Physically:

The Shield:

Speed

Durability

Physically:

The Shield:

Scaling

Reaper

Overwatch

A former Overwatch agent himself, Reaper fought alongside fellow super-soldier Jack Morisson, as well as those enhanced by cybernetics, like Genji Shimada and Vivian Chase. He’s also just very blatantly beyond the physical strength, speed, endurance, and mental capacity of basically all other ‘normal’ humans in the verse, thanks to Declassified’s clarification on the Soldier Enhancement Program. Furthermore, the Hellfire Shotguns have strong on-screen showings, dispatching Omnics just as easily as giant rocket hammers, ice blasters, soundwaves, and more, so Reaper’s weaponry definitely compares as well.


Talon

Much like the members of Overwatch, Talon’s personnel are certainly all comparable - if not likely inferior - to Reaper’s physical capabilities as a super-soldier. Doomfist’s implants and gauntlets make him a force to be reckoned with, but he was still defeated by Winston; the same Winston that Reaper has brought to the ground multiple times, and taken direct hits from to boot. 


Miscellaneous

The following characters are mostly only relevant in their specific corners of the Overwatch world, but there is nothing that suggests their capabilities (physical, weaponry, or otherwise) would be beyond what Reaper can compare to already.


U.S. Agent

Captain America

Captain America claims Walker is 10 times stronger than him, so U.S. Agent would upscale the best of his feats due to consistently taking down the First Avenger, with Steve having to outsmart him to win fights. He can also trade hits with other super soldiers like Cap such as Nuke, so he should get all the scaling the First Avenger does.


Misc Avengers

Being comparable to the Captain means Walker should be above the belt with many other vigilantes in the Avengers and Avengers West Coast, such as Hawkeye and Black Panther, with Walker frequently besting the former in raw strength and combat during their time together. 


Misc X-Men

The U.S. Agent has crossed paths with a few of the X-Men such as Gambit and the Wolverine. Given Captain America has fought Wolverine to the point of crushing the tendons in his arms, U.S. Agent would more than likely compare to the X-Men that take to the streets rather than the ones that fly across the cosmos.


Misc Street Tiers

The U.S. Agent has also crossed paths with a few other street level heroes such as the Punisher in the pursuit of justice and the law, and has proven to be physically superior to many of the heroes due to his superhuman strength.

Weaknesses

Reaper

Gabriel Reyes’ time as both an agent of Overwatch and a Talon enforcer have made one thing clear: he very much does not like being out of control of a situation. Whether it’s butting heads with Jack Morrisson over Overwatch’s legal jurisdiction, or struggling to cooperate with loose cannons like Mauga and Sombra, Gabriel is, fittingly, a lone wolf at heart. As a result, Gabriel can easily get frustrated when forced to deal with things going contrary to his expectations, but there’s another side to this as well - he loves being in control, and savors holding power over his enemies. As evidenced by his fight with Winston, he has a tendency to tap into his inner cartoon villain aura and simply choose to torment his victims, rather than finish them off for good, allowing them a chance to retaliate. Additionally, his impulsivity has been a detriment to his overall well-being many times, such as when he executed Antonio, rather than follow protocol. 


That’s not all. As a super-soldier, Gabriel of course has a plethora of physical benefits, such as heightened regenerative abilities to patch up wounds in a jiffy, but these aren’t perfect. As shown by fellow super-soldier Jack, their regeneration can be impeded by potent enough cellular decaying properties, and their physical strength, speed and agility has wavered with age. Also, his body’s ability to transmute into smoke is useful in a fight, but he can be forcibly prevented from entering the Wraith form under certain conditions, such as being held in the grip of intense gravity, or when stunned by a flashbang grenade. Sufficient physical damage to his body can also prevent Reaper from successfully entering his Wraith form. Lastly, while he can re-materialize from being completely vaporized, it is not immediate, and sufficient physical trauma is enough to incapacitate or even kill Reaper just like anyone else.


Oh yeah, and he really, really has to get some quieter fucking boots already my god you can hear this bitch’s steps a city away.

U.S. Agent

There’s a good reason why he wasn’t Captain America for very long. Walker can tend to lash out, and feels very entitled to roles of leadership with a ‘my way or the highway’ mentality, and this has caused him to come at odds with his own teammates, even if his intentions and ulterior motives are ultimately for serving his country. Despite the reputation of a vibranium shield, it isn’t without its counters and flaws. It can be knocked off its throwing course simply by attacking the shield with another strong enough ranged attack like an energy blast, and it’s not completely indestructible, such as when Proticide shattered Walker’s vibranium shield with a vibranium shield of his own.

Before The Verdict

Torbjorn’s Magma Cores + Titan Omnic scaling

(Genji art made by TisGooby)


In the Overwatch 2: Invasion Story Missions, Reinhardt & Brigette seek out Torbjorn’s help in the fight against Null Sector. Upon arriving at Torbjorn’s town, Null Sector attacks, forcing the trio + Bastion to do battle. In order to take down a Null Sector war ship, Torbjorn employs the use of various turrets throughout the town. Each turret is powered by something called a Magma Core; Brigette states that each one contains the energy of a volcanic eruption. These turrets succeed in taking down the Null Sector war ship, and as the mission progresses, Torbjorn’s turrets also destroy a Titan Omnic. In Overwatch: Zero Hour, Genji is able to effortlessly slice through a Titan Omnic, the same type of battle droid that - while destroyed - required the use of Torbjorn’s weaponry to defeat otherwise. Seems simple enough, right?


Well, let’s break this down a bit. First off, volcanoes are not a monolith, and there are many ways to measure the energy of an eruption. There’s the tectonic energy itself that kick-starts the process in the first place, and you can also measure the kinetic energy of the material ejected (ash, rock, etc). Among all these metrics, there are a great many variables that play a role in differentiating yields across real-world volcanoes, such as the dimensions of the volcanoes in question, and what type of volcano is erupting (shield, stratovolcano, lava dome, caldera, etc). If you’re calculating kinetic energy, the speed of the ejected mass is paramount to the total yield, and this would directly correlate to the amount of mass ejected (which is, in turn, dependent on size, how much magma/ash there is to eject, and so on).


