How cool would it be to go back in time and meet your younger self?
Yes, we know. It’s probably a bad idea. These Superheroes, however, don’t think so. Each of them has traveled through time and has saved the world many times using this ability.
Let’s take a look at these time travelers and their adventures!
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#15 Rip Hunter
Publisher: DC Comics
Time Travel Meter: 10+
Rip Hunter is a DC superhero that has come to the aid of many heroes if ever there were any time travel-related issues. He first appeared in the ‘Challengers of the unknown’ and later even got his series during the 1960s.
Hunter is an ordinary man who uses an invention of his called the Time Sphere, and he travels through time seeking new adventures. Rip Hunter has been instrumental in many Crisis events in the comic books. We also see him playing essential roles in the events of the Arrow-verse.
In the comics, he is the one who develops the tech that our heroes use to go back in time and fight the Anti-Monitor. This is during the events of the Crisis on Infinite Earths. The changes that occur because of this event completely alter the DC fictional universe, making way for new and old stories to be told differently.
#14 Spider-Man 2099
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Time Travel Meter: 5+
Miguel O’Hara, or Spider-Man of 2099, comes from one of the dark timelines of the Marvel Universe. He is a brilliant young geneticist who works with the Alchemax School for Gifted Youngsters, which is implied to be the old X-men Headquarters. Here, the young scientists conducted experiments and studies about the original Spider-Man. During one of these experiments, an accident gives O’Hara spider powers.
Miguel’s powers are superior to the original Spider-Man’s, and the two have shared pages on many occasions.
Spider-Man 2099 is a regular time traveler as well. Upon realizing that Tyler Stone was his actual father and that an issue in the past might get his father erased, Miguel decides to go back in time to stop the temporal shift from happening. He does so through a time machine that his biological father destroys, which traps him in the past. He travels into the future along with the Spider-man army to fight the Inheritors.
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#13 Franklin Richards
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Time Travel Meter: 4+
Franklin Richards is the son of Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman. Believed to be a mutant, he has vast reality-warping powers and is said to be one of the most powerful beings in the universe.
The Child of Mr. and Mrs. Fantastic has been riddled by many journeys in time, and most were not at his discretion. There are instances of him being kidnapped into the future and sometimes even being wiped out of existence.
Time travel is usually mind-bending by itself, but imagine someone who could do it with the snap of his finger. Franklin is said to easily create galaxies in his hand and travel dimensions. In the comics, a young Franklin is trained by a mysterious figure in his play area. The figure is eventually revealed to be an adult, Franklin Richards. Like we said, Mind-bending.
#12 Wolverine
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Time Travel Meter: 4+
The Wolverine needs no introduction. Weapon X is one of the critical members of the X-men and has been instrumental in saving the day several times. His healing factor makes him a nightmare to go up against, and he can even stand toe-to-toe with the Hulk.
One more should be added among his many persona and titles – Time Traveler. Wolverine has journeyed through time on many occasions, and we also see that in the movie version. It involves Kitty Pryde sending Wolverine’s consciousness back in time to save mutants from annihilation.
In the new series – X Deaths, two Wolverines are sent back in time from two different future timelines. In both timelines, Wolverine is the last mutant alive and must go back in time to change the future.
Time Travel is messy, guys. Please don’t try this at home.
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#11 Kitty Pryde
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Time Travel Meter: 1+
Kitty Pryde is a core member of the X-Men. Her powers allow her to phase through objects, which means she can move through anything. She has used her powers on many occasions and has helped her team save the day. She even uses her abilities to phase out of sync with the earth’s rotation. She can travel at infinite speeds, or at least faster than light.
In fictional theory, she could use this ability to phase in and out of time. However, Kitty Pryde travels time without achieving this feat as well. Unlike the movie adaptation of the ‘Days of future past’ storyline, Kitty’s consciousness goes back in time to save mutant kind from extinction. Rachel Summers, the daughter of Cyclops and Marvel Girl, can send her back in time.
She eventually manages to save mutant kind and change their dark future.
