8 Biggest Threats to Superman (And One is Completely Unexpected)

Superman has a certain reputation among fans. The biggest complaint most people have about Superman is that he’s too powerful. There’s some credence to this. Superman’s powers reached since dizzying heights as him being able to move faster than light and move planets with little difficulty. Superman’s level of power usually works out that he’s as powerful as he needs to be to win. This can make it quite difficult to find a villain that can actually endanger Superman. While Superman has some weaknesses, for the most part a villain has to be very powerful to even scratch Superman. There are very few credible threats to Superman out there, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t any.

Superman has battled some of the most powerful beings in the entire Multiverse. Over the years, there have been some villains that most people acknowledge are actual threats to Superman. The most dangerous of these are threats to not only Superman, but also to creation itself. These eight villains are the biggest threats to Superman, villains that have a better than 50/50 chance of beating the Man of Steel.

The Anti-Monitor

DC has introduced some of the most powerful villains ever in their event books. While many of these have been threats to Superman, the vast of majority of them only appear once or villains that he can beat who have buffed. However, there’s one such villain that we’re going to count on this list, mostly because they always come back — the Anti-Monitor. Anti-Monitor has the highest body count of any villain in comics, having destroyed countless universes in his rampage. The Anti-Monitor is a being who has complete control over anti-matter and had a strength level far beyond even Silver Age Kryptonians, the most powerful of which (for example Superman or Supergirl) could move planets. The Anti-Monitor is an incredibly powerful villain, and has smacked around Superman and killed Supergirl. While a Superman was responsible for his downfall — Earth-Two Superman struck the final blow — it was only after the heroes had spent a lot of time and energy wearing down the Anti-Monitor. The Anti-Monitor has the power level to actually defeat Superman, and is a danger to the hero every time he shows up.

Eclipso

Eclipso is going to be the biggest shock on this list, for several reasons. Eclipso is best known as a Justice Society of America villain now. In the last five years, Wally West has faced him twice, so maybe he can considered a Flash villain as well. He’s powerful, but he’s not usually considered a Superman villain, although it would be great to add him to Superman’s rogues gallery at some point. Eclipso, however, is definitely a threat to Superman. Eclipso was once the Angel of Wrath, responsible for the Biblical flood, but was stripped of his office after it was revealed that he enjoyed punishing humans too much. He was imprisoned in the Heart of Darkness, and would possess anyone who came into contact with it. He lost some of his power, but not all of it. Eclipso’s power levels are still very high; he’s a master of dark magic and has limited control of reality. Eclispo is all about eclipses, and is always searching out a way to start an eclipse, making him dangerous to Superman since he wants to take away the source of his power. Eclipso’s magical abilities are the next thing that make him dangerous to Superman, since magic is one of Superman’s most well-known weaknesses. Eclipso is strong enough to go toe to toe with Superman, and his powers are enough to seal the deal if Superman doesn’t get lucky.

Mr. Mxyzptlk

Mr. Mxyzptlk is the next entry that’s going to be surprising, but for very different reasons. Mxy is an all-powerful imp from the Fifth Dimension. He has high level reality altering powers and has gotten bored with his immortal, godlike life in the Fifth Dimension. So, Mxy likes to come to Earth and mess with Superman. Mxy usually isn’t a threat to Superman, mostly because he’s not fighting Superman to try and kill him. However, Mxy does have the power to destroy Superman, and there have been several versions of Mxy who decided to leave behind pranking Superman and trying to kill him. The best example of this comes from the pre-Crisis classic “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?”. Mxy had decided that instead of pranks, he wanted to destroy, and used his powers to control Superman’s most powerful villains and attack the Man of Steel, all so that he could kill him. While Mxy doesn’t get this dangerous very often, it’s something that he has the potential to do. This is what makes Mxy such a huge threat to Superman, as he can kill Superman any time that he wants.

