Highlights
- Batman and Superman have a complex relationship with long-running conflicts and uneasy alliances, mainly due to their fundamentally different personalities and Batman's preparedness for any situation.
- Booster Gold holds resentment towards Superman due to his desire for attention and lack of media recognition, while Superman dislikes Booster Gold's shallow nature, leading to their infrequent collaboration.
- Lobo, an intergalactic bounty hunter lacking a moral code, is the complete opposite of Superman's beliefs, resulting in their frequent clashes and few heroes wanting to work with him.
The world of DC Comics has no bigger paragon of all that is good than Superman himself. The Man of Steel has constantly proven over the years that he is there to help humanity and guide them towards the light wherever he can, but even the ultimate white knight character has his fair share of enemies.
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Over the decades, Superman has come into conflict with a number of villains, but also heroes. There are heroes who range hugely in style within DC Comics, and plenty of them don’t agree with or trust Superman’s nature, or have come into conflict with him in other ways.
8 Batman
- Comic Debut:Detective Comics #27
- Creator: Bob Kane & Bill Finger
There are no two superheroes whose relationship is as complicated as that between Batman and Superman. These two have had long-running team-up series and fights to the death, their personalities are fundamentally different and that has ended in a huge number of clashes, though Batman has no powers to use against the Man of Steel.
Batman is the ultimate pragmatist and believes in being prepared for any eventuality, which includes any of his fellow heroes turning against him. This has led to conflict between him and Superman, as Batman usually possesses some form of Kryptonite. Batman fought Superman when he tried to take over the world, had uneasy alliances for years, and came to blows many times.
7 Booster Gold
- Comic Debut:Booster Gold #1
- Creator: Dan Jurgens
A hero with a lot of power, though not as much as Superman, who desperately craves attention and the spotlight, but still never receives as much media attention as the Man of Steel. It is unsurprising that Booster Gold holds resentment for the Last Son of Krypton as a result of these factors.
The hatred goes both ways, while Superman knows that Booster Gold has a real heart deep inside, his surface-level shallowness has always led Superman to dislike this hero. They don’t often work together, Booster not getting many invitations to the Justice League over the years, though he has been hugely requested for the DCU.
6 Lobo
- Comic Debut:Omega Men #3
- Creator: Roger Slifer & Keith Giffen
An intergalactic bounty hunter who has fought Superman many times, it is difficult to even consider Lobo a hero sometimes. He is lacking in moral code and usually works for whoever is offering the most money, so Lobo is precisely the opposite of everything Superman believes in.
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Many fans refer to Lobo as the DC Comics version of Deadpool, and similarly to how most other heroes don’t get along with Deadpool, there are few heroes who ever really want to work with Lobo, he is one of the true lone wolves of the DC Universe, but could appear in the upcoming DCU.
5 Guy Gardner
- Comic Debut:Green Lantern #59
- Creator: John Broome & Gil Kane
Another character whose personality clashes violently with that of Superman, Guy Gardner is a member of the Green Lantern Corps who has had to work in close contact with many other heroes like Superman, but his personality is violent and childish, and he has always had an inferiority complex with some of the other major heroes of the DC Universe.
Because of his role as an intergalactic police officer, Guy has always thought his sense of morality and justice should be superior to anyone’s. However, Superman has always been presented as the real paragon of everything good and right, prompting Guy to have a lot of resentment toward the Man of Steel, but he will appear in the upcoming Superman: Legacy.
4 John Constantine
- Comic Debut:Swamp Thing #37
- Creator: Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, & John Totleben
Constantine has never gotten along with other heroes in the DC Universe. He deals in magic exclusively, which is one of Superman’s major weaknesses, leading to them hardly ever working together. But Constantine also believes that Kal-El is too powerful and untrustworthy.
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While Superman thinks that Constantine is a sham of a hero and uses too much dark power, Constantine simply believes himself to be willing to do what Superman won’t with his power, thinking that heroes like him are half-measures that won’t get the job done. He has had a number of on-screen adaptions, particularly the well-remember Keanu Reeves movie.
3 Deathstroke
- Comic Debut:The New Teen Titans #2
- Creator: Marv Wolfman & George Perez
It is difficult to define Deathstroke as a hero, but Slade Wilson has acted in a mercenary manner similar to Lobo which puts him both with and against heroes at different times. He has often been an enemy to Batman and the Teen Titans, and his willingness to kill has led to Superman disliking him and vice versa.
The Terminator is one of the least loved characters in general across DC Comics, but Deathstroke has acted in a heroic manner on many occasions, being presented modern-day as an anti-hero. In spite of his heroic actions, Superman has never gotten along with him, viewing him as a dangerous villain. Many fans still hope that Deathstroke will get a film or game of his own though.
2 Orion
- Comic Debut:New Gods #1
- Creator: Jack Kirby
The New Gods are a strange part of the DC Universe, and Orion is the son of Darkseid. Despite choosing a heroic manner and hating his father, his brash style has put him into conflict with Superman on the few times that these different parts of the larger DC Universe interact.
Orion notably came into conflict with Superman in the New 52 when the Justice League traveled to Apokolips, but was soundly defeated and has held a grudge against Superman since that time. While these two are both clear heroes, Orion lives in a completely different part of the universe and thus his morals are quite different from Superman’s.
1 Aquaman
- Comic Debut:More Fun Comics #73
- Creator: Mort Weisinger & Paul Norris
Though they have always worked together, Aquaman and Superman have had a lot of differences over the years, particularly some of the bizarre differences between their powers. Never mind the times when the Justice League wouldn’t take Aquaman seriously, the fact that Aquaman represents the nation of Atlantis and Superman the people of America has led to many conflicts.
The two heroes have always managed to work together, but their relationship has never been more deeply explored than when there is some sort of conflict between the two, especially on one occasion when Aquaman tried to arrest Lex Luthor and Superman was forced to stop him.