10 Best Evil Versions of Superman

Superman is the superhero that started it all, defining what it means to be a superhero in look, action, and attitude. He burst onto the scene and became an instant sensation, kickstarting what would become one of the world’s biggest genres. To this day, Superman is the most iconic superhero, perfectly capturing everything that makes the genre interesting and noteworthy. Of course, like all great things that reach any form of popularity, it also inevitably led to subversions. Superman works because he is the power fantasy of a man with unlimited power choosing to be a good person, thereby subverting cynical expectations. Of course, that didn’t stop people from making a lot, and I mean a lot, of evil Supermen.

What originally started as parodying the best-known superhero of all became so cliché that creating heroic pastiches of Superman has looped back around to being subversive. Most of these evil Superman clones are, to be frank, downright boring. An unstoppable warrior is infinitely less entertaining when you remove the emotional tension, but that’s not to say that all evil Supermen are bad. There are plenty that are very entertaining. The cream of the crop offers a brand new window into the human condition and exploration of what it means to be a superhero. Today, we’re taking a look at ten of the best evil Supermen, and discussing what actually separates them from the chull. Without further ado, let’s inspect some Supermen.

10) Red Son

Calling the Superman of the Red Son Elseworld feels like a misnomer, as he is much more nuanced than the average evil “hero.” In this world, Superman’s rocket landed in the Soviet Union. He was raised to be a state-sponsored champion of “Stalin, socialism, and the international expansion of the Warsaw Pact.” However, this character was very much still Superman. At his core, the Man of Tomorrow was still a good person trying to help the world, but one who was raised in a culture that emphasized control instead of humility, as the Kents did.

Red Son is less an evil Superman subjugating the world, and more an exploration of the line between nature and nurture. Superman forcibly takes over the world in the name of peace, murdering his enemies without hesitation, but he does it all to help everyone. The road to hell is paved with Superman’s best intentions. In the end, he realizes his mistakes and repents. This story is all about grey areas and uncomfortable situations, which it excels at. He’s not really a villain, but he’s far from a hero, and does so many villainous things.

9) Homelander

Homelander is one of the most popular evil Supermen out there, and he’s a truly one-of-a-kind case, because he’s the ultimate example of this idea pushed to one of its furthest extremes. Homelander is a whiny, petulant man-baby narcissist, and there’s something so entertaining about watching him swing between terrifying and pathetic. He’s over-the-top and obscene to the point of the cringe looping back around to funny, although he definitely spends a lot of time in cringe territory. He makes the list not because he says anything interesting about Superman or even the human condition, but because if you are looking for a version of Superman that is just downright evil, and that’s it, Homelander is your guy.

8) Kid Miracleman

Kid Miracleman is technically a Superman pastiche removed about three times. He’s an evil counterpart to Miracleman, who was Marvel’s version of Shazam, who was Fawcett’s own Superman pastiche. Technically, that would make him more of a Black Adam character, but that’s weeds we don’t need to get into. Kid Miracleman is entertaining because he truly is a child given unlimited power, a boatload of trauma, and the ability to become a version of himself without restraint or regrets. It’s the story of an abused child who was already predisposed to bad tendencies, amplified a thousandfold by his experiences. The tension created by the terrified Johnny Bates and the monstrous Kid Miracleman earns him a spot on this list on its own.

7) Injustice Superman

The Injustice franchise is what I credit with the boom of evil Superman in the 2010s and popularizing the idea in broader media. This series imagines our normal Superman pushed past his breaking point, becoming a despotic tyrant who lords over the Earth. While the inciting incident is dramatic and traumatic to the extreme, the series’s true focus was always on making evil Justice Leaguers for the true heroes to fight, which it excelled at. The actual characterization in Injustice is spotty at best for our heroes-turned-tyrants. Still, the best thing about this version of Superman is how he interacts with the heroes who know the real one. He’s a dark mirror that they openly reject on every level, and seeing him get his butt beat is endlessly enjoyable.

