7 Times Batman Beat Superman (& How He Did It)

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Batman and Superman are one of the most famous and powerful partnerships in comic book history – truly the ‘World’s Finest.’ Though they’re very different – Superman embodies hope, while Batman is a darker, more serious detective – they complement each other perfectly. Their contrasting personalities are actually what make them such a strong team and close friends.

Even though Batman and Superman are a fantastic team and close friends, they’ve clashed on several occasions. Throughout comic book history, both within the main storylines and in separate tales, they’ve fought – and sometimes, Batman has won. Here are seven instances where Batman bested Superman. These weren’t always clear-cut victories – no one usually dies or is definitively defeated – but Superman always ends up losing, which highlights just how powerful and resourceful Batman truly is.

7) Batman: Hush

Battles between Batman and Superman aren’t always full-on fights. Sometimes, one hero needs to help the other get back on track, and that’s what happens in Batman: Hush. Poison Ivy manages to control Superman with her powers and then directs him to attack Batman and Catwoman, creating a truly frightening scenario.

Batman quickly figures out Superman is holding back, so he uses all his gadgets and skills to keep him occupied. Meanwhile, Catwoman takes a huge risk by throwing Lois Lane off the Daily Planet building. Seeing Lois in danger is enough to snap Superman out of Poison Ivy’s control. He rescues Lois, and then teams up with Batman to stop Ivy. Though it was a combined effort to free Superman, we’ll consider this a victory for Batman.

6) Superman: Red Son

Superman: Red Son is a well-known alternate universe story featuring a particularly impactful defeat of Superman at the hands of Batman. The story reimagines Superman’s origin: instead of landing in Kansas, his ship crashes in Soviet Ukraine, drastically changing his life and role. In this version of events, the Soviet Union thrives while the United States struggles, and Superman becomes a powerful, almost controlling figure. Batman, driven by a personal vendetta, despises Superman because his parents were killed for publishing material critical of the hero.

In a surprising turn, Batman forms an alliance with LexCorp and a former KGB leader to defeat Superman. Their plan involves using Wonder Woman as bait to draw Superman into a trap where they intend to strip him of his powers using artificial red sun radiation. The scheme largely succeeds, and Superman is weakened, but he manages to persuade Wonder Woman to switch sides and help him, even though she’s badly hurt in the process. To avoid Superman’s retribution, Batman sacrifices himself, positioning himself as a hero for the cause. While Batman technically achieves his goal, it comes at a great cost.

5) Superman/Batman: The Trust

“Superman/Batman: The Trust” is a brief, eight-page story by Chipp Kidd and Alex Ross that beautifully showcases the bond between the two heroes, rather than depicting a battle where one defeats the other. The story centers around Superman falling under Brainiac’s mind control and causing havoc in Metropolis, forcing Batman to intervene. Batman’s solution? He uses a gun to try and stop Superman.

The strength of this story lies in the established history between Superman and Batman – they’ve clearly discussed how far they’d go for each other in a crisis. Here, Batman seems ready to break his most important rule – never using a gun – to save Superman from becoming something terrible. But this is Batman, so naturally, he has a plan. Instead of a bullet, he fires a Kryptonite dart, freeing Superman from Brainiac’s control and saving him without harming him. He manages to both subdue and rescue his friend.

4) Batman: Endgame

It’s hard to say who truly won in this story. While Superman doesn’t defeat Batman, Batman is left in pretty bad shape too. In Batman: Endgame, the Joker’s toxin takes down the entire Justice League, except for Batman. By the time Batman confronts Superman, he’s exhausted and relying on his armor just to stay in the fight, though it doesn’t offer much of an advantage.

The fight ends with Superman and Batman high above Gotham. Superman prepares a finishing move, but Batman has a last-minute surprise: he throws Kryptonite gum into Superman’s eye. Both heroes plummet into Gotham Bay. While Batman also goes down, and doesn’t exactly win, Superman is clearly defeated, so it’s a victory for the Dark Knight.

3) JLA: Tower of Babel

In the JