Superman is indisputably the most powerful superhero in the world. He's indestructible,
and wields the most comprehensive array of superpowers imaginable, from super-hearing
all the way to super-ventriloquism. And he does it all with a friendly smirk, just this
side of smug. But considering how tough Superman is, there's still a surprisingly long list
of characters who have actually defeated him, heroes and villains alike. How? Here's a look
at just a few of the characters who have knocked the curl right off his forehead.
Batman
On paper, Batman beating Superman seems impossible. Unless that paper is between the covers of
a comic book. In that case, well, you can pretty much write Superman's epitaph, because
Batman has time and again shown he has what it takes to put Superman six feet under. Usually,
of course, the World's Greatest Detective wins thanks to the World's Greatest Cheat
Code, otherwise known as Kryptonite. Which, ironically, Superman himself gave Batman as
a failsafe just in case Superman went rogue. In The Dark Knight Returns comic book, Batman
also had a couple other tricks up his sleeve, namely Green Arrow and a Soviet Union that
liked to drop nukes. That isn't really playing fair, is it?
Doomsday
Spoiler alert, but in Batman v Superman, not only does Batman beat Superman using Kryptonite,
Superman also gets killed by Doomsday—just like what happens when the two fought in the
comics. Doomsday doesn't have any tricks or anything. He's a one-note villain whose only
purpose in the comics is to kill Superman using brute force. In the infamous Death of
Superman storyline, Doomsday did just that as part of a spectacular double K.O. As villains
go, Doomsday is pretty boring, but he got the job done.
The Avengers
Bet you weren't expecting to see the Avengers on this list, with them being from a completely
different publisher and all. But Marvel's mightiest heroes did indeed put the ultimate
smackdown on Superman in the pages of Avengers/JLA #2. In this hotly contested inter-universe
crossover, Superman and Thor went toe-to-toe. Superman barely beat Thor, but ended the fight
dazed and severely weakened. That was more than enough of an opening for Thor's Avenger
buddies to do what they do best: Avenge him. The team's heaviest hitters, Iron Man, Hercules,
Wonder Man, The Vision, and She-Hulk, dogpiled on Superman and pummeled him unconscious.
Lex Luthor
Superman's archenemy Lex Luthor has defeated Superman so many times it's kind of hard to
just pick one example. Our favorite instance of Lex dropping the hammer on Superman comes
from the classic Superman #149, where Lex wins Superman's trust… by curing cancer.
With Superman convinced that Lex has reformed, it’s easy for Luthor to trick Superman into
a fatal Kryptonite trap. Supergirl later brought Lex to justice for Superman's murder. It's
a sad story, but on the other hand, Lex cured cancer. Sorry, Supes, but that's not really
a bad tradeoff in our book.
Mongul
Superman's most dangerous foe may be Mongul, who’s basically what you would get if you
combined Doomsday's incredible strength with Lex Luthor's genius. Mongul has repeatedly
gotten the better of Superman, beating him both physically and psychologically. Case
in point: the classic Superman Annual #11 by Watchmen writer Alan Moore, in which Mongul
traps Superman inside his own dreams. Luckily for Superman and Earth at large, Robin defeats
Mongul. Yes, Robin. We're not sure who should be more embarrassed, Superman or Mongul.
Captain Marvel
Superman pretty much has only two major weaknesses: Kryptonite and magic. Unfortunately for him,
there’s Captain Marvel, who's alternately known as Shazam...depending on whether DC
Comics wants to publish stories about a dude with the word "Marvel" in his name that day.
He’s not only just as powerful as Superman, but he got those powers from a super wizard—meaning
he's powered by magic. That gives Captain Marvel a pretty significant leg up on Superman.
The two have fought numerous times. Usually, Superman often wins in the end...because Captain
Marvel is actually a little kid in an adult body.
"Shazam!"
But, the Big Red Cheese has knocked Supes out more than once, and has even taken Superman
out with some well-timed bolts of magic lightning.
"Shazam."
Atlas
Speaking of people with magic on their side, there's Atlas. That's right, this dumb-looking
dork is actually the same guy who carried the world on his shoulders in Greek mythology.
Well, in the comics, he's… well, there's no way to explain it that makes any sense,
so just trust us when we say that he's a really strong dude. And in Superman #677 to #680,
Atlas absolutely pounded the tar out of Superman. And he did the same to everyone who tried
to stop him. Luckily for Superman, he had an ally much, much tougher than even the Man
of Steel: Krypto the Superdog. Where Superman failed miserably, Krypto succeeded, taking
Atlas down and saving Metropolis and the world. Good doggie!
Green Lantern
Remember how Superman is vulnerable to Kryptonite? Well, usually that's not such a big deal thanks
to the fact that there's not all that much of it around. However, way back in DC Comics
Presents #26, a villain posing as Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern of Earth, discovered a loophole.
The Green Lantern ring can actually create a form of synthetic Kryptonite. Once the real
Green Lantern knocked the bad guy out, the fake Kryptonite disappeared. And eventually,
the power of Kryptonite-creation was removed by comic book writers on account of it being,
well, ridiculous. But Green Lantern eventually found another way to take Superman out. He
bonded with the alien entity named Parallax and became an omnipotent evil god. Hey, if
you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
The Joker
Even though the Joker has yet to figure out a way to defeat a rich playboy in a bat mask,
he's somehow defeated Superman multiple times. For instance, in Emperor Joker, the Joker
stole the powers of Mr. Mix…
Uh...Mr. Mix-el-plick...
Um.
"Mr. Mixel...plick?"
"No! Repeat after me, bright boy. It's Mxyzptlk."
Yeah, that guy. The Joker stole his powers and reshaped reality. That included sealing
Superman away in Arkham Asylum. Shoe's on the other foot now! Meanwhile, in the Injustice:
Gods Among Us video game, the Joker tricks Superman into murdering Lois Lane.
"I know it's soon... But think you'll ever love again? Maybe you won't kill your next
family."
Then... the Joker nukes Metropolis. You know what? That's not actually funny. Effective,
but not funny. Yuck.
Muhammad Ali
Finally, we come to the greatest. For many people, Muhammad Ali was as close to a real-life
superhero as we'll ever get, so it doesn't come as a huge surprise to learn that he once
laid out Superman. The fight took place in the aptly titled Superman vs. Muhammad Ali.
An alien army attacks Earth and proposes a simple contest of champions to determine the
fate of the world. To decide who should be Earth's representative, Ali and Superman have
a boxing match, with Superman fighting without his superpowers. So, it was essentially Ali
versus nerdy weakling Clark Kent. So what happened? Ali knocked Superman senseless.
In the end, Ali also defeated the alien champion in single combat, saving the planet.
And all this fresh off his battle against Mr. Tooth Decay.
Thanks for watching! Subscribe to our YouTube channel to watch more videos like the one
you just saw. And leave us a comment to let us know how you would kick Superman’s butt...