Doomsday

Doomsday is here because he was able to do the one that the vast majority of Superman’s villain haven’t been able to do — he’s killed Superman. Doomsday is the perfect weapon, created on Krypton millennia ago to be an unstoppable killing machine. Doomsday’s physical power is basically unlimited and when he dies, he comes back harder to kill. Doomsday is just a wild berserker, and that’s what has made him so dangerous. It’s hard to say whether Doomsday is stronger than Superman, but we know that he’s strong enough that Superman is afraid of him every time Doomsday shows up. Doomsday has also evolved recently, with a future version of the beast gaining intelligence, and becoming the Time Trapper, giving him complete control over time. Every time Doomsday shows up is a cause of concern for Superman and his allies, because they know that Doomsday can kill Superman if it comes down to it.

RELATED: Superman Almost Married His Actual Cousin (And It’s As Weird As You Think)

General Zod

Superman has battled many surviving Kryptonians over the years, but of those, the biggest threat to him is easily General Zod. Zod was Krypton’s greatest soldier, but was thrown into the Phantom Zone after committing war crimes. Zod has escaped the Phantom Zone multiple times, gaining powers equivalent to Superman, which is bad enough before you take Zod’s martial skill into the bargain. Zod and Superman are basically at the same power level, and have the same weaknesses, but it’s Zod’s experience as a soldier that makes him such a big threat to Superman. Zod was trained in combat his entire life and is a master of tactics, and has been able to defeat Superman multiple times. Zod is one of Superman’s greatest villains, a villainous opposite for the Man of Steel greater than any other.

Darkseid

Darkseid is often considered the most dangerous villain in the DC Multiverse, and for good reason. Darkseid is the God of Evil, an all-powerful force of darkness that exists for no other reason than to bring suffering to existence. If Superman is hope personified, than Darkseid is hopelessness, an opposite force of destruction while Superman is a force of love and creation. Darkseid is a being who is light years ahead of Superman in power level. He’s been shown to be stronger than Superman, even at the hero’s strongest, and has the power of the Omega Beams, eyeblasts which follow their targets where ever they go and can kill most beings in one hit. Darkseid sometimes has control of the Anti-Life Equation, which gives him control over anyone and anything that hears it. On top of all of that, he has legions of Parademons and powerful generals to thrown into battle against anyone who causes him ire. Darkseid and Superman have battled it out many times over the years, and while Superman has been able to figure out ways to defeat Darkseid, it’s never easy.

Brainiac

Brainiac is one of the few beings in all the Multiverse that Superman actually fears. The Coluan cyborg has traveled the universe for years, stealing cities, shrinking them, and adding them to his collection, after which he destroys the star system they came from. Brainiac is obsessed with knowledge and wants to be the only being that has it. Brainiac is probably the smartest villain that Superman fights, having gained knowledge of the universe that very few have. Brainiac’s evolved into many forms over the years — an alien cyborg, a powerful robot controlled by his consciousness, an alien intelligence that takes over the bodies of others — but his current form is the most dangerous of them. Brainiac is more than just a mental threat to Superman, but also a physical one, able to fight the Kryptonian hero to a standstill. Brainiac is intelligent pragmatism personified, and is a threat that always challenges Superman in a variety of ways. He has a ship full of the most powerful weapons, as well as an army of killer robots, and can beat Superman within inch of his life. Brainiac is probably Superman’s most well-rounded threat, which makes him supremely dangerous.

Lex Luthor

Lex Luthor is Superman’s greatest enemy. Lex and Superman are opposites in every way; where Superman is caring, Lex is cruel. Where Superman is altruistic, Lex is greed personified. Superman wants to help people for their sake, while Lex only helps people to make himself greater. Superman has supreme physical power, and Lex has supreme mental power. Lex Luthor has spent years devoting his considerable intelligence — he’d be very mad that I said that Brainiac was smarter than him — to coming up with ways to destroy Superman. Lex is a master of Kryptonite-based technology, as well as using red sun energy against Superman. Lex’s hatred for Superman is his defining characteristic, which is what makes him Superman’s biggest threat. Lex isn’t the most powerful threat Superman faces, but he’s the one who desires Superman’s death the most. He will stop at nothing to gain the upper hand over Superman, and has the kind of tech that allows him to be threat any time. Plus, let’s be real — Lex’s power armor is the coolest suit of armor in comics. He’s a massive threat and he always great while doing it.