Brigette is, understandably, not very specific in her word choice here. It’s not unreasonable to assume certain values, given real-world averages. There is certainly a general ‘upper limit’ to these sorts of things, in that there’s no way a naturally-occuring eruption would randomly be like, multi-contentinential level. However, if the vagueness and uncertainty of Brigette’s statement wasn’t enough to raise some questions about this proposed scaling chain, then strap in for this next part.


We actually left a bit out of that first paragraph summarizing the story mission. Torbjorn’s Magma Cores did destroy the Null Sector ship, that’s true… but only after multiple shots, including a specific assault on the ship’s fuel cells. Here’s the important part, though. The Titan Omnic actually shrugged off a shot from Torbjorn’s turret the first time around. Yes, the same turret powered by a Magma Core, did little more than piss off the Titan Omnic. What actually destroyed the Titan Omnic was a prototype Mega-Cannon Torbjorn had built; and it’s not even made clear what energy this Mega-Cannon draws upon, only that it required a long charge time.  The Mega-Cannon, whether it’s possibly drawing more energy out of unseen Magma Cores or simply just Built Different™, is another knock against the reliability of Magma Cores as an AP argument. 


Still not convinced? Well, truthfully, we could’ve kept this whole tangent a lot more brief if we led with this last point: most characters in Overwatch cannot directly harm the Titan Omnic. You might be thinking, wait, didn’t Genji do exactly that? And the answer is, obviously, yeah, of course. We’ll get back to Genji in a second, but first, the Overwatch 2 story mission itself contains ample proof of this claim already. Regardless of whether you choose Reinhardt, Bastion, or Torbjorn (rip Brigette, no projectiles), no one can actually do damage to the Titan Omnic. And this isn’t a case of gameplay limitations, where the projectiles just hit an invisible wall or something like that; there are actual hitmarkers and sound effects indicating that the projectiles land, they just can’t actually do any damage. Even outside of gameplay, in the official Overwatch: Sojourn novel, we see Jack Morrison use his Helix Rockets on a Titan Omnic. The results? Not very flattering.


Overwatch: Sojourn
Chapter 4, Page 98


This shouldn’t be much of a surprise, though. Accepting that Torbjorn’s Rivet Gun is as powerful as a specialized turret that uses an entirely different energy source would be absurd and inconsistent with what the series itself has shown consistently. Let’s circle back to Genji now. There’s no denying he slices part of a Titan Omnic up, but this isn’t really too surprising. Fun fact, Genji’s sword and Hanzo’s bow are actually really special! If you’ve ever wondered how they’re able to manifest giant dragons, here’s how: they utilize special energy fields beset by unique Shimada technology. The Shimada’s former swordsmith, Toshiro Yamagami, specifically makes all of his weapons - swords and bows alike - far deadlier than normal weapons, even before his technology is integrated into them. No doubt about it, Genji’s sword is not just a cool hunk of steel; it being able to slice a Titan Omnic hand in half like its name was Satoru is a uniquely impressive feat, one that sets it apart from nearly every other weapon in the series.


To be blunt, Genji is honestly kind of just That Guy. He’s taken nasty direct hits from Doomfist, one of the strongest guys in the verse in terms of physicality; he’s kept up with Tracer in battle, the de-facto fastest character period. Omnics that can perceive their surroundings by the picosecond are unable to keep track of this woman, but for Genji? Just light practice, that’s all. It’s not unreasonable at all to think that Genji’s apparent top-tierness in the verse is why he’s able to perform a feat that Soldier: 76, Sojourn, Reinhardt, Torbjorn, and Bastion are incapable of replicating. Not to mention, Genji’s weapon isn’t even remotely comparable to theirs. 


Let’s assume both a Helix Rocket & Genji’s sword have the same exact initial force behind them. As the Helix Rocket travels, it will decelerate due to air resistance, losing energy by the time it hits the Titan Omnic. Not only that, but the pressure being applied by the rocket on impact would be distributed over a moderately large surface area, whether it be the initial shell or the resulting blast. Genij’s sword, by comparison, would practically retain all of its initial force, given it by necessity needs to be right next to the Titan Omnic to actually attack, and therefore would not have as much air resistance to overcome before reaching its target. Genji’s cybernetic physical strength can also actively compensate against air resistance, and the sword itself is so sharp, that the same amount of initial force & pressure would be distributed over an extremely thin surface area, and therefore, most of the energy would translate into that Titan Omnic’s limb.


To be clear, Genji’s speed and physical strength aren’t in a complete league of their own. We’re not saying he would solo everyone with his eyes closed or anything. What we’re saying is that, simply by nature of using a sword (one backed by superhuman strength & is already vaguely augmented well beyond normal sword capabilities), his weapon is logically primed to perform well against a super durable material; something that ‘normal’ firearms aren’t really capable of keeping up with, and this is directly reflected in Overwatch’s canon. This is less a matter of tons of TNT Genji can shit out compared to others, and more him simply having a really good tool for this particular job. Just because he can slice the Titan’s hand doesn’t necessarily mean he can suplex the damn thing into paste; those would require entirely different levels of strength that do not translate 1:1.


To summarize, Magma Cores are not very well defined. Being as powerful as a volcanic eruption would, assumedly, be quite strong, but it’s exactly that: an assumption. Not only are the cores vague, but no one would even scale to the Titan Omnic’s durability in the first place, since multiple characters explicitly cannot do damage to it with their weapons, and require a non-standard gigabuff weapon to do the job in lieu of their weapons of choice. The one exception, Genji, uses a special weapon perfect for applying more pressure across a thinner surface, and retaining initial force; this is why he can perform his feat, while the other characters cannot replicate it. He also would not need to be as strong as the Mega-Cannon in order to achieve this feat.


