Which comic-book superhero is most popular in each country of the world?

People everywhere love superheroes... but which superhero is most popular in your country?

Now, we'll start with the boring stuff. The nitty gritty.

What is the data & methodology used in this report?

• The core dataset used in this study, comes from GAME (UK) and its study with Google search volume, across over 100 countries, to see which superhero is the most-searched per country. 

• They ranked superheroes like Spider-Man, Wonder Woman, Batman, Iron Man, Superman, etc., by number of countries where each is #1 in search volume. 

• They also compared Marvel vs DC universe popularity by country. 

• Limitations: search volume is a proxy (people may search more during movie / show releases), search volume can be inflated by news or merchandising, local language translations matter, and native heroes (in non-US markets) may not be included. But nonetheless this is the best large-scale public data we have.

Regional patterns & examples

Here’s a breakdown by region, with examples of which heroes are likely to be most popular, plus some commentary relevant for sellers.

North America

• United States: Spider-Man leads here in terms of search volume per the GAME study. 

• Canada: Interestingly, Captain America is the top‐searched hero in Canada (as per that same dataset), making Canada one of the few countries where a non-Spider-Man hero leads. 

Latin America

• Brazil, Mexico, Argentina etc lean toward Spider-Man in search volume. Marvel characters generally dominate. The dataset shows Spider-Man being top in many Latin American countries. 

Europe

• UK: Marvel is preferred, and Spider-Man is the top hero in the UK in the dataset. 

• France, Germany, Spain, Italy etc: similarly Marvel tends to dominate; Spider-Man often leads or is among top candidates. Wonder Woman, Batman have local fanbases, but usually behind Marvel leads.

Asia & Oceania

• India: strong Spider-Man interest per multiple sources. (Search-volume data shows India among biggest “Marvel fans”).

• Australia: Marvel / Spider-Man leads. 

• East Asia: Data less detailed in the GAME study, but some countries favour DC in small number of cases; also local superhero/tokusatsu or anime heroes compete heavily.

Africa & Middle East

• Fewer detailed country-by-country data in public sources, but in the GAME maps, many African and Middle Eastern countries also have Spider-Man as #1. Marvel tends to dominate. 

 Now to break it down further

Which Superhero Is Most Popular in Every Country

1. What “popularity” means — and how we measure it

Popularity can be measured in many ways: movie box office, merchandise sales, social media mentions. But for global, country-by-country comparison, the cleanest available metric is Google search volume. It reflects what people are actively curious about, interested in buying, learning, or seeing more of. That makes it a useful proxy for demand and interest.

The UK retailer GAME did a large scale study: for over 100 countries, they pulled data on search volume for major superheroes (Spider-Man, Batman, Wonder Woman, etc.) and determined which superhero was #1 in each country. 

2. The global results: superheroes ranked

As per the GAME study, here’s how many countries each major hero leads in searches:

• Spider-Man: 57 countries (≈48.7%). 

• Wonder Woman: 15 countries (≈12.8%). 

• Batman: 11 countries (~9.2%). 

• Iron Man: 10 countries (~8.5%). 

• Others: Superman (6), Captain America (4), Aquaman (4), Hulk (3), Wanda Maximoff (2), Groot (1). 

Marvel as a universe wins the most countries (51) vs DC (9). 

3. Why Spider-Man dominates

• Consistency across media: comics, movies, animation, games. Spider-Man has been in major theatrical releases, streaming shows, video games, etc.

• Merchandising visibility: Spider-Man appeals broadly in toys, school supplies, apparel, licensing deals. Frequent tie-ins keep him in public view.

• Relatable character: Peter Parker is often portrayed as an ordinary person facing everyday problems; that gives emotional slope.

• Unique name: “Spider-Man” (or “Spiderman”) is distinct; people search directly.

4. Regional heroes & timing effects

Although Spider-Man leads in many countries, there are important regional and temporal variations:

• In Canada, Captain America is #1. 

• Some countries prefer DC characters: those where Wonder Woman, Batman, or even lesser DC properties have strong local exposure.

• Movie/tv show release cycles create search spikes. For example, a new Wonder Woman film will increase her visibility globally (including in countries she doesn’t usually lead).

• Local culture can shift things: countries with strong native comic or animation traditions (e.g. Japan, Korea) may have local heroes also highly popular, though data in the GAME study focuses on the big US-style superheroes.

Key findings: Which superheroes win globally

Here are the headline numbers (from the GAME / Fatherly / associated reports):

So Spider-Man is far ahead: in nearly half the countries in the dataset he's the top searched hero. The next most popular is Wonder Woman, then Batman, Iron Man, etc

Additionally:

• The Marvel universe is more popular than DC in the majority of countries (thankfully, people have taste.): Marvel is #1 in 51 countries vs DC in 9 countries (take that, DC fans.).

• Countries favouring DC include Russia, Chile, China, Ethiopia, among others. Marvel dominates in UK, India, Brazil, Australia, etc.