From our childhood, we have been thinking that Superman is the god of comics. Even today, if we ask people who they think is the greatest hero in comics, and pat comes the reply, “Superman!”
Well, there are at least 20 that come to my mind who could fight him to beat him and the 11 below could completely put him in his place. The place called not-invulnerable.
1. Darkseid
There have been multiple occasions where Darkseid has played with Superman like a father plays with a toddler. Superman has hurt him and claims that he has always held back his true extent of powers, but so has Darkseid.
In one storyline, Superman had actually hurt Darkseid to the point that Darkseid looked like he just got up from sleep. That’s it.
Also, in another storyline, Darkseid took on the whole of Justice League and even then they weren’t really able to defeat him and were only able to throw him into a wormhole.
2. Parallax
Yes, the same yellow guy from that horrible Green Lantern movie starring Ryan Reynolds. Parallax feeds on fear and has even incapacitated the whole of the green lantern corps once.
Parallax feeds off the fear of whole planets and only becomes stronger and more powerful. And let’s not forget that Superman is a meta-human and has a love life and hence will fear for his lover’s death.
And just to be clear, he has controlled Superman once – completely.
3. Martian Manhunter
Superman himself admits that Martian Manhunter is one of the very few people who could defeat him easily.
Martian Manhunter possesses the same power-set as that of Superman. He is as fast, can fly and can also shoot laser beams. But he has additional capabilities such as the ability to turn himself intangible and also to control minds.
Supes doesn’t even stand a chance.
4. Wally West
The flash is just too fast. Also, he can travel through time and also across dimensions. Yes, you heard that right, he can actually travel to another dimension where there’s another flash, just like him. And he is powered by the speed force, which means he can effectively manipulate speed from anyone.
This means he can literally make Superman immobile and then whack him silly.
5. Captain Atom
Captain Atom is not really at par with Superman in terms of strength or speed or reflexes, but he can store almost unlimited amounts of energy in himself.
Superman has two inherent weaknesses – one the famous kryptonite and the other a red Sun. As the yellow Sun makes him strong, the red Sun makes him weak. But a red Sun is not easily harnessable, and hence does not really crop up as a plot device to defeat Superman. Unless Captain Atom is present that is.
Captain atom can release huge amounts of energy just like the energy of a red Sun, which could render Superman incapable. And if done for a prolonged period, it might just kill him.
6. The True Gog
Not a lot of people have heard of the Gog, unless you are a hardcore comic book reader. The Gog is an incredibly powerful being who can harness the cosmic powers of the universe. We all know that Superman gets his energy from the Sun. Now imagine a villain who can harness energy present anywhere in all of the cosmos.
Also, he can time travel.
Also, he can move faster than the Flash.
Enough said.
7. Krona
He has destroyed universes, just for the sake of knowledge. I am going to leave it at that.
8. Firestorm
The same reason as that of Captain Atom, Firestorm can produce and manipulate energy at his will. He can also manipulate his own being. For example, he can make himself intangible too, the same as Martian Manhunter.
On strength alone, he might not take on Superman, but he can deal a lot of harm with his vast array of powers.
Also, he can CREATE kryptonite, out of ANYTHING.
9. Anti-Monitor
Of all the supervillains, no one has come close to the destruction that Anti-Monitor has caused. He has caused more harm and killed more superheroes than any other supervillain in the DC universe. We all know the Marvel supervillain Galactus, who eats planets for lunch. Now this guy eats universes for breakfast. Complete universes.
Yeah, he actually goes up to his girlfriend and says, “Hey babe, Let’s go eat the Andromeda galaxy for dinner. We will share.”
And he also killed Barry Allen – The first Flash.
For Anti-Monitor, Superman is probably the human equivalent of a small piece of lettuce stuck between your teeth after eating a tasty salad.
10. The Squirrel (GL Corps)
This is probably the most ridiculous scene in any DC comics ever. We have seen that the green lantern corps consists of people from the whole universe.
This means they come in all shapes and sizes. So, the scene is set as Superman is fighting the big Green Lantern corps guy Kilowog and makes him submit, but then is disabled by a squirrel Green lantern. He makes the constructs so small, he stops Superman’s brain from firing synapses, effectively making him stop thinking.
One step ahead, he could kill him by destroying his brain cells with his constructs.
A squirrel.
11. Batman
Yeah, I said it.
You know why? Because he has beaten Darkseid too. He made him admit defeat, to the point that Darkseid even complimented him on his ruthlessness. And he doesn’t know fear. He can even resist the paralyzing effects of Parallax. And not to mention he has almost killed Superman, but held back, just to make a point.
So, there you are. And now you know.