…But wait, there’s MORE! Yeah, we don’t think anyone scales to the Titan Omnic’s durability, but who said that’s the only thing characters can scale to? The Titan Omnic - or rather, an older version of one - has a pretty impressive direct feat, wherein its laser pulverizes a hole right through a skyscraper. Even accounting for how hollow these buildings are, the extent of the damage done by the laser can range from hundreds of tons of TNT to 2 kilotons of TNT; that’s a pretty big deal! Not only can Reinhardt & Brigette’s shields tank a more powerful version of the laser, but even without protection, weaker characters than Reaper (Bastion, Brigette, Torbjorn) can withstand the same kind of blast that performed the skyscraper feat. This isn’t inconsistent, either, as Reinhardt & Brigette have encountered the Titan Omnic multiple separate times, not just once. 


TL;DR: The Titan Omnic is more than durable enough to tank any standard attacks from the Overwatch cast, but in turn, the Overwatch cast have shown to be able to withstand the Titan Omnic’s laser, which has a very impressive direct feat yielding 2 kilotons of TNT.

Sigma

The fan-favorite Sigma is a particularly hot topic pertaining to Overwatch scaling. It’s no secret the good doctor has quite a few impressive displays of power; most pertinent being the mass-to-energy conversion he performs with his Kinetic Grasp. Given the mass quantities available in-game for Sigma to convert, ranging from artillery shells to dozens of rockets, he’s undoubtedly just as powerful as his reputation implies.


But does anyone scale to this? Kinetic Grasp is not a technique Sigma performs physically, but rather an application of his manipulation and mastery over gravity itself. In other words, these feats are performed through a non-physical (as it pertains to his human body) power system. Sigma’s gravity powers are no joke, and that’s exactly why he would have no need to be as physically capable as his powers are. Imagine being a normal human, but you have the power to shoot magic explosions from your hands. They may be powerful, but without proper supporting evidence, there’s no reason to assume your physical body is as strong as the energy you can shoot out. In other words, the energy Sigma outputs when using Kinetic Grasp is not directly scalable to others. We can even see this in-game; Sigma’s gravitic flux works because Sigma can directly override and control gravity to such a degree that no one can really counter or fight back against it directly. When he deals damage, it’s not because Sigma is directly attacking opponents with his unique energy system, it’s more so just… gravity doing what it does, so there’s no real way to scale via tanking that damage, either.


We should also address “hierarchy” scaling. That is to say, the notion that characters can scale to Sigma simply because he is not the top of the totem pole in Talon as an organization. As the top boss of the group, Doomfist is Sigma’s superior… but that has nothing to do with combat capability. Interestingly, Baptiste even says that Sigma is explicitly too strong to be trapped by Talon. The problem for Sigma is not that he’s too weak to defeat Doomfist in order to escape… it’s that he doesn’t see a need to escape at all. We know that, after being retrieved from his confinement, Sigma was given resources and tools to continue his research under Talon’s watchful eye. To Sigma, thanks to his inhibited mental state, nothing is exactly wrong with these circumstances. He has no reason to want to fight back or escape, and therefore, his status as Doomfist’s underling has absolutely nothing to do with power or combat capability. If anything, Baptiste suggests the exact opposite to be true; that Talon, which includes Doomfist, would not be able to stop Sigma if he chose to fight back.


We’ve discussed why Sigma’s mass-to-energy conversion feats are not compatible with traditional scaling, and we’ve discussed why Sigma likely wouldn’t even be viable for others to scale to in the first place. However, you might be interested to learn that there is actually an underlooked feat that might actually scale to others!


Before he became the master of ma- oops, wrong franchise; master of gravity, Dr. Siebren de Kuiper was, briefly, exposed to a small but active singularity. Given everything we know pertaining to Siebren’s research and how the singularity is depicted (visually, and through text), it’s fair to assume it was a legitimate black hole. The fact that Siebren was exposed to a black hole, however brief it may have been, is crucial to the entire premise behind Sigma as a character. Remember that specific order: Siebren survived the pull of a black hole (well, physically, anyway. Maybe not so much mentally.), and it is because of that he became Sigma later on. 

That’s not an insignificant distinction. At face value, this would insinuate that an ordinary human’s physical body survived an excruciatingly immense amount of energy ripping them apart; the energy equivalent of 21.57 megatons of TNT, to be precise. Doomfist may or may not be stronger than Sigma, but he undoubtedly is leaps and bounds stronger and tougher than Siebren. Hell, most of the Overwatch cast would no doubt be far more capable than Siebren at the time he performed this feat. Black holes are a messy subject, but there’s no need to get into the nitty gritty here; this is already a fairly long winded section as is, which is to say nothing about the implication that the strongest feat in Overwatch may be performed by a complete non-combatant, of all people; let alone a numerical outlier amongst Overwatch’s calcs, which are consistently far, far below this in yield. 


In addition, there are technically various unknown quantities surrounding the feat; we don’t know if Seibren had special protective gear responsible for his survival, nor what exactly the properties of the field that contained the black hole in the first place. Regardless, it’s hard to imagine a super-soldier like Reaper not being able to replicate this feat if he were in Siebren’s shoes (you know, while he still wore those). As far as this blog is concerned, while the feat is mathematically sound, and it is inexorably canon, the messiness caused by the implications of Siebren surviving this and its unusually high yield give us enough reason to consider this an outlier.

City level Detonators

UwU


In the Sojourn novel, Vivian Chase and Jack Morisson head to Ottawa on a mission to push back against the Omnic forces that have taken the city during the Omnic Crisis. Their mission is cut short as a Detonator approaches their location in Parliament Hill. Sojourn states that, after the Detonator, er, detonates, everything in a three-mile radius around them will be ashes. This forces the soldiers to escape via a helicopter, narrowly avoiding the blast. But wait! Detonators are actually found in-game as well, via the Overwatch: Uprising gameplay event. Basically, they behave exactly as they do in the Sojourn novel; they move slowly towards a stationary target before going kaboom. Here’s the thing: see the Detonator’s explosion? Notice anything about the surrounding vicinity and how… not blown up it is?


