5 Times Superman Took Things Too Far
There's no disputing Superman's title as one of the best heroes of all time, but with great power comes... well, you get it. Here are a few times Supes took it too far.
Boxed Muhammad Ali
In a comic adventure that is so '70s it should come packaged with bell bottoms, Superman once went against “The Greatest.” An alien overlord of a faraway planet comes to Earth and challenges its greatest champion to a boxing match. Superman steps forward and is like “Duh, I got this,” when Muhammad Ali interjects and points out Superman isn’t even human. Outlawyered and pressured by the peanut gallery, Superman CHALLENGES ALI TO A BOXING MATCH. Rat’Lar (the evil alien overlord) suggests that a fairer fight might take place on his planet, which has a red sun. In case you don’t remember, red suns are semi-Kryptonite to Supes and make his strength comparable to a humans. Knowing at this point he’s just basically a human challenging a professional athlete in his sport, Superman could’ve backed down. He says “Nah” and gets his ass beat down. Ali goes on to win it all and somehow discovers Superman’s secret identity. Batman gets ringside seats and no one acknowledges it. It’s a classic in WTF comic literature.
Let’s back up, though. When the initial fight is proposed, Superman is fully ready to throw down. He has no qualms with straight up murdering an American icon in the ring and is lacing up WHEN THE VILLAIN pipes up as the voice of reason to make it a “fair fight.” Who knows why Superman doesn’t back down after realizing he’s outmatched, but knowing the time and era, I can only assume midwestern institutionalized racism. Totally kidding about that last part, but can you imagine if Superman was actually written with the personality of a white, middle-aged man born in the '50s and raised in Kansas?
Sneezed Away An Entire Galaxy
Silver age Superman was unbelievably strong. He was so strong, in fact, that writers at the time ran out of villains that could present any real threat and were forced to lower his strength level. Among some of the incredible things that happened in this time period, Superman once sneezed so hard he destroyed a galaxy. It’s so much crazier than that, though, and it all starts with Mister Mxyzptlk.
You’d think a magical Imp with the power to do anything evil would be a bit more creative than something you could buy at a novelty shop. Alas Mxyzptlk (which there is no autocorrect to prevent me from misspelling throughout the post) unleashes a mass amount of sneezing powder upon the Earth. Superman, frightened by the implications of a temporarily sneezing world, inhales a worlds supply of sneezing powder into his nose. He then flies at the speed of light into a dead galaxy and sneezes so ferociously that he obliterates it in entirety. My personal favorite line is when he says, “I suspected this would happen,” because only Superman would have a contingency plan for the day he ever sneezed.
The Time He Gut Punched A Pregnant Lois Lane Into Space And Killed Her
This is by far the most horrifying headline on the list, and unfortunately, it totally happened. In the Injustice comics series, Superman is under the influence of Scarecrow's drugs. Believing he is fighting Doomsday, Superman holds nothing back and punches Doomsday in the stomach so hard he goes sailing into space. Superman then realizes he just killed Lois and her unborn child and punches a literal hole through The Joker. For whatever reason, the game developers of Injustice: Gods Among Us replaced the comic death scene with instead the Joker blowing her up. One can only speculate as to why.
The Time He Ate Enough Hamburgers To Feed An Army
"IF I DON’T EAT ALL THESE HAMBURGERS I’LL STARVE TO DEATH," Superman proclaims as he shoves another fistful of hamburger into his mouth. It’s a compelling cover for an action comic and completely not true in context of the story. Superman is feeling weak throughout the issue due to a machine sapping the solar energy from the Earth. This causes him to fall asleep at awkward times and experience difficulty fighting villains, but not once does anyone say he will starve to death. Superman burns an entire paycheck at some burger shack stress eating and then hours later saves the day. Sounds like the only real danger was the bathroom endeavor he would undergo the next day.
He Blew Out The Olympic Flame
Psychological breakdown or not, Superman couldn’t even be a proper evil villain. Instead he goes around committing ridiculous acts such as this. And they say Richard Pryor was the worst part of this film...