7 Superman Moments That Prove the Hero Is a Total Badass

Superman has a reputation for being unbelievably nice and understanding, but he sometimes has to flex his muscles, proving that he’s far more badass than anyone gives him credit for. With his incredible powers, Superman often goes out of his way to present himself as a lot meeker than he really is. These moments demonstrate that while Superman doesn’t want to flaunt how powerful he is when he lets loose, there’s simply no one cooler than him.

When it comes to superheroes who are undeniably cool, most fans tend to point towards Batman. After all, he’s cloaked in all black, appears from the shadows, and brutally takes down criminals. Even when Batman and Superman team up, most still seem to think that Batman is the cooler of the two – usually because Superman holds back his true power. Everyone always calls Superman a boy scout and teases him about how gentle he can be, but when push comes to shove, Superman has demonstrated some truly unbelievable moments that show a true badass side to him.

7 Superman Has His Very Own Batman: Year One Moment

Action Comics #1 by Grant Morrison, Rags Morales, Rick Bryant, Brad Anderson, Alex Sinclair, and Pat Brosseau

Superman has an extremely similar moment to an iconic Batman: Year One scene at the start of the New 52. Superman makes his presence known to Metropolis by attacking the penthouse of a corrupt billionaire. Superman simply walks through all the security, grabs the man, and threatens to throw him out of his lavish home. When the man refuses to repent for hurting people through his business, Superman tosses him off the balcony, but catches him before he hits the floor. Superman then warns him that if he doesn’t change his ways, he’ll definitely be back. It’s a page taken straight out of Batman’s book, and it’s undeniably badass.

One of the most famous moments in Batman history is in Batman: Year One by Frank Miller. In this seminal story, Bruce makes his appearance as Batman known to the criminal underworld of Gotham City by ambushing one of their meetings. Batman makes an incredible first appearance as he blows apart a wall, walking into the room among the rubble and smoke. It’s an intense scene and immediately cements Batman as a major enemy in the criminal world of Gotham City. Anyone who hears this would call it a classic Batman moment, but most don’t know that Superman has a similar one.

6 Superman Instantly Crosses the Universe to Stop Lex Luthor

Action Comics #1050 by Tom Taylor, Joshua Williamson, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Clayton Henry, Nick Dragotta, Mike Perkins, Alex Sinclair, Frank Martin, and Dave Sharpe

Superman is fast, but over the years he’s only been getting faster, especially in recent stories. It’s well-known that Superman is quick enough to travel back in time or move faster than the speed of light, but during one battle with Lex Luthor, Superman showed that he’s as fast as the Flash. In an attempt to get rid of Superman for a time as he enacts his latest master plan against the Man of Steel, Lex Luthor teleports Superman across the universe, presuming it would buy him some time.

Lex Luthor estimates that it will take Superman weeks to return from space. Instead, Superman returns in seconds. He then states that distance just doesn’t mean anything to him as a concept anymore, especially after his power-up in the wake of his time on Warworld in the previous Action Comics arc. No matter how far something seems, Superman can just traverse the distance instantly, resulting in Superman taking Lex by surprise, instantly stripping him of his powersuit before he can even react.

5 Superman Crosses the Universe to Save One Girl

Superman: Up in the Sky #6 by Tom King, Andy Kubert, Sandra Hope, Brad Anderson, and Clayton Cowles

One of the things that makes Superman the perfect hero is that he’s there for everyone. There is no one too small for him to help. When an evil alien scientist kidnaps a young girl to experiment on, Superman crosses galaxies to bring her back. The scientist is baffled by this, stating that one little girl on a planet full of billions of people is surely inconsequential. One little girl wouldn’t be missed. Superman disagrees with this claim, and he lets nothing stop him from saving her. At one point, the scientist even captures Superman, trapping him within Kerenthium steel, an unbreakable metal.

The scientist mocks Superman, asking him if he knows what unbreakable means, to which Superman simply responds with “No sir, I do not” as he shatters the surrounding steel. If that wasn’t badass enough, Superman follows this feat by destroying a battalion of machines that are currently defeating every hero on Earth. Despite their seemingly overwhelming power, Superman destroys all of them on his own. He crosses the entire universe just to save one girl – one girl whom the scientist insists is worthless, but Superman knows that no one is worthless and that everyone is worth saving.