Let’s go back to the novel here. Actually, a bit further back, to when Vivian and Jack first arrive in Ottawa. At the very beginning of the chapter, we’re told that Ottawa is already in ruins, completely made uninhabitable as a result of the war with the Omnics. And after the Detonator explodes? It destroys the Parliament Building, sure, but not completely; the proof is in the text itself. The building is said to be “almost” completely destroyed, and the interior is still visible and distinguishable. 


What this means is that:


  1. The Detonator didn’t destroy everything in a 3-mile radius. The city of Ottawa was already destroyed.

  2. The Detonator only destroyed the Parliament Building, and even then, not completely.

  3. Sojourn, Torbjorn and Jack Morisson still had to actually evacuate the building either way; the narrative intent behind this chapter does not support the notion that these characters could survive the blast.

  4. Even if everything above were not the case, Sojourn was already on a stratoscopter that had flown away from the Parliament Building by the time the Detonator went off. This means that her body would not be impacted by the full energy yield of the blast; it would be a completely negligible amount of energy, given her body’s surface area relative to the explosion radius.


All in all, not a very good feat.

Nerf THIS!

One of the most impressive direct feats of power in Overwatch comes from everyone’s favorite gamer, D.Va. As of the New Blood series of comics, D.Va is officially a member of Overwatch, and has been shown fighting on equal footing with other members of the team. Sounds simple enough for scaling, right?


A small problem: D.Va has only achieved her higher end feats as a result of her mech’s fusion reactor core overloading, an explicit overclock that would not scale to her typical firepower. Hence, the self-destruct and big boom boom. D.Va logically (and hopefully, obviously) would not be able to withstand the power of this explosion, which is why she ejects from the mech in the first place. In gameplay, it’s technically possible for certain characters to survive D.Va’s self-destruct under particular circumstances. These same characters are, of course, prone to damage from all characters, Reaper included. It would not be incorrect to argue that Reaper’s shotguns, while obviously not as powerful as D.Va’s mech exploding, are still capable of harming and wearing down things that can withstand said explosion. 


Still, it’s important to remember that scaling to explosive feats are not as straightforward as they might seem to be at first glance. The energy behind an explosion expands rapidly; a 10 kiloton explosion would only be that powerful at the very epicenter upon detonation. The shockwaves resulting from the force of the blast would be much, much weaker as energy dissipates and spreads out. Not only that, but a human body is only physically capable of absorbing so much of that energy in the first place; an average person would not be nearly large or encompassing enough to fully take in the full yield of even a more mundane explosion in real life. As a matter of fact, intense heat and other factors (such as debris and air deprivation) are just as much factors in mortality rates from large-scale explosions as the raw TNT value of the initial blast; if not moreso.


Even the gameplay of Overwatch reflects this at a baseline level, as D.Va’s mech explicitly becomes far less dangerous the further away from the epicenter you are. Any character can actually survive taking damage from it just fine, provided they’re sufficiently far from the center of the blast. Just as Reaper can technically damage the same shields that withstand D.Va’s mech exploding, he can also technically survive the blast itself. Accounting for the surface area of Reaper’s body, however, the energy he withstands would pale in comparison to the original output from the blast. Ultimately, D.Va’s mech is impressive, but the Self Destruct sequence itself doesn’t particularly offer anything viable to the conversation as it pertains to Reaper here. 

Mei’s Winter Wonderland

In the 2017 Winter Wonderland promotional video, Mei’s companion Snowball (the thing she throws when she uses her Ultimate) is shown to be responsible for making it snow across various in-game maps, from Hanamura to King’s Row and the Black Forest. This is fairly decent as a direct feat in and of itself; we can measure the maps’ size and dimensions easily enough, getting modest numbers, just a few tons of TNT.


Alternatively, you might notice that the snow generated covers not just the in-game maps, but the surrounding area of said maps as well; encompassing mountainscapes in the background of the Black Forest, and even the city Hanamura is located in. This is huge, in more ways than one. Hanamura is based on the real-world city of Fujiyoshida, evident by the presence of Mt. Fuji looming over both locales. In the case of Hanamura, we can even observe stratus clouds, which would imply Snowball didn’t just sprinkle snow over the area, but directly caused a change in weather by generating clouds through condensation & the freezing of air molecules. All this combined, the energy output of Snowball would have to be 336 megatons of TNT.


…Which is absurd, we know! For starters, this is a fairly obscure promotional video for a seasonal event from 7 years ago; non-canon would be an understatement, even for the standards of this blog. Furthermore, it’s not even necessarily an easily-scalable feat in the first place. Sure, characters can survive being frozen by Snowball in-game, and can take blasts of ice from Mei’s Endothermic Blaster just fine, but these methods of attack are irrelevant to the actual calcs that place this feat so high. We’re talking about temperature change and fusion energy generating a climate change; that is not at all equivalent to the kinetic energy you’d be hit by when Mei lobs an icicle at your head. Those are two entirely different forms of energy and thus cannot be compared, even if they originate from the same source. As for surviving Snowball in-game, it’s important to stress that this feat is impressive because it’s exerting energy to change the temperature. Standing in the midst of Snowball means you would be withstanding having your temperature dropped; you wouldn’t actually be tanking any of the energy used to make that drop in the first place. 


All in all, it’s a very odd feat. Certainly an interesting talking point, but compared to Sigma, this feat has even less legs to stand on, outside of some very, very generous highballing. For this blog, it will be considered inapplicable for scaling.

Can the Vibranium Shield Cut Through Characters Like Hulk? 

(Image by Flip)


Captain America’s shield is one of the strongest weapons in the Marvel universe, being durable enough to withstand attacks from characters well above the super soldier’s pay grade due to the shields durability being laced with a strong layer of proto-Adamantium and Vibranium, some of the toughest metals in the Marvel universe. Does this mean it is sharp enough to slice through someone as strong as Hulk or even Thor? Not really, though the answer as to why is a bit confusing due to the shield’s properties.


