Highlights
- Evil Supermen bring a new level of horror to DC Comics, showcasing the potential for darkness within even the most iconic hero.
- Various twisted iterations of Superman, from clones to infected versions, highlight the dangers of power without morality.
- From Ultraman to Superboy-Prime, evil Supermen pose significant threats to the DC Multiverse, challenging the heroes and showcasing their darker sides.
Among superheroes in DC Comics, Superman best embodied the idea of hope, truth, and justice. After all, compared to other members of the Justice League, it’s seeing the iconic shield of Superman that both his fellow Leaguers and comic book fans know that there’s a chance to turn things around. As such, it can be quite a frightening notion when Superman is brought to the brink of his limitations and becomes evil incarnate.
While many of Superman’s evil counterparts are often defeated by that universe’s version of Batman or even Superman from Prime Earth, it’s undeniable the kind of horrors these evil Supermen have done in their respective universes. For DC Comics fans interested in learning more about evil Supermen, just which among them is the most frightening?
10 An Alternate New Earth Superman
An Alternate Timeline Where Superman Was Raised By Evil
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First Appearance |
Superman/Batman #14 (2005) |
|---|---|
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Creators |
Jeph Loeb, Carlos Pacheco |
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Powerset |
Kryptonian Physiology, Sunlight-Powered Physique, Superhuman Strength, Flight, Enhanced Senses, Invulnerability |
Perhaps one of the most horrific versions of Superman was one where he was raised to be truly evil. In the “Absolute Power” of Batman/Superman, the Legion of Super-Villains from the 31st Century went back in time to raise younger versions of New Earth Superman and Batman as their own children. They were raised and trained to become dictators, ruling the world with an iron fist and with no hesitation to kill others. This resulted in the deaths of their supposed friends, such as Wonder Woman, who died at the hands of Superman.
While history is eventually restored, Superman and Batman still have the memories of the murders they committed, haunting them. What sets this Superman apart from other similar “raised in a dark environment” iterations is that they’re not Superman in an alternate universe, but rather the actual “main” Superman at the time. This means the Superman who murdered out of cold blood in a ruined timeline was the same one who would likely be able to save the DC Multiverse from threats in that era.
9 Superman/Doomsday
Superman Infected With Doomsday’s Powers
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First Appearance |
Superman: Doomed #1 (2014) |
|---|---|
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Creators |
Scott Lobdell, Grek Pak, Charles Soule, Aaron Kuder, Tony Daniel, Ken Lashey |
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Powerset |
Kryptonian Physiology, Doomsday Physiology, Sunlight-Powered Physique, Superhuman Strength, Flight, Enhanced Senses, Invulnerability, Weakness Adaptation |
When Doomsday makes an appearance in any Superman comic, it usually means Superman will die or get irreparably damaged. Superman: Doomed begins with this premise, especially when Doomsday proves it can even escape the Phantom Zone. However, things happened differently this time around: when Superman kills Doomsday, he falls into a coma and reawakens as a monster. As it turns out, killing Doomsday had Superman “inhale” the toxins that make up his body.
This process slowly transforms the Man of Steel’s physique into that of Doomsday, making him a psychopathic killer beast. All these events happened during Brainiac’s attempt to assimilate everyone on Earth into his minions, forcing Superman to fully give into Doomsday’s presence to gather enough power to stop the 12th-level Intellect. While Superman technically prevails and returns to his original self, it takes the aid of his friend’s presence in his psyche to win a jarring mental battle against Brainiac and fight Doomsday’s urges to overtake him.
8 Black Lantern Kal-L
The Original Man Of Steel As A Servant Of Death In Blackest Night
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First Appearance |
Blackest Night: Superman #1 (2009) |
|---|---|
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Creators |
James Robinson |
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Powerset |
Kryptonian Physiology, Sunlight-Powered Physique, Superhuman Strength, Flight, Enhanced Senses, Invulnerability, Black Lantern Corps Ring |
As the Lantern Corps gets embroiled in the War of Light during the events of Blackest Night, Nekron of the Black Lantern Corps has begun unleashing Black Lantern Power Rings around the universe to resurrect fallen heroes and villains to his cause of spreading death. Among the ones revived as a Black Lantern is Kal-L, the Superman of Earth-Two, whom the Black Lantern Power Ring corrupts into fighting New Earth Superman and Conner Kent.
The incursion would involve more of the Super-Family’s members at the time, as Blackest Night Kal-L would prove to be a formidable threat. Under the control of the Ring, this version of Superman wouldn’t hold his punches against his counterparts. Conner had to incapacitate Black Lantern Psycho-Pirate to turn Kal-L back into an inanimate corpse, and a new weapon from Doctor Fate and Mister Terrific to truly destroy this version of Superman.
