The Five Most Impactful Superhero Battles in History

Christian Hoffer

05/06/2016 12:36 pm EDT

Superheroes fight each other all the time under the slightest of pretenses. Another superhero encroaching on your turf? Use your fists to mark your territory. Ham-fisted political debate? Nothing says reasoned debate like beating each other up. One of your teammates acting a little funny? Better kick the snot out of them to make sure they're not being mind controlled.

Most superhero fights end without consequences, because superheroes have better things to do then actually hurt each other to prove a point. However, some superhero fights have made a real impact, either on the heroes themselves or on the larger universe in which they live. Here's five of the most impactful superhero fights in comics:

The Ultimates vs. the Hulk

The Ultimate Universe was Marvel's attempt at modernizing their universe without sacrificing decades of continuity or angering fans. Set in an alternate universe where the "age of Marvels" began in the modern day, the Ultimates were the "Ultimate" version of the Avengers, assembled by the US government to respond to the rising threat of superpowered threats. However, their first real threat came from within their own ranks, when Science Director Bruce Banner injected himself with a supersoldier serum-laced version of his Hulk formula after learning the team faced potential budget costs. As the Hulk, Banner went on a rampage through downtown Manhattan until the Ultimates arrived to stop their teammate. The Hulk held his own against the Ultimates, knocking out Giant-Man, fighting Thor to a standstill and surviving Captain America's attempt to stop him with a tank. However, he wasn't ready for the Wasp, who flew into his skull at a microscopic size and electrocuted his brain, which returned Banner to his normal size.

Banner's attempt to "give" the Ultimates a threat to fight worked. The team became national heroes (and kept their government funding), but Banner was imprisoned and eventually sentenced to death for the murders he caused during his rampage as the Hulk.

Superman vs. Wonder Woman

In the lead up to Infinite Crisis, Blue Beetle discovered that his old friend and ally Maxwell Lord had taken control of the shadowy Checkmate organization and using it to gather intel on superheroes. Lord murdered Blue Beetle in hopes of keeping Checkmate a secret, but his investigation eventually led Batman and other heroes to confront Lord. However, Lord had more tricks up his sleeve. Using his long dormant mental powers, Lord revealed that he had slowly worked his way into Superman's mind and caused the hero to hallucinate and attack his friends.

After Superman wrecked Batman, Lord unleashed Superman on Wonder Woman, hoping that their battle would cause enough public destruction to justify his plans to take down the superhero community. As Superman fought Wonder Woman thinking she was Doomsday, Wonder Woman realized that even if she beat Superman today, Lord would still have a "door" into Superman's mind that would allow him to control the superhero in the future. Tying Lord up with her Lasso of Truth confirmed her fears: Wonder Woman would need to kill Lord to stop him from invading Superman's mind. So Wonder Woman snapped Lord's neck Man of Steel style. Unfortunately, Lord had his murder broadcast around the world, causing Wonder Woman's reputation to plummet and causing a major rift between DC's three biggest heroes. Lord's murder ushered the way for Infinite Crisis, which further altered the DC Universe in several ways.

Guy Gardner v. Batman

Guy Gardner is best known as the resident "jackass" of the Green Lantern Corps. Cocky, vulgar, and rude, Gardner finally earned a place in the newly reformed Justice League created after Crisis on Infinite Earths. Gardner challenged Batman's leadership for several issues, threatening him and demanding to be made leader. Batman generally kept his cool around Gardner, but things came to a head when Gardner foolishly challenged Batman to a fight. Raising his fists, Guy didn't expect Batman to throw the first punch, but that's exactly what the Caped Crusader did. Punching the Green Lantern square in the jaw, Batman knocked Guy out with one punch in front of the rest of the League.

The "fight" haunted Guy for years, ruining his reputation and becoming one of the most famous punches in comics. Green Lantern: Rebirth recreated the scene nearly 20 years later, only with Hal Jordan knocking down Batman with a well aimed sucker punch as Gardner watched with bemusement.

Daredevil vs. the Sub-Mariner

Marvel's superheroes can be roughly divided into two categories: the "street level" heroes fighting petty crimes and average supervillains and the powerhouses capable of wrecking cities and stopping cosmic-level threats. In a Silver Age issue of Daredevil, Matt Murdock (who falls firmly in the "street level" category of superhero) faced off against Namor, one of Marvel's early powerhouses. After Namor unsuccessfully asks Murdock to sue all of humanity for the right to Earth, he goes on a rampage through New York. Donning his brand new red Daredevil costume (the first time Daredevil wears his all red costume in the comics!), Matt tries to reason with Namor, but gets the stuffing kicked out of him and nearly drowned for his troubles.

However, Daredevil's bravery is enough for Namor to turn himself in and give America's legal system a fair shot. Before Namor's trial (where he plans to have his acting lawyer Matt Murdock countersue humanity), the Atlantean prince learns that one of his warlords has staged a coup, so he breaks out of jail to deal with his own country's problems. Fearing that Namor is about to go on another rampage due to New York's slow court system, Daredevil begs the US Army to let him deal with Namor, hoping to spare the city from further damage. Daredevil puts up a second valiant fight, but Namor is way out of Daredevil's league. Daredevil briefly slows Namor down with a downed wire, but the Submariner recovers quickly while the blind superhero battles consciousness. Before passing out, Matt grabs Namor's ankles to show he's willing to keep fighting, which impresses Namor so much, he vows to spare humanity from his wrath (and presumably drops his frivolous lawsuit) and leaves Daredevil on the street. Namor left New York alone for a bit as a result (a rarity during Marvel's early years) and Daredevil proved that his new red costume was a lot better at hiding all the blood stains than his original yellow costume.

The Superhero Civil War

Civil War is the superhero fight to end superhero fights. When a superhero battle gone wrong leaves a bunch of schoolchildren dead, the US government passes legislation to force all superheroes to register, leaving heroes divided as a result. While Iron Man, Mister Fantastic and Spider-Man are all okay with the idea of government registration, Captain America and Luke Cage revolt and lead a rebellion of likeminded heroes. Civil War had it all: mad Thor clones, prison breakouts, Spider-Man crumbling under the pressure of real responsibility, and Captain America getting confronted with his ignorance about social media. In the end, Captain America "won" the battle by beating Iron Man to an inch of his life, but lost the war. When first responders rushed into the battle to stop Captain America from killing Iron Man, the super-soldier discovered he had lost touch with America and turned himself in.

Civil War had all sorts of crazy consequences. Luke Cage became the de facto leader of a team of underground New Avengers. Crossbones and a brainwashed Sharon Carter assassinated Captain America on the steps outside of his trial. The Kingpin hires an assassin to kill Peter Parker (who outed himself as Spider-Man during Civil War) but shoots Aunt May instead, leading to Peter trading his marriage to the devil for Aunt May's life. Also, Tony Stark became the head of SHIELD for a while, until the US government turned on him and put Norman Osborn in charge instead.

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