4 Superman Defeats the Unstoppable Doomsday

Superman #75 by Dan Jurgens, Brett Breeding, Glenn Whitmore, and John Costanza

Doomsday was one of the most dangerous and powerful villains of his time. Doomsday earned his name when he landed on Earth and began his rampage. It seemed like the world was going to end. No matter which Justice League member came after him, none of them could stand against him. Doomsday defeated Wonder Woman, Batman, Martian Manhunter, Booster Gold, and dozens of others. No one was able to stop his rampage as he headed towards Metropolis, where Doomsday finally encountered Superman, and their final battle began.

This fight lasted several hours with Doomsday and Superman hitting one another with absolutely everything they had. The force of their punches shattered the glass in the surrounding block. Doomsday had easily beaten everyone else, but Superman managed to stand up to him. While everyone else had fallen, Superman was able to finally put Doomsday down, and he gave his own life to do it in one of the most iconic Superman issues of all time. The impact of Superman and Doomsday’s fight is still felt in the DC Universe today – and likely will be felt for years to come.

3 Superman Takes Down Manchester Black in a Brutal Way

Action Comics #775 by Joe Kelly, Lee Bermejo, Doug Mahnke, Dexter Vines, Wayne Faucher, Wade Von Grawbadger, Tom Nguyen, José Marzan Jr., Jim Royal, Rob Schwager, Richard Horie, Tanya Horie, and Comicraft

There are plenty of heroes in the DC Universe who are utterly and legitimately good people, with Superman being one of the best examples. But not everyone can believe that good people truly exist. Manchester Black tried to be a hero in his own way, but he simply couldn’t believe that someone as pure as Superman was real. This ideological divide led to the two fighting, as Manchester wanted to prove that Superman wasn’t a genuine hero, resulting in Superman finally letting loose and showing Manchester Black what he could really do if he wasn’t a good person.

Manchester Black is a powerful telepath, but his powers were instantly removed when Superman used a combination of his microscopic vision, x-ray vision, and heat vision. With these three combined, Superman instantly destroys the part of Manchester’s brain that allows him to use his powers. In an instant, Manchester lost his abilities and was forced to surrender to Superman. Superman doesn’t usually cross this line, but to prove a point, he had to show just how dangerous he could really be.

2 Superman Knocks Out the World Forger in One Punch

Justice League #25 by Scott Snyder, Jorge Jiménez, Alejandro Sánchez, and Tom Napolitano

There are a lot of different gods in the DC Universe. While Superman is powerful, his power usually isn’t on a cosmic scale. But one event proved that not even gods are safe from Superman. During the events of Justice League #25, the Justice League encounters the World Forger, a being who creates worlds. Unfortunately, the World Forger is convinced that Earth has to be destroyed for the universe to survive. Since Superman doesn’t agree with this idea, the World Forger banishes him to a universe of darkness, leaving him trapped and powerless.

Thankfully, Batman manipulates this universe so that it is populated with yellow suns, and Superman flies through each one with ease. As Superman keeps flying through the yellow suns, he becomes more and more powerful. Returning to the World Forger, he puts everything he has into one more attack, slamming his fist into the World Forger and knocking him unconscious for a few moments. Superman has some incredible feats of strength, but knocking out a being who creates worlds is a next-level accomplishment.

1 Superman Traumatizes a Man for His Crimes

Superman: Birthright #6 by Mark Waid, Leinil Francis Yu, Gerry Alanguilan, Dave McCaig, and Comicraft

A lot of people say that Superman should use his powers more aggressively and that he should go directly after criminals instead of just handing them over to the police. Superman doesn’t usually take such an active route, but there are a few things that enrage him enough that he has to do more than just help arrest a criminal. In Superman: Birthright, a racist gun dealer sells weapons to two students, which they then use in a school shooting. After Superman stops the students, he tracks down the gun dealer. While he denies selling the guns to the kids, Superman knows better.

Superman just came from the site of an active school shooting. He saw the people terrified and traumatized by the event. Because of this experience, he felt that the gun dealer needed to be traumatized too. Picking up a gun, Superman shoots him point-blank in the face, but then uses his super speed to catch the bullet before it hits him. This moment leaves the gun dealer horrified, and it’s one of the coolest things that Superman has ever done, proving that Superman can inspire just as much fear as hope – just for the people who deserve to be afraid.