#10 Super Boy
Publisher: DC Comics
Time Travel Meter: 5+
Superboy has had many incarnations over the years, with some iterations just being the younger version of the original Superman. As Superboy, Kal El meets the Legion of Superheroes, formed after taking inspiration from the former’s stories.
The Legion travels back to the 31st century to recruit Superboy to their team and fights threats in the future. The Legion already has time travel tech in the future, and it is using this that Superboy can travel to the future.
Another character incarnation is Con El, who has the DNA of both Lex Luthor and Superman. This Superboy has died many times but has been revived multiple times as a clone. He is even resurrected in the 31st century by Brainiac. This same Con El travels back in time to live with Jonathan and Martha Kent.
There are so many origins and stories for this character that it can get confusing at a point.
#9 Dr. Manhattan
Publisher: DC Comics
Time Travel Meter: Infinite
Dr. Manhattan turned into an energy being after he was exposed to a lab accident. The abilities he acquired manifested over time and slowly grew in power. Eventually, he turned into a being that could be everywhere at once and had the powers of a god. He could change reality to his wishes and create universes out of nothing.
With his omniscience came a significant shift in perspective. He no longer saw time in the same way as others. It was one large picture rather than a string of events, and he could place himself anywhere in that picture with just a thought. This has enabled the Doctor to travel to any moment he wished.
Since he is a timeless being, he doesn’t precisely need to travel anywhere. He can change realities and change futures instantly. He even destroys the DC universe and restarts it.
What is time to a God?
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#8 Dr. Strange
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Time Travel Meter: 3+
Stephen Strange is no Stranger to time travel. The Sorcerer Supreme is a master of the Mystic Arts and is a core member of the Avengers. He takes the lead on any threat of supernatural origin and is a more powerful practitioner of all things magic.
We see Dr. Strange using these magical objects to manipulate time on many occasions. The most famous would be the Eye of Agomotto or the Time Stone to see different futures. However, that is not the case in the comics. Dr. Strange discovers that the Book of Cagliostro can be used to travel time and that this method does not align with the scientific techniques in the other versions of time travel fiction.
Even without tools, Dr. Strange has been shown to simply travel time with her mystic arts.
#7 Superman
Publisher: DC Comics
Time Travel Meter: 4+
There is seemingly very little that Superman can’t do. He is faster than light, can create a rift in reality just by punching it, and bench press the earth for five days straight. That is some next-level power. With the speeds he can achieve, it has been asked whether the Man of Steel can also travel time.
Superman has traveled time on many occasions. The how’s of this are rather sketchy and used to depend on the writer. The Superboy iteration could simply go back and forth in time with relative ease and could even carry people with him.
Even in one of the earlier Superman movies featuring George Reeves, we see the character go back in time but simply slow and reverse the earth’s rotation. He also uses his speed in the comic ‘Return to Krypton’ to go and visit Krypton before its destruction and meet his parent.
There truly is nothing that this man can’t do, huh?
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#6 Green Lantern
Publisher: DC Comics
Time Travel Meter: 5+
The Lantern’s ring is only limited by its wielder’s imagination. From energy constructs to energy projection, the possibilities seem endless. Within its vast capabilities lies the power to manipulate and travel through time.
Hal Jordan has used the Ring to travel to the 70th century, and another GL Arisia Rrab uses the Ring’s power to send time through her and age quickly. We have to admit that the latter is rather strange.
Hal used his power in the comics to open a portal to the past so that he could send a few pterodactyls through it.
News Flash – comics books can be bizarre.
#5 Iron Lad
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Time Travel Meter: 5+
Nathaniel Richards is a 30th-century genius and the younger version of Kang the Conqueror. Kang appeared to his younger self and saved him from a bully, thus giving him a glimpse of his future self and his armor similar to that of Iron Man. Upon seeing what he would turn into, Nathaniel renounced his destiny and decided to use his intellect to never become the evil version of himself.
The armor given to Nathaniel has neuro-kinetic capabilities and allows him to travel time, the same as Kang.
The most amazing time travel Adventure is when Iron Lad travels back in time to warn the Avengers of the oncoming dangers. Unable to get in touch with them, he helps the Young Avengers and even kills his older version in battle.