7 Brutaal
A Fragile Superman Clone With All His Strengths
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First Appearance |
Earth 2 #14 (2013) |
|---|---|
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Creators |
James Robinson, Nicola Scott |
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Powerset |
Kryptonian Physiology, Sunlight-Powered Abilities, Superhuman Strength, Flight, Enhanced Senses, Limited Invulnerability, Fragile Genetic Makeup |
Created as a clone of Kal-El by the leader of Apokolips, Darkseid, the man who would be known as Brutaal is a loyal follower of his creator and would stop at nothing to follow his commands. Such was Brutaal’s devotion to Darkseid that he kills Steppenwolf upon hearing that he was going to take Earth for himself rather than in the name of Darkseid.
While Brutaal would only stay for a short while, his strength would take many members of the Justice League and their allies to match. In fact, Brutaal was only sparing some Leaguers due to their potential use for Darkseid. It took Val-Zod to realize that Brutaal had literal “cracks” in his body for the clone to be destroyed. Had it not been for this discovery, Brutaal may have been able to defeat the League and secure surefire victory for an Earth conquest for Darkseid.
6 The Last Sun
Corrupted Into Becoming A Living Star
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First Appearance |
Dark Nights: Death Metal The Multiverse Who Laughs #1 (2021) |
|---|---|
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Creators |
Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo |
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Powerset |
Kryptonian Physiology, Star Embodiment, Superhuman Strength, Flight, Enhanced Senses, Invulnerability, Solar Radiation Dependence |
With the Batman Who Laughs eventually obtaining power of multiversal heights, he would create a nightmare version of Superman called the Last Sun. This iteration of Superman in the Batman Who Laughs’ Last 52 Multiverse would retain much of Kal-El’s origin story until he’s sent away from Krypton. The Darkest Knight had just manipulated his story to make sure he traveled through thousands of suns, with the solar radiation corrupting Kal at an early age. When the Darkest Knight unleashes him upon the Multiverse’s defenders, it turns out the Last Sun has quite literally become the living embodiment of a star.
Desiring to destroy everything in its path, the Last Sun has Superman’s powerset on top of energy projection. Not only that, he’s capable of absorbing the energy of everyone around him. The original Superman was no match against this dark counterpart, with the only thing leading to his demise being a massive black hole that Lex Luthor created by destroying his warsuit.
5 Anti-Living Superman
A Zombie Superman With All Of His Powers, Unbridled Hunger & Rage
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First Appearance |
DCeased (2019) |
|---|---|
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Creators |
John Francise Moore, Kieron Dwyer |
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Powerset |
Kryptonian Physiology, Sunlight-Powered Abilities, Superhuman Strength, Flight, Enhanced Senses, Invulnerability, Insatiable Hunger |
Sometimes, the most frightening version of “evil” is one where it can’t comprehend the concept. Such is the case of Anti-Living Superman, the “zombie” Clark Kent of the DCeased storyline. Due to a techno-organic virus unleashed by the Anti-Life Equation, the “infection” it released eliminated all signs of intellect and will from the infected and left only the desire to spread Anti-Life – be it through digital infection, bodily fluids, or death. It’s exactly this property that made Anti-Living Superman extremely dangerous, as he possessed all of Superman’s powers with none of the morality to contain them.
Despite the series having a short run, Superman remains one of the few infected heroes and villains that no one manages to defeat. In the final panels of the series, the Anti-Living Superman decides to absorb the very sun itself just to take on the Green Lanterns sent to fight him. Such was the “impossibility” of defeating him that the Green Lanterns decided to let the Sun die to “freeze” the virus as life itself ceases to exist in the Solar System.
4 Ultraman
Leader Of The Crime Syndicate
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First Appearance |
Justice League Vol. 2, #23 (2013) |
|---|---|
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Creators |
Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis |
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Powerset |
Kryptonian Physiology, Kryptonite-Powered Abilities, Superhuman Physique, Invulnerability, Flight, Enhanced Senses, Sunlight Weakness |
Kal-Il follows the traditional story of Kal-El up until he ends up with a dysfunctional family, as he ends up killing them in his childhood. With no role models to teach him what it means to use his powers for good, Kal-Il became Ultraman and became the world’s conqueror through the Crime Syndicate. While he boasts the same powerset as Superman, his sheer brutality allows him to eliminate threats before they even arrive. Ultraman’s only setback is his tendency to be weak when exposed to sunlight, although some of his versions don’t have such a weakness. On top of his lack of morals, Ultraman is a deadlier Superman threat as he derives strength from Kryptonite, meaning he can recharge with the same material that can kill any other Superman.
