Roy Morgan Research
March 07, 2019

Wonder Woman on top and Captain Marvel one to watch

Topic: Press Release, Special Poll
Finding No: 7901
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Wonder Woman is again Australia’s favourite superhero for kids aged 6-13 years old. An estimated 394,000 Aussie kids picked Wonder Woman as their favourite superhero in the year to December 2018, up a stunning 137,000 from a year ago.

Wonder Woman has overpowered greatest rival Batman over the past year with the caped superhero now picked by 282,000 kids, down 54,000 on a year ago, new research from Roy Morgan reveals.


Girls boost Wonder Woman into top spot

Wonder Woman’s biggest supporters are unsurprisingly young girls with the daughter of Queen Hippolyta and Zeus picked by a stunning 383,000 girls in 2018, up 131,000 from a year ago. Unfortunately Wonder Woman has yet to win over the boys, picked by only 11,000 boys in 2018.

Both Wonder Woman and Batman are DC Comics’ characters and three other DC Comics superheroes made the top ten superhero spots including Superman in fourth position on 111,000, The Flash on 69,000 and Supergirl on 54,000.

The top rating superhero for rival Marvel comics was again Spiderman picked by 189,000 Aussie kids and up 14,000 from a year ago. Four other Marvel comics superheroes made the top 10 favourite superheroes for Australian kids in 2018 including Iron Man on 84,000, The Incredible Hulk on 78,000, new entrant Black Panther on 55,000 and Captain America on 45,000.

These are the latest findings from the Roy Morgan Young Australian Survey.


Top 10 Favourite Superheroes for Australian kids aged 6-13 – 2017 cf. 2018

Source: Roy Morgan Young Australian Survey, 12 months to December 2017, n=2,563 and 12 months to December 2018, n=2,379.  Base: Australians 6-13.


Michele Levine, CEO, Roy Morgan, says Wonder Woman’s appeal as a leading superhero is growing and with Captain Marvel opening in Australia this week ‘Female-centered’ superhero films are a new growth area for film makers looking to cash in on the appeal of ‘Female-led’ movies:

Block Quote

“Wonder Woman has done it again with 394,000 Young Australians aged 6-13 years old picking the DC Comics superhero as their favourite in 2018, up an incredible 137,000 on a year ago. A Roy Morgan release on superheroes last year showed Wonder Woman picked by 368,000 Young Australians in the year to June 2018 – well ahead of Batman in second.

“Wonder Woman’s appeal for girls remains unmatched picked by 383,000 girls as their favourite superhero, up 131,000 on a year ago. Although only 11,000 boys picked Wonder Woman, this figure has more than doubled from 2017.

“The popularity of Wonder Woman as a superhero follows the huge success of the Wonder Woman film released in 2017 with a sequel named ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ set for release next year and has guaranteed we will be seeing more films led by strong Female characters in the years to come.

“In lieu of Wonder Woman’s success at the box office rival Marvel Studios has upped their game and this week marks the introduction of a new Female superhero named Captain Marvel.

“Captain Marvel has not yet appeared as a favourite superhero for Aussie kids but if the movie can enjoy half the success of Wonder Woman we expect to see a new Female superhero gaining the support of Australian kids in the years to come.

“This Friday marks International Women’s Day and it’s clear the next generation of Australians place a high value on Women’s Leadership and enjoy seeing visible and prominent representations of powerful and authoritative female characters on screen.

“Roy Morgan’s Understanding Young Australians Report looks at all aspects of a young Australian’s life. With ongoing surveying you can see how their attitudes and activities are changing over time. Included in the full report you will receive findings on the time they spend on activitiesmobile phone usagewhat they thinktheir media consumption and finance and retail habits.”

Wonder Woman is the current champion for Australian kids but can Captain Marvel rise to the top?

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Margin of Error

The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. Margin of error gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.

Sample Size Percentage Estimate
40% – 60% 25% or 75% 10% or 90% 5% or 95%
1,000 ±3.0 ±2.7 ±1.9 ±1.3
5,000 ±1.4 ±1.2 ±0.8 ±0.6
7,500 ±1.1 ±1.0 ±0.7 ±0.5
10,000 ±1.0 ±0.9 ±0.6 ±0.4
20,000 ±0.7 ±0.6 ±0.4 ±0.3
50,000 ±0.4 ±0.4 ±0.3 ±0.2

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