6) Hyperion

Hyperion was Marvel’s original take on an evil Superman, being introduced in Avengers (1963) #69 as part of an evil Justice League parody, the Squadron Sinister. He started as a one-note villain, but has since developed into something much more interesting. There are countless versions of Hyperion now. There are the two-bit evil variants, the good-intentioned but flawed dictator variants, the purely heroic variants, and the all-powerful cosmic ruler variants, and all have been used to explore different aspects of being superhuman. Hyperion was meant to be a one-off Superman-like for the Avengers to beat up, but he became a vehicle to explore the effects of unlimited power on the human psyche. 

5) Bizarro

Bizarro is the original evil Superman, being an imperfect clone of the Man of Steel. He is the opposite of Superman in every way and truly commits to the bit. He says the exact opposite of what he means, and even has opposite powers, such as freezing vision and fire breath. At a glance, Bizarro wouldn’t seem to be anything other than a comedic villain-of-the-week, but there’s a surprising amount ot depth to him. He longs to belong and even made his own square planet full of family and friends. Bizarro has been an enemy and an ally, and no matter what, he’s always funny to watch. He’s the most enduring evil Superman of them all, and he’s not going anywhere anytime soon.

4) Ultraman

Ultraman is the most deadly evil version of Superman that the original faces. He’s from Earth 3, where the morality of everyone has been flipped, making Ultraman the biggest, baddest villain of all. He has all the normal evil Superman attributes, but what makes him interesting is that he regularly battles the Man of Steel. He stands for everything Superman stands against, and their clashes are as much spiritual as they are physical. He’s not a necessarily deep character, but he doesn’t have to be, because he was made to be a mirror of what Superman could have become. Unlike most evil Supermen, Ultraman works without anything extra added because he is meant to directly confront and lose to the original, which provides tension enough on its own.

3) Omni-Man

Omni-Man took the comic book world by storm in the pages of Invincible, then became infinitely more popular when the TV adaptation skyrocketed up every chart there is. He is a reimagining of Superman, having come from a fascist galactic empire where might makes right. What sets him apart from other evil Supermen is how he grows over time from a seemingly one-dimensional villain to a deeply flawed and broken man who understands his past mistakes and tries desperately to improve on every level. His character is a journey of redemption and heroism against every odd, showing that the power of family and love can change even the darkest heart. Omni-Man is a phenomenal character, and there is a whole lot more of him to come in future seasons.

2) Plutonian

The Plutonian was created to be the perfect hero for humanity, but being raised in broken homes broke him. By the time he was fully grown, he had committed himself to being a hero, but only to fuel his ego and unattainable need for universal approval. When that inevitably blew up, he became a murderous monster the likes of which the world had never seen. The Plutonian is a deeply flawed man who never understood what it meant to be a hero, or even what it meant to be a person, because he never received the care he needed. It certainly nowhere near absolves him, but it makes him endlessly fascinating to break down and examine. 

1) Superboy-Prime

Superboy-Prime’s character arc has been one of the greatest things to come out of DC Comics in the last ten years. First off, Prime as a villain succeeds on every level. He’s the living embodiment of the Silver Age’s absurd powerscaling, as he can do almost anything he wants, like punching through time from a pocket dimension or causing retcons by hitting the weakened focal point of reality. He’s a fourth-wall-breaking brat who wants to be adored by everyone, perfectly encapsulating and making fun of all of the worst parts of the comic book fandom. At his villainous peak, Prime perfectly mixed being a threat and a joke better than anyone else.

Of course, he didn’t start as a villain, and he didn’t stay one forever, either. Superboy-Prime was eventually redeemed by his own love of comics, with his arc capturing that feeling of hope and devotion that inspires countless fans to pick up new releases every week. Even as a hero, he kept his edge and brashness in the best ways, using what made him a great villain to become an even better hero. Whenever Superboy-Prime shows up, it’s a treat, because you know you are in for a new-age classic when the clock strikes prime time. 

At the end of the day, Supermen come in all shapes, sizes, and moralities, but we can all agree that the idea of Superman is endlessly fascinating and definitely worth digging into. Which alternate Superman is your favorite? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!

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