What is true of the vibranium shield is that it was made to be highly durable; its ability to absorb kinetic energy is what allows Cap to stay standing while Thor smacks down on the hammer with Mjolnir and not instantly crumble from such a mighty attack. And it is not an unfounded claim that is just strung together from ‘a couple of showings’, even the strongest characters of the Marvel universe acknowledge the shields unique properties. Molecule Man acknowledged the shield's molecular structure as being far stranger than that of Thor’s hammer or Silver Surfer’s surfboard, and Thor himself has said that there is nothing like it in ‘all other worlds’, so its durability is without too much question. So why wouldn’t it have a similar level of attack potency?


The other features of the shield are the reason why. While it was made to be highly durable, it was also made to be a stiff, hardened battering ram that could be thrown around in ways that make it aerodynamically viable, cutting through wind like a frisbee and being able to bounce off solid objects without losing momentum to bounce around (as precise as Cap or Walker need) don’t really warrant that its sharpness is really something that is capable of naturally cutting through beings much stronger than it unlike Wolverine’s claws. If it truly was that sharp, it would just stick into walls every time it was thrown. It wasn’t really designed for being a big round knife.


That being said however, the shield has to be sharp to some extent right? Well, yes. Other Captain America’s like Shannon Carter have said that if used at full force, it could easily decapitate a regular person. But those are the two key points; a normal person vs a superhuman, and the force of the person throwing it. Something like a shield decapitation could work on a normal person, but not on someone with the strength and durability like the Hulk for one reason; the person throwing it. It’s no secret Cap is many many times weaker than Hulk, and the force that would be required to decapitate someone like Hulk is something that can’t be replicated. This very notion is supported by Maestro in his fight against Hulk during the Hulk- Future Imperfect two-part story, where he says Cap’s shield being thrown by Steve was no threat to Hulk due to Cap being unable to throw it with sufficient enough force to penetrate the skin. Now say, Thor throwing it at Hulk? You might get different results. But Cap, and by extension U.S. Agent, lack the ability to cut through their competition, and the shield by design was meant to be used for less lethal purposes such as knocking unconscious, tanking damage, and bouncing off walls.

Falcon’s City-Busting Bomb Feat

In Captain America Vol. 7 #24-25, the Falcon takes a bomb that was going to destroy New York City into the stratosphere to let it detonate, almost sacrificing himself in the process. In the next comic, Sam admits the wings absorbed most of the blast, especially due to them being made of vibranium. There is also the issue regarding the blast radius would even cover the whole city as opposed to just the radiation, making the durability feat in question much lower. It is also not reliable for scaling due to the fact that if it wasn’t for the vibranium, Sam would’ve certainly died, and few are the people who have these types of metals for protection, thus it really shouldn’t be a usable feat for anyone besides Sam himself. 

Fight Script

Please be aware that the following script WILL spoil the verdict (duh), so if you don’t want to know who wins before hearing the reasoning, maybe come back here after reading a bit more. Thanks!

Verdict

Both super-soldiers stood heads and shoulders above most of their peers. Reaper could consistently put Winston on the backfoot in their fights, and shrugged off hits from the monke in his Primal Rage state. This is the same scientist that canonically defeated Doomfist in a brawl. You know, the skyscraper-smashing, car-yeeting guy that can leap hundreds of meters into the air in a single bound? No doubt Reaper was on a similar level of physical aptitude, but Walker had him beat in direct physical showcases of strength. Since he’s juiced by the same type of Super-Soldier Serum as Captain America, Walker could easily replicate Steve’s feats, like pushing with the force of a 5 ton meteor; WAY stronger than tossing a car or breaking the foundations of a skyscraper. Even Sam Wilson, a Serum-less Captain America, had feats similar in power to Doomfist’s own crater-smash. 


Walker is clearly more impressive when it comes to direct, on-screen feats of physicality, but in order to find each combatant’s upper limits, we need to expand our view a bit. While most characters in Overwatch cannot directly harm a Titan Omnic, the Titan Omnic similarly struggles to take out certain characters;  more specifically, Reinhardt and Brigette’s shields could withstand extended exposure to the Titan’s laser directly. In the game, Reaper can easily break those same shields just by himself. If that weren’t enough, even a lower-HP hero like Brigette is capable of surviving the initial impact of the Titan Omnic’s laser head-on. You know what can’t survive that same impact? The answer: a skyscraper! By measuring the dimensions of the mass pulverized by the Titan’s laser, we can determine it must have output energy equivalent to around 2.37 kilotons of TNT. Oh yeah, and the Titan that obliterated that skyscraper was an outdated model, too, meaning Reinhardt and Brigette have likely tanked even stronger blasts in the Overwatch 2 cinematic & missions. Reaper is undoubtedly stronger and tougher than a non-super-soldier like Brigette, no question about it; he would be able to take similar blows, and dish out more damage to Reinhardt’s shields than this same laser could. 


On the flip side, John Walker is every bit Captain America’s equal in combat, maybe even his superior in raw strength. Cap is undoubtedly in league with other enhanced bruisers like Wolverine, who easily punched the lights out of Domina - a relatively obscure X-Men villain, we know - who can harness enough strength to move mountains! Assuming she could displace an average-sized mountain about 1 meter from its resting position, she would need to be exerting more energy than 1.67 kilotons of TNT. 



From this perspective, Reaper would be 1.47x stronger. Even if you scaled Walker to an attack that eventually killed Luke Cage, a character that is generally among the strongest street-level brawlers in Marvel, Walker would only gain a 1.36x strength and durability edge. Accounting for the margin of error that is present in all calculations, it’s safe to say both characters are roughly equally matched when it comes to the upper limits of their strength and durability, no matter how you slice it. That means we’ll need to take a closer look at other factors to figure out a winner, starting with…


Reaper has the benefit of coming from a game with a ton of super-fast attacks that he can directly react to & avoid. Whether it’s beams of light, lasers from a particle cannon, an electromagnetic pulse, or photon lasers, all of them suggest Reaper is packing some seriously quick reaction speed. No surprise there; Soldier: 76 has “lightning-flash” reflexes, and cybernetically-enhanced combatants like Genji are even faster. By measuring how far Genji’s arm moves when he deflects Illari’s beams of light, we can determine he must be parrying at about 5.22x faster than light. That might seem fast, but even Genji’s dash can nearly keep pace with Sombra’s EMP; and she herself has run in-tandem with lasers, both of which yield relativistic speeds! 


