Highlights
- Batman’s contingency plans and access to Kryptonite give him an advantage against Superman in battles.
- Batman’s friendship with Superman is evident as he breaks his own rule to save him and uses a Kryptonite dart to neutralize Superman when necessary.
- Batman has defeated Superman in various storylines, including one where he becomes Doomsday and kills him using his own strength and intellect.
Batman and Superman make for the World’s Finest, one of the greatest duos in all of comics. This DC Comics pairing is immortal, and fans always love to see the two interact as heroes, friends, and brothers. Yet, what makes their chemistry work is how opposite they are, which often means that they come to blows through arguments, and even physical confrontations. There have been a few DC Comics where Batman has fought Superman and actually come out on top.
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Everyone knows that with prep time, Batman can probably beat anything thrown at him. Yet, is that true for the Man of Steel? Batman has a contingency plan to defeat and neutralize everyone he meets, and although Superman may be his best friend, it’s worth having a plan and even initiating it if it means doing what’s right.
6 JLA: Tower Of Babel
Subdued Superman With Synthetic Red Kryptonite
In JLA: Tower of Babel, the Justice League falls under siege to attacks by none other than Batman’s own mind. Batman’s secret contingency plans to subdue and defeat the Justice League have been used against him, and in that act, Ra’s Al Ghul is revealed to have been the mastermind of beginning the world for domination. Whilst it is not Batman directly that causes this attack on Superman, it is his plan that is executed successfully.
Superman is infected with exposure to synthetic Red Kryptonite, which was created by Batman himself to make his skin transparent to weaken his cellular structure and affect his ability to successfully absorb the radiation of the sun. Whilst it didn’t kill Superman, it left him crippled for a moment.
5 Superman/Batman: The Trust
Shot With A Kryptonite Dart
In this 8-page comic from the brilliant Alex Ross, Superman is committing a rampage in Metropolis, his mind under the effects of Brainiac’s evil command. It’s up to Batman to stop him, but can he truly kill his friend, the Man of Steel? Batman might break his one rule for this friendship forged through trust. In an effort to stop and subdue Superman’s rampage, he grapples to his ankle and is sent flying through the sky.
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When shouting out to Superman fails, Batman is forced to pull out a gun, with a bullet forged from Kryptonite, given to Batman by Superman himself in case he needs to be stopped. Yet, Batman used this Kryptonite to forge a dart to neutralize Superman and remove the chip implanted by Brainiac. It shows the friendship between Batman and Superman, that he broke his one rule to save him by wielding a gun.
4 Batman: The Devastator
Batman Becomes Doomsday And Kills Superman
The Dark Multiverse introduced a line of Earths where superheroes failed, and most importantly, Batman succumbed to darkness by killing those close to him. One such world exists on Earth -1, in which for whatever reason, Superman one day turned evil, affected by a solar storm or Darkseid, it is unknown. In a last-ditch effort to save humanity, Batman developed a new strand of the Doomsday Virus to infect himself and become a version of the dreaded monster that killed Superman all those years ago.
With Doomsday’s strength and Batman’s mind, the Devastator made quick work of Superman and killed him. Batman was unable to change back, and a growing anger consumed him. Whilst this is an Elseworlds story, the Dark Multiverse exists within the DC Continuity, and out there a world has lost its Superman and its Batman.
3 The Dark Knight Returns
Beaten By An Armored Batman After Kryptonite Spores Infect His Lungs
Superheroes have become unlawful in the eyes of the government, and when a retired Batman comes out of the shadows to fight for Gotham City, Superman is forced by the President of the United States to bring him in. Yet, Batman came prepared for this day, as he always has. The Dark Knight Returns presents perhaps the most epic fight between Superman and Batman, where Batman’s poetic battle takes place in Crime Alley, the very place where his parents were murdered all those years ago.
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Batman utilizes everything he has. A suit of armor, the electrical current of Gotham City, missiles, and even a tank. Yet, once again, it’s Kryptonite that takes Superman out. An arrow forged of Kryptonite bursts, filling Superman’s lungs with his weakness to make the Man of Steel feel his mortality, and feel every hit with fist and words that Batman throws at him before he succumbs to a heart attack.
2 Batman: Hush
Threw Lois Lane Off A Roof To Wake Superman Up
A kiss from Poison Ivy can be deadly or controlling, and in the case of Superman, it’s the latter. When Poison Ivy takes control of Superman, she gives him a job to do, which involves killing Batman. Batman sees Superman as predictable, and he’s able to dodge many of his attacks. It also helps that Superman is being controlled by Poison Ivy, so he is not in full control of his own powers to decimate Batman.
Nevertheless, Batman runs to a lead-lined sewer system beneath Metropolis and puts on a Kryptonite ring. Batman utilizes Kryptonite, hypersonics, flash grenades, and electricity to hurt Superman. Yet, those barely do anything to Superman, and it’s his love for Lois Lane that puts him out of Poison Ivy’s spell, as Catwoman throws her out of a building, forcing Superman to overpower his hypnosis and save his love.
1 Batman: Endgame
Subdued A Jokerized Superman With Kryptonite Gum
Batman has to use a Justice Buster suit to fight the entire Justice League on his own after they succumb to the effects of Joker Toxin. Yet, it’s Superman that once again gives him a run for his money, and The Dark Knight is forced into battle with the Man of Steel once again. Batman starts with microscopic red suns in his suit’s knuckles. He even has plasma shields to deflect heat vision and countermeasures to his freeze breath. The suit Batman is in has thought of it all, and against a Jokerized Superman, he might stand a chance for more than a second.
When that second is up, Superman launches Batman into the sky, preparing to drop him out of his suit. Yet, Batman has another trick up his sleeve, a butadiene-based synthetic rubber laced with Kryptonite to spit into Superman’s eye. In essence, he spits Kryptonite Gum in his face and causes them both to fall. In the end, this fight is somewhat of a draw.
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