One point of similarity between Marvel Comics and DC Comics is that both lines of comics feature a large pantheon of gods composed of both made-up gods and ones from the real world mythologies. Another similarity of both companies' pantheons is that both groups have seen mortals join their ranks.
Whether this godhood was granted by the gods or achieved by their efforts, many mortals from both comic book universes have become gods. Some of these characters only become gods for a temporary amount of time, while others retain their godhood. This article will examine ten mortals, five from each company, that have become gods.
10 Marvel: High Evolutionary
High Evolutionary is a mad scientist obsessed with unlocking mankind's evolutionary potential, who has achieved godhood on two occasions. The first time, he decided to evolve himself by ten million years turning him in a disembodied god-like being. He would later return to a physical form, but with some god-like powers like being able to evolve or devolve creatures at will.
He would later become a god again during the Evolutionary War crossover when he was exposed to his genesis chamber. This device evolved High Evolutionary to the point of ascending beyond mortal existence. He later returned to reality thanks to the Celestials, after they harvested him of his godly essence.
9 DC: Wonder Woman
Due to Wonder Woman being heavily connected with the Greek Pantheon, even being a demigoddess in several universes, she has become a part of it on several occasions. The first time was when she brought back from the dead by the Olympians, who rewarded her for her service by granting her godhood and the title of Goddess of Truth. She was the Goddess of Truth until the gods demoted her to being mortal in response to her bringing Donna Troy back to life.
The second time occurred during the New 52 era of the title when Ares was killed by the First Born. Due to both wanting to honor her mentor and being a demigoddess, she became the new goddess of war. She would lose the title when it was revealed that the events involving her rise to godhood were an illusion created by the Olympian gods.
8 Marvel: Storm
While Storm has more often been worshipped as a goddess than actually being one, she has become a goddess on several occasions. The first time was when she was offered the hammer, Stormcaster, by Loki to become the Asgardian goddess of thunder. While she initially accepted the hammer, she rejected it and godhood after realizing her godhood was a part of a plot by Loki to discredit Thor.
She later became a goddess more recently during Ta-Nehisi Coates's run on Black Panther. Thanks, both to her magical lineage and the faith of the Wakandian people, Strom was able to become a goddess to take on and defeat the Adversary.
7 DC: Daniel Hall
The title of the Sandman from Neil Gaiman's award-winning Sandman series is one that can be passed along to another individual. In Daniel Hall's case, he became Dream's replacement after Morpheus's sacrifice himself to prevent the Kindly Ones from destroying the Dreaming.
Daniel Hall was able to become Dream due to him being gestated in the Dreaming after his parents were trapped in this realm, giving him a deeper connection with the Dreaming than the average human. Morpheus also selected him as a successor as he felt a younger incarnation of Dream would be able to do his job better, due to not having the hangup of having lived for billions of years.
6 Marvel: Galactus
Something not commonly known about Galactus is that he's technically a god, as he serves as a cosmic entity that balances the universe. Along with being a god, Galactus was also once a mortal being who lived long before the current Marvel Universe even existed.
In the universe before the Marvel universe, Galactus was Galan, a scientist from the planet of Taa. After failing to find a method to save his universe from destruction, Galen decided to fly his ship into the singularity that would later create the current Marvel Universe. Instead of killing him, Galen was transformed by the energies of the newly forming cosmos into a god-like being that would later be called Galactus.
5 DC: Superman From The DC One Million Timeline
While Superman might be one of the mightest mortals in the DC universe, he never became a God in the mainline DC universe. In one potential future, Superman does ascend to the realm of godhood. This future was presented in DC One Million crossover, a crossover based around showing the future of the DC universe in the year that Action Comics' millionth issue would theoretically be released.
In this far future, Superman, after realizing his powers have made him immortal, went into deep space to explore the universe. When he returned to Earth in the 700th century, he was more powerful than he ever was thanks to him gaining many new powers and abilities over his long journey. These new powers, along with living in the sun for a millennium, transformed Superman into a god-like being by the 853rd century.
4 Marvel: Doctor Doom
High Evolutionary is not the only mad scientist from the Marvel Universe who has ascended to godhood on several occasions; Doctor Doom has also done this. During the original Secret Wars miniseries, Doctor Doom stole the Beyonder's powers to rule over Battleworld as a god. However, he had to lose the powers as his mind was soon overwhelmed by the Beyonder's power.
During the more recent Secret Wars crossover, Doom once again became a God. During the lead-up to the crossover, Doctor Doom stole powers from an alien race called the Beyonders in a failed effort to prevent the destruction of the multi-verse. Doom was, however, able to use his powers to create a new Battleworld from the remnants of the multi-verse. He then ruled this world for eight years as God Emperor Doom, before having powers strip from him by Molecule Man.
3 DC: The Merciless
While the main DC universe version of Batman had never become a god, aside from being briefly empowered by the New Gods, one alternative version of him has achieved godhood. This alternate version of Batman is known as The Merciless and was his universe's replacement of Ares.
In this timeline, Ares fought a long and bloody war against Earth. Batman was able to defeat him by stealing and using Ares' helmet against him. The helmet, however, corrupted Batman by making him abandon his rule against killing. This led to Batman turning on his fellow heroes, slaughtering them all. The Merciless would later be recruited by the Batman Who Laughs into his war against the Prime Earth.
2 Marvel: Maestro
The Maestro is the Hulk from an alternative future that became a tyrant ruling over an Earth devastated by nuclear war. One version of Maestro would be appointed by God Emperor Doom to rule part of Battleworld in his name. After Battleworld's destruction, this version of Maestro found himself a pawn in a cosmic struggle over the energy created from the destroyed Battleworld.
Maestro would manipulate the Elders of the Universe into allowing him access to a device that contains this energy. This energy would transform Maestro into a god-like being, and he would use his god-like powers to recreate Battleworld and rule it as a god. This effort failed due to the dimensionally displaced hero Outlaw stealing Maestro's source of power.
1 DC: Takion
The superhero Takion was an ordinary human empowered by the Highfather of the New Gods with energy from the Source. He was empowered by the Highfather to both be his potential replacement and to clear the Source from any sort of taint.
After operating as a superhero for a short while, Takion became a New God after the Highfather's death in the Genesis crossover. After the Highfather's son Mister Miracle reject the position of Highfather, Takion would become the new Highfather of the New Gods. He would keep this position until he was killed in the leadup to Final Crisis.