Brandon Sanderson revealed his top five favorite superpowers during an interview with Wren Weichman via YouTube. He enumerated them systematically based on how fun they are to write and how cool it would be to possess them.
My number five is the Gambit power. They charge things with energy, and do interesting stuff… Gambit, as a package, is a fantastic superhero because he’s interesting, his power is different… My number four is healing factor, regeneration… number three for me is flying…
my number two is Magneto powers… my number one, and I based this kind of on how fun is it to write about, how fun is it would it be to have, and how fun have people done things with it, and I picked portals.
Sanderson indeed chose the best superpowers anyone would want to have. Gambit’s energy manipulation could be useful in certain situations, while rapid healing like that of Deadpool and Wolverine would come in handy in times of danger.
The author also picked flying because why not? Superman and many other heroes possess this ability, although Sanderson doesn’t think it’s very thrilling to write about. He also chose Magneto’s metal-controlling power, which he finds cool, although he doesn’t see a need for it every day.
Finally, Sanderson chose creating portals or teleportation as his top superpower. We’ve seen this a lot in Doctor Strange, and truly, it’s one of the most useful abilities anyone can have. It saves time, energy, and, of course, it looks absolutely incredible!
Sanderson’s Mistborn Was A Product of His Love For Superheroes
Mistborn: The Final Empire / Credits: Tor Books
Mistborn: Secret History / Credits: Dragonsteel Entertainment
Mistborn: The Hero of Ages / Credits: Tor Books
Sanderson is a huge fan of Marvel and DC comics, and he doesn’t shy away from admitting their influence on his writing. In fact, it’s easy to see how superheroes from both giant franchises resemble some of the characters in his Mistborn novels.
During an interview with Adria’s News, Sanderson revealed that his science fiction stories containing magic systems and characters with different abilities came from one reflection:
I’m fascinated by what would happen if normal people were given divine powers, right? And I take it different directions in different series, but I think that one of the cores of fantasy genre is “what do we human beings do with extraordinary abilities?” It’s the same in the superhero genre; it’s a thing they share together and it’s something that I’m fascinated by.
Sanderson’s Mistborn isn’t the only series that was evidently inspired by superheroes. The Reckoners gave a different and imaginative take on the dark side of possessing superpowers.
Creating Portals As Sanderson’s Top 1 Isn’t A Surprise Anymore
Brandon Sanderson / Credits: @BrandSanderson on YouTube
Sanderson expressed his fascination with portals, as this is familiar territory for him. He was able to play with them when he took over to complete Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time books.
The author said he had spent time reading the novels and wished Jordan would write about all the cool things he could do with those portals. When Sanderson finally got the chance, he created a character who is an expert on portals, just as he had envisioned when he was younger.
Full Name:Brandon Winn SandersonDate of Birth:December 19, 1975Years Active:2005–presentGenre:Fantasy, science fictionNotable Works:Mistborn, The Stormlight Archive, final three books of Robert Jordan’s The Wheel of Time
What superpowers would you want to have? Let us know in the comments!
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