However, there is one elephant in the room we need to address. Odds are, you know this by now, but in short, Omnics can perceive sensory information down to the picosecond. You might also know that Tracer once moved so fast, a group of Omnics were caught off-guard by her movement. That feat is valid, but it’s also a very popular and slightly overplayed talking point, so instead, let’s talk about Kiriko! Much like Tracer, Kiriko once fought against an Omnic, and overwhelmed its defenses with her speed alone. The text specifically says that she could “zip around him”, and the Omnic is eventually forced to retreat after she breaks through his defensive stance, injuring his arm. In order for this to be possible, she would most likely be outspeeding the Omnic’s reaction speeds. It’s important to note that reaction and perception speeds are two very different values, with the former generally being 0.052x slower than the latter. In order to speedblitz an Omnic like this, Kiriko would likely be striking and bolting around it at 173x faster than light. This is definitely a high-end feat for the Protector of Kanezaka, but it makes sense in the big picture; Kiriko has many speed-based feats, and her shared tutelage with ninja whizzer Genji Shimada back up her position as a bonafide speedster in the verse. 


Reaper has never fought or even met Kiriko, but Kiriko should be comparable to Genji for the reasons mentioned above, and Reaper’s definitely fought alongside Genji as an equal plenty of times during their Blackwatch days. Moreover, Reaper’s been able to keep pace with Tracer mid-combat, and Genji can do the same, indicating they’re roughly comparable in speed. 


By comparison, Walker is certainly no slouch. His speed has impressed Captain America, who can react to Cyclops’ Optic Blasts from super-close range. Mind you, Cyclops’ beams blatantly move at the speed of light, and the man can redirect those same lightspeed blasts within the span of a nanosecond, requiring speeds 3.33x faster than light. Even characters like Moon Knight can react to beams of light, moving in-tandem with light at relativistic speed. 



Looking at this holistically, Reaper and Walker both compare to relativistic characters like Sombra and Moon Knight on the low end. Scaling to Genji and Cyclops, both characters clock in at a few times faster than light, with Reaper holding a 1.56x speed advantage in the mid-end. Unfortunately for Walker, he simply can’t keep up with the Kitsune’s Champion, whose massively-faster-than-light combat speed dwarfs Walker more than 50x over. Scaling to Genji, and by proxy Kiriko, Reaper takes the edge in Speed. 



Okay, but at the very least, Skill is easy. We know that Reaper is a decorated soldier and has a ton of combat experience, but Walker is on a whole other level of combat knowledge and practice. He was trained by Taskmaster, for crying out loud! He’s studied Captain America’s fighting style, an insanely skilled martial artist in his own right, and Cap has glazed Walker’s skill in a fight. Even when pit against vastly stronger foes, Walker has claimed victory thanks to his skill and ingenuity. Walker is half Reaper’s age, so he has far less years of experience, but if the two were to fight in purely fisticuffs, Walker would undoubtedly come out on top. U.S. Agent takes Skill. 



Still, with both combatants being neck-to-neck in strength, this fight is far from concluded without talking about their respective abilities. Neither combatant is the type to have a ton of powers, so it’s important to see how their smaller array of abilities compare head-to-head. For starters, both super-soldiers have the usual super-stats, but only Reaper has the added benefit of increased mental processing. Both characters have a super-metabolism, with Walker being able to resist poisons, anesthetic gasses, and even mind control, to an extent. Reaper’s enhancements grant him a viral immunity, but he can succumb to Ana’s sleep dart, and isn’t immune to various status effects found in Overwatch. That said, Walker’s immunities aren’t particularly relevant here, and while Reaper might have had a heightened mental acuity in the past, his mind is definitely more than a bit fucked up after Moira was through with him. 


So, neither has a clear edge yet. The last point of direct comparison is their regenerative capabilities. Marvel super soldiers like Captain America can heal from bullet wounds, and so can Overwatch’s super soldiers, as seen with Soldier: 76. Between the two, Soldier: 76’s healing is likely better, as his wounds would completely heal by themselves, without the need of medical personnel, whereas Captain America still needs to apply some degree of first aid to himself. That’s only at a baseline level, however; Reaper’s regeneration extends far beyond the boons granted by the Soldier Enhancement Program. With Reaper’s Role Passives, he can heal himself automatically, so long as he isn’t taking active damage. With The Reaping, every bullet or punch that lands on Walker will heal Reaper by 50% (at most) of the damage dealt. And even if Walker were to land a potentially fatal blow, Reaper has reconstituted from total bodily annihilation, something Walker would struggle to replicate with their strengths being near-equal.


And, of course, there’s the Wraith in the room to address. To be blunt, Walker simply has no viable counter to the Wraith form, whether it be used to escape dangerous situations, or to traverse the environment via teleportation or flight. Reaper can’t fight back while fully transformed into smoke, but he can selectively choose which parts of his body morph, meaning there’s no reason he can’t benefit from heightened mobility while also engaging in combat. In addition, Wraith gives Reaper the ability to extend large swaths of smoke to obscure his enemies’ visibility; combined with Reaper’s edge in speed,  all of these options mean Walker would have an extremely hard time ever landing a meaningful blow on the Talon operative. With better healing and more ways to heal, and a much wider array of options to traverse the battlefield and avoid damage altogether, Reaper takes Abilities without question.