While seemingly killed by Injustice Superman in the Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent series, this would only be the latest of many Ultraman deaths in DC Comics. The Multiverse had already resurrected Ultraman during its healing process during DC Rebirth, implying Ultraman and Earth 3 being “the opposite” of the Prime Earth was a necessary existence. Should he be revived, Ultraman can pick up right where he left off: use his new device to absorb Superman’s powers and kill them across the Multiverse.
3 Injustice Superman
The High Councilor Of The Regime
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First Appearance |
Injustice: Gods Among Us #1 (2013) |
|---|---|
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Creators |
Tom Taylor, Jheremy Raapack |
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Powerset |
Kryptonian Physiology, Sunlight-Powered Abilities, Superhuman Strength, Flight, Enhanced Senses, Invulnerability |
When the Joker’s “ultimate” prank consists of forcing Clark Kent to hallucinate the appearance of Doomsday ends up killing Lois Lane and their unborn child, as well as the destruction of Metropolis, Injustice Superman knew the time for mercy was enough. Forming the Regime, Injustice Superman would stop at nothing to enforce justice – even murder. While the Injustice video games would see Batman defeat Superman amid the existence of other threats, it’s situations when Injustice Superman wins that the extent of his morally twisted agenda will be seen.
In this alternate scenario, Superman defeats Batman and Brainiac and bonds with the latter’s ship. After freeing warrior civilizations Brainiac trapped, he recruits their greatest warriors to form the Legion of Superheroes. This expands Superman’s vision of “true justice” beyond planets and even outside universes, especially with Brainiac’s mind-control technology capable of forcing anyone who won’t listen to bend to his will.
2 Superdoom, The Last Knight Of Tomorrow
An Evil Superman Powered By Thought Itself
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First Appearance |
Action Comics Vol. 2 #9 (2012) |
|---|---|
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Creators |
Grant Morrison, Gene Ha |
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Powerset |
Powered by Collective Thought, Superhuman Physique, Energy Projection, Kryptonite Vulnerability |
The adage “the road to hell is full of good intentions” is true in Earth-45, as the construction of a thought-creation device to create a “thought-powered redeemer” became the Multiversal threat known as Superdoom. This all started when genius Clark Kent as well as Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen were forced to sell this device to Overcorp, which then maximized the brand’s potential through sheer brutality and “toyetic” appeal. Under the directive of eliminating all forms of competition, Superdoom took upon itself the task of killing its creators and eliminating all other Supermen across the Multiverse.
While now seemingly working with the forces of order after joining the Injustice Incarnate to safeguard the Multiverse, Superdoom is by no means shown to be fully reformed. At his peak, Superdoom uses the thoughts of those who believe in him to gain strength. Given his status as a horrific engine of destruction, his victims and the people around him have continued to give him power to such an extent that he can kill other Supermen with ease. He still shares their weakness for Kryptonite, but being powered by thought itself may prove more powerful than a mere yellow sun.
1 Superboy-Prime
Possibly The Muliverse’s Greatest Threat
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First Appearance |
DC Comics Presents #87 (1985) |
|---|---|
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Creators |
Elliot Maggin, Curt Swan |
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Powerset |
Kryptonian Physiology, Sunlight-Powered Abilities, Superhuman Strength, Flight, Invulnerability, Red Sunlight Power Dampening |
Among the evil versions of Superman exist, none would be as vital to the DC Multiverse itself as Superboy-Prime. Originally just Clark Kent from Krypton in Earth-Prime where he is “normal” and superheroes only exist in comics, an encounter with Earth-One’s Superman would “trigger” the activation of his abilities. No known Kryptonite is able to affect Superman-Prime, except for one variant that Element Lad created. Events in Crisis on Infinite Earths would slowly fuel his instability, transforming Superboy-Prime and eventually Superman-Prime into one of the DC Multiverse’s most dangerous threats.
Infinite Crisis would need the Flashes to trap Prime in the Speed Force and the Green Lanterns to use a red sun to slowly weaken him, both of which would fail to contain him. Prime can stand up to the might of Power Rings, and contend against the Shazam Family. Superman-Prime even managed to fight the Batman Who Laughs and destabilize the Last 52, saving the Multiverse while dying in the process. When this event brings him back to his home dimension, even Prime is surprised to have his powers intact. Whether or not Superman-Prime changed for the better since Dark Metal is unknown, which makes him all the more terrifying.
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