There is one thing that all successful mega-franchises must have in common.
It’s a trope that’s literally been around for centuries, and it stretches across every genre.
You know what I’m talking about.
The periodic table of pop culture.Photo illustration by Alex Sandoval
They tend to be impossibly strong and can withstand incredible force.
Sometimes, they even have magic powers.
(If you’ve got a super strong fictional metal that alsoglows?
Dwayne Johnson in ‘Black Adam’.
That’s the good stuff.)
But betweenGame of Thrones,Lord of the Rings,Star Wars,andMarvel, metals areeverywhereright now.
Fortunately, EW is here to help you wade through the periodic table of pop culture.
Hugh Jackman as Wolverine.
Here, we’ve taken on the task of ranking all the best fictional metals.
Instead, it’s a roundup of some of the most notable examples across modern pop culture.
This is also a very unscientific ranking.
‘Doctor Who’.
We’re judging metals based on a few key questions: Is it shiny?
And above all, is it cool?
DC’s most recent film release,Black Adam,focuses on an entirely different metal: eternium.
A Valyrian steel dagger in ‘Game of Thrones’.
Mostly, this just feels like a boring rip-off of other, more interesting metals.
Cool verdict:It glows!
But overall, meh.
‘The Mandalorian’.
Adamantium (X-Men)
Look, adamantium is very cool in Marvel comics.
Its exact composition is a heavily guarded secret, but it’s manmade and virtually indestructible.
But despite that long and illustrious history, adamantium has taken a bit of a backseat in recent years.
‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’.
(More on that in a minute.)
Cool verdict:Used to be cool, but has since been upstaged by other cooler metals.
Soof courseit has a ridiculous metal of its own, complete with its own ridiculous name.
‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’.
The Doctor had to team up withAndrew Garfieldand a pig man to attempt to defeat them.
You know, typicalDoctor Whostuff.
Cool verdict:Cool if you’re British.
Valyrian steel (Game of ThronesandHouse of the Dragon)
Nothing cuts likeValyrian steel.
Cool verdict:Pretty cool.
Especially if you better battle an undead opponent and make a run at prevent an endless winter.
doesn’t exist or b.)
is impossible to get.
As pop-culture materials go, unobtanium itself isn’t particularly memorable.
(It’s blue, it’s shiny, and it’s… used in space travel?
But Cameron gets props for infusing his billion-dollar mega-franchise with themes of colonialism and environmentalism.
Plus, unobtanium is just a fun word to say.
Say it with me now: unobtanium!
Cool verdict:So ridiculous it’s kind of cool?
Blaster fire can’t penetrate it, and it can even stand up to lightsaber strikes.
And it kind of rules.
As an added bonus, it’s fun to listen toWerner Herzogsay the word “beskar.”
It’s almost as fun as hearing him say “baby.”
Cool verdict:Pedro Pascal makes everything cooler, so yes, this is very cool.
Fantasy writers have been cribbing fromJ.R.R.
Cool verdict:Extremely cool, especially because it’s the inspiration for practically every other fictional metal.
(It can also absorb energy, and vibranium-enriched soil can grow plants with magical powers.)
But vibranium’s broader significance is less about what it can do and more about what it represents.
Steve Rogers' shield?
An organic vibranium compound.
Bucky Barnes' arm, Sam Wilson’s wings, Ultron’s metallic shell?
You guessed it: Vibranium, vibranium, vibranium.
Cool verdict:The coolest.