That brings us to our last category, weapons. Reaper’s Hellfire Shotguns are, really, the only  thing he’s bringing to the table here, while Walker has a much deeper library of shields, weapons, and gadgets to draw upon. Throwing stars, firearms, the Torchsword, Energy Truncheon, photon blasts, and of course, just throwing any of his shields, vibranium or otherwise; Walker has a ton of options, but more isn’t always better. Compared to the Hellfire Shotguns, which are infinite in stock, Walker would eventually run out of disposable shields, ammo, throwing stars, etc. Even his photon blasts are dependent on his Force Works suit, which requires time and focus to charge the photon blasts, and his close ranged batons are ineffective at the range Reaper tends to attack at.


Not only is Walker’s arsenal finite, but each item in his collection is individually less valuable than Reaper’s Hellfire Shotguns, thanks to their special biological poison. Well… all except one. We’re of course, talking about the Vibranium Shield, which could easily stonewall any attack Reaper could try, whether it's a punch, a shotgun blast, or even a grenade or two.  In a sense, while Walker’s arsenal outnumbers Reaper’s, this really only comes down to two factors; the Shield VS the shotguns. One is a perfect defense, while the other is a perfect offense. The devil is in the details here, so let’s get a bit more in-depth.


Sure, the Vibranium Shield is in no danger of breaking in this fight, but Walker is facing an uphill battle against an opponent many times faster than him, on top of being evasive and mobile. He can throw the shield, but this will always leave him open to counter-attack, even if briefly. Compare that to the Hellfire Shotguns, of which Reaper has an endless supply of; he straight up cannot be without his guns in a fight. Furthermore, if Walker were to land a hit on Reaper, somehow, it would only be a single hit. A single shell from the Hellfire Shotguns landing on Walker would induce cellular necrosis, preventing Walker from healing from a wound for the entirety of the fight.


In essence, while Walker has a perfect defense from straight on-attack, it isn’t all-encompassing. He cannot defend from all angles at all times, and any attacks Reaper lands with his speed advantage will snowball in effectiveness, as Walker cannot heal from those wounds. Reaper’s shotguns also do not carry the same risk when used at range that Walker faces every time he throws the Vibranium Shield. Reaper has the smaller arsenal and worse defensive equipment, it’s true, but when it comes to Weapons, Reaper’s infinite shotguns and devastating bio-agent ammo give him the edge in Weapons.


Conclusion

"She wouldn’t recognize me anymore…because I don’t recognize me."

Advantages:

  • Comparable strength and durability

  • Much greater reaction speed & edges out in combat speed

  • Can avoid dangerous situations with Wraith form

  • Better ranged weaponry

  • Many varied mobility options

  • Hellfire Shotguns can prevent Walker from regenerating

  • Has multiple ways to heal over a prolonged battle

  • More years of experience


Disadvantages:

  • Much more straightforward, smaller arsenal

  • Cannot attack whilst fully intangible

  • Demonstrably worse direct showings of physicality

  • None of his attacks can harm or even break the vibranium shield

  • Less defined combat skill, worse in an up-close brawl

  • Blizzard


"Someday, there is going to be a reckoning and I'll prove to the world that I'd make a better symbol of America than him..."

Advantages:

  • Comparable strength and durability

  • Better direct physical capabilities

  • Much more varied arsenal, especially for close range

  • Any attack Reaper could do would get no-sold by the vibranium shield

  • Far more skilled in any combat scenario

  • Was probably the best part of Falcon & Winter Soldier


Disadvantages:

  • Slower in movement and reaction speed

  • Healing factor cannot withstand cellular necrosis from the Hellfire Shotguns

  • Has no counter to the Wraith form’s intangibility

  • Worse long-range combat options

  • Less mobility

  • Less years of experience

  • The MCU post-Endgame



At the end of the day, while Walker has better direct showings of strength and an impenetrable defense, Reaper has plenty of ways around the shield, and is just as strong and durable as the U.S. Agent. With superior speed, evasive options, mobility, and stacked healing options, Reaper would take minimal lasting damage throughout the fight, while Walker could not heal from the Hellfire Shotguns; in essence, making him a ticking time bomb for defeat. With his years of experience, deadlier weaponry, and versatile abilities, Reaper had everything he needed to come out on top of this super-soldier smackdown. John tried to rival the king, but he had no shot in hell.


The winner is Reaper. 


Marvel VS Overwatch Retrospective

Hey guys! Anfang and I hope you enjoyed our collaboration for a bit of a weirder matchup, one that grew on us overtime as a pretty solid idea. Hopefully it provides some new perspectives on lots of things pertaining to both series, but we wanted to take this time at the end of the blog to talk about the other matches of their kind, that being Marvel VS Overwatch matchups, since there’s quite a few notable ones. Just because we think Overwatch wins this round doesn’t necessarily mean every pairing would end the same way! We obviously aren’t going to fully research and discuss 3 entire new matchups, but we invite you to stick around just a bit longer as we muse about these extra matches. Special thanks to SirusStuff for these three thumbnails.

Beast VS Winston


B: This one is still personally my favorite for both, especially after watching enough of X-Men ‘97, their interactions would be so nerdy and it’d be an absolute blast. As far as who I think wins, it’s not easy to tell at first, but I imagine Winston should take it. Beast’s most obvious comparison for scaling would be someone like the Wolverine, who while has some impressive durability feats especially, wouldn’t really be in the same caliber of the feats Winston can potentially scale to. As far as their arsenals go, Beast can potentially withstand the tesla cannon due to tanking electrical attacks many times in the past, and his agility could let him keep up with Winston’s jump pack. The real big issues however would be two things; one, Barrier Projector, which makes a bubble that absorbs damage unless/until its destroyed, something that is…debatable if Beast can do. Beast does have bizarre scientific weaponry like a matter transmutation ray that would be quite the answer to this however, which in most cases would bring us back to the question of who's going to outbrawl the other, especially due to the other problem, Primal Rage. If Beast truly is inferior in stats, then he’d only be delaying the inevitable with his fancy gadgets, and Winston at that point should overwhelm Beast to a point where Beast’s healing wouldn’t really be able to keep up with those kinds of attacks. 