#4 Bishop
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Time Travel Meter: 10+
Bishop is the great-grandson of the mutant Gateway, who could manipulate and travel through time. Although he does not possess the powers to do so himself. Bishop is a soldier from the future who can passively absorb energy and dispel it however he wants. He is often depicted holding an energy gun that would allow him to shoot his absorbed energy out as blasts.
Bishop uses time travel devices from the future similar to that of Cable to journey to different periods. He is usually seen traveling back in time from a dystopian future to help the X-men rewrite history.
Bishop was sent back in time to stop Legion from killing Magneto, but his failure to do so is what brought about the Age of Apokolips.
#3 Flash
Publisher: DC Comics
Time Travel Meter: 10+
The fastest man on the planet has been known to play around a little too much with time. With the ability to run at a million times the speed of light, The Flash can alter the vibrations in his body to travel through time. He can do the same to travel through dimensions as well.
Not all versions of the Flash can achieve this feat, but Barry Allen and Wally West seem to do so easily. The most famous time-related adventure by a Flash is the Flashpoint paradox.
Due to his selfish needs, the Flash goes back in time and saves his mother, creating a massive rift and modifying the future to a world on the brink of war and destruction. Once in this new reality, Barry Allen realizes his mistake and works toward correcting his actions. He uses his time traveling abilities to go back in time and correct his errors.
This storyline is the most critical example of why the time stream is not to be tampered with.
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#2 Booster Gold
Publisher: DC Comics
Time Travel Meter: 20+
Booster Gold is from the 25th century Gotham, and unlike other future genii who come back in time, he just does so for fame. An underachiever in the future, Booster works as a janitor at the Museum of Superheroes. This is where he discovers much about the legendary heroes and their stories. He manages to steal a flight ring and Brainiac 5’s energy belt. He also takes Rip hunter’s time sphere, and it is with this that he travels back in time.
All his tools are still high-tech in the 20th century, and he uses them to make people believe that he is a superhero and simply works to become famous. Though initially shown to be a greedy showboat, Booster slowly learns the way of a true hero. He uses his abilities to travel through time and help change histories that lead to dystopian futures.
Booster uses his tech to go back in time and save Blue Beetle from getting murdered just moments before his death.
#1 Cable
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Time Travel Meter: 20+
Cable is the most famous time-traveling character in the Marvel Universe. He is the son of Scott Summers and a clone of Jean Grey from the future. He has traveled back in time numerous times to help the X-men with a threat or to prevent a dystopian future from occurring.
There are many versions of the character and various explanations for how he can travel time. The most common two are – he possesses inherent time travel abilities due to the techno-organic virus in his body, and the other is that he has a time travel device that looks like a watch which helps his travel time.
The best example of this feat is during the events of Ultimate X-men, where he comes back in time to warn and train Professor Xavier for their upcoming battle with Apokolips.
Honorable Mentions
- Waverider
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- Reed Richards
- Ironman
- Godspeed
- Timeslip
This brings us to the end of our time traveler’s list. If anything, we have learned that messing with time is bad news. However, do you think we could create a timeline where superheroes were real if we mess it up enough?
Interesting. Very interesting.
FAQs
What Is the Ability to Control Time Called?
Chronokinesis is the ability to alter or control time with your mind. With it, you can travel through time or even stop it.
Which Superhero Can Travel Through Time?
The Flash can travel through time. He can vibrate his body at such speeds that he can phase through time. He can use some power to travel dimensions as well.
Which Marvel Hero Can Time Travel?
Kitty Pryde can time travel. She is the mutant that goes back in tune during the events of Days of Future Past in the comics.
Can Any Marvel Character Time Travel?
Yes, Iron Lad can time travel. He is the younger version of Kang the Conqueror and travels back in time to warn the Avengers of his future self.
What DC Characters Can Time Travel?
Booster Gold can time travel. He does so by making using Rip Hunter’s Time sphere that he stole from the 25th century.
Can Green Lanterns Time Travel?
Yes, Green Lanterns can time travel. Anything is possible as long as there is enough willpower. Hal Jordan once made a jet construct that could travel fast enough to enter the speed force, which means that he can probably travel through time.
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