Superman has almost always been one of the most heroic figures in the history of superheroes, more or less originating the concept of the superhero in general. However, there have been actually been some pretty vile takes on the character from across the years, with uniquely dark origins and cruel motivations.
From the heart of the DC Universe to the further corners of the multiverse, there have been plenty of evil Superman who stand in direct opposition to everything the Man fo Steel holds dear. Now, we're taking a closer look at these villainous Supermen to see which one is truly the most vile.
Overman is the Superman of Earth-10, a world where Kal-El's rocket landed in Nazi Germany instead of America. Introduced briefly in 52 before becoming more prominent in stories like Final Crisis and The Multiversity, Overman is the chief protector of a world defined by Nazi ideals. He's a dark and tragic take on the character -- notably troubled by the utopia he protects, built upon countless corpses of those the Nazi regime deemed worthless.
It's left Overman as a surprisingly morally dubious figure, even helping provide crucial information to the Freedom Fighters -- the chief resistance force of Earth-10. While "Nazi Superman" is clearly a villainous take on the character, he's one who is surprisingly morally complex as opposed to the more stark good/evil characters of The Multiveristy: Mastermen by Morrison and Jim Lee.
There have been multiple incarnations of Ultraman over the years. As one of the chief figures of Earth-3 -- a world where the morality of the heroes and villains is flipped -- Ultraman has been subsequently rebooted various times. As opposed to the honorable and heroic Superman, Ultraman is often portrayed as a brutish bully, often trying to intimidate others and gain a level of control over others.
He's a frequent rival of Owlman and is sometimes is portrayed as having a toxic relationship with Superwoman. His most recent version -- featured heavily in Crime Syndicate by Andy Schmidt and Kieran McKeown -- is a petulant brawler who feels that the world just sees him as a tool -- so he sees them just as ants. He's a vindictive Superman, and one of the most vicious.
One of the most potent betrayals of the ideals of the Man of Steel were committed by the Superman of the Injustice: Gods Amongst Us reality. Debuting in the videogame of the same name before appearing as a major character in the comic adaptation by Tom Taylor and a host of artists, the Injustice Superman began his career as a hero. But after a scheme by the Joker resulted in the deaths of Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen and most of Metropolis, Superman snapped and murdered the Clown Prince of Crime.
Deciding to force peace by any means necessary, Superman began the Regime -- recruiting various heroes to his ultimate fascistic ideas and setting off a global superpowered war against the Insurgency led by Batman. A cold and brutal Superman, the Injustice incarnation of the character at least has a tragic backstory to explain his actions.
In the post-Flashpoint Multiverse, Earth-2 focused on a reality where Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman sacrificed themselves to halt the advances of Darkseid -- forcing a new generation of heroes to take their place. Eventually, the forces of Apokolips returned to claim Earth with Steppenwolf at the lead -- and with a clone of Kal-El at his command, known as Brutaal.
In Earth 2 #14 by James Robinson and Nicola Scott, the seemingly corrupted proved a powerful and dangerous threat -- eventually killing his master for his disloyalty to Darkseid and endeavoring to help convert the Earth into a new Apokolips. Ultimately though, this dark incarnation of Superman would be defeated by Val-Zod and the Red Tornado of this reality (secretly Lois Lane), reducing him to his true form as the Bizarro of this world before he collapsed to dust. Easily one of the darkest evil Supermen, the eventual reveal of his clone status does little to excuse his actions.
Notably, the Cyborg-Superman -- introduced as Hank Henshaw in Adventures of Superman #465 by Dan Jurgens -- is perhaps the vilest of the Supermen established in the core-DC Universe. The Post-Crisis incarnation of the character was a scientist who lost his humanity and his whole family to a voyage into space. Blaming Superman for failing to save them, Henshaw dedicated himself to revenge.
Converting himself into a partially-cloned/partially-cybernetic body in the aftermath of the "Death of Superman," posing as the real Man of Steel in Adventures of Superman #500 in "First Sighting: The Man of Tomorrow" by Dan Jurgens, Cyborg-Superman went on to be involved in numerous deadly assaults on the Earth -- including taking part in the destruction of Coast City and joining the Sinestro Corps.
Even the evilest versions of Superman are somewhat constrained by the limits of what DC will allow any version of the character to do. But other publishers -- who have long tweaked the concept with their own variant versions of the classic character -- have more freedom to create truly despicable Supermen.
One of the most famous takes on the concept is Hyperion from Marvel Comics, with Marvel utilizing multiple versions of the concept over the years -- including some very villainous ones, like King Hyperion. The Plutonian from Mark Waid, Peter Krause and Diego Barreto's Irredeemable portrayed a Superman-expy who eventually snapped and turned against humanity. A similar "Superman vs. Earth" version of the concept was Omni-Man from Invincible by Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker and Ryan Ottley.
Perhaps the darkest though is the sadistic and malicious Homelander from The Boys by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. Portrayed from the onset as a truly terrible person, Homelander was frequently portrayed in the darkest light possible -- casually assaulting women, killing families, and being perhaps the worst nightmare possible of someone with Superman's abilities.
0 Comments