A: Now this is a really fun one. While Beast VS Goliath surprisingly got a fair amount of attention during the Kickstarter rematch poll, I’ve always held that this is the match to bring Hank McCoy back with. Sure, Beast isn’t exactly in my top 5 Marvel characters most in-need of a rematch, but this match is so good that he might be in my top 5 most wanted Marvel fights anyway. The banter here writes itself; Hank and Winston would have an absolute yap-athon about science and stuff, which seems like a delight to watch unfold. Winston’s arsenal is unfortunately rather sparse and straightforward, so Beast’s gadgets would likely do the heavy lifting in terms of interesting choreography and set pieces. 

D.Va vs Peni Parker


A: This one is a really great example of why Overwatch VS Marvel matches are not a solved deal by any means. Despite generally being adjacent to street-tier characters, Spider-Man is, perhaps notoriously, known for swinging fairly high above that typical weight class. Peni Parker would be no different, and that’s a real problem for D.Va. Going by direct feats, D.Va’s Self Destruct explosion wouldn’t even be enough to match the feats shared by Spider-Men, thanks to the Spider-Verse allowing most iterations to compare across the board. Peni’s mech SP//DR would certainly compare to, for instance, Insomniac’s Spider-Man, who survived a city level blast! D.Va’s mech could explode on SP//DR’s face and it wouldn’t so much as leave a scratch; now imagine how doomed D.Va would be with just her normal firepower. 


Without iffy high-ends that veer on being outliers, D.Va is simply far too weak to realistically stand a chance here. Still, this would be an awesome fight to see materialize as a full episode, especially following the popularity of Marvel Rivals and the new-age rivalry between Marvel and Overwatch. It’s a shame it’d be another L for Overwatch - they could really use the W right now - but hey, that’s just how it goes.


B: While I’m not as touched up on the subject of other Spider-Folk, Peni should probably take this one, especially if you assume speed goes into Peni’s favor, which would make any of D.Va’s projectiles like micro-missiles countered by the SP//DR’s webbing, which have caught and redirected missiles before, though other attacks like the fusion cannons and light gun are less then counterable in that aspect. 

Black Widow VS Widowmaker


A: The most underrated Season 6 episode is pretty interesting to look back upon for a few reasons, most of all because of how drastically the stats for both verses have changed in terms of perception since then. Back when this episode came out in 2019, both Marvel’s street tiers and Overwatch’s cast were universally thought to be much, much weaker than today. The episode’s focus on more direct feats, while hilariously mundane by modern standards, isn’t really outdated at its core. Everything the episode argues in terms of tertiaries is still 100% true; Natasha has a wider arsenal, resists the Venom Mine, has fought way more skilled snipers than Widowmaker, bodies in close combat, has far more experience, and honestly, we could keep going. Natasha is very likely smarter and more accomplished of a strategist, likely has better defensive tools in her arsenal, and hell, really, Nat probably doesn’t even need to close the gap, since she’s assuredly used long-range weaponry in her time. (Marvel Rivals joke goes here)


Widowmaker really needs to stat stomp in order to stand a chance here. Nowadays, I’m of the belief that these two would be pretty comparable in raw strength, but even if Widowmaker was drastically stronger, it’d be silly to say either could just stonewall bullets, given… who they are… so the fight would likely still be winnable for either combatant either way, regardless of who’s nuclear punches are better. Widowmaker’s reaction speed eclipses Natasha’s, but it's not like Natasha shouldn’t also see a bullet in slow motion, either, if you want to really brainrot this hardcore. Realistically, speed would be moot; and so Natasha just makes the most sense to hold the win, given her bevy of undeniable advantages & Widowmaker’s lack of anything else to really contest them. The difference between Widowmaker and, say, Reaper, is that the latter just has really particularly good, relevant abilities that would allow him to remain competitive with U.S. Agent, even if he was weaker; not just in terms of having weaponry to deal damage, but also having adequate survival and evasive tools. Widowmaker just comes up short where it matters.


B: I think it's almost criminal how underrated this fight feels for me. While it was probably more of a sleeper idea to most people (I for one never saw this coming), the fight felt like a really really fantastic showing of what an espionage fight can be depending on the fighter, and with how Black Widow is portrayed in media like the MCU, it captured the vibe almost perfectly. Collateral damage from precise stunts and shots, attaching a bomb on a motorcycle to drive it up a ferris wheel to take down a helicarrier, the cool shots and marksmanship exchanges like Widow throwing a bottle and the glass of shard falling in slow motion, hand-to-hand exchange with improvisational glass shards in an isolated room, that just about sounds like a really rad Widow fight to me. 


As far as debate goes, Widow’s arsenal is a lot more pragmatic compared to Walkers, and especially compared to Widowmakers. I won’t go into stats since Anfang did a great job of doing so, but Widow has a lot of things not really talked about today since unfortunately, stats tend to dominate an argument, notwithstanding any heaven-piercing mechas or white lanterns…but I’m talking about an electric shock with 30,000 volts of electricity, or technology that can disrupt mech suits and melt firearms. Assuming that latter option works on Widowmaker's own sniper rifle, Widow has plenty of ways to turn the fight in her favor, like blinding her with explosives, or use her Widow’s Kiss knockout gas to compete with the Venom Mine.

Comments

  1. OswaldDecember 15, 2024 at 10:17 AM

    Where are the higher island level to country level arguments for US agent?

    ReplyDelete
  2. trex40December 24, 2024 at 11:39 PM

    Eh ... I don't know about this one, chief. None of Wolverine's nuke surviving feats, Captain America surviving an exploding ship, or potential DC street tier scaling from Cap stalemating Bats in JLA/Avengers was brought up for John's side. I'm not saying that Reaper can't win, but it feels like a lot was left off the table.
    Plus, if you buy scaling U.S. Agent to Luke Cage, then why wasn't any Iron Fist or Spider-Man feats brought up? Luke has fought Mat Gargan Venom, Green Goblin, Tombstone, and Danny himself and held his own multiple times.
    Also, what happened to the Deadpool Krakoa feat? Why is it so much lower this time around?

    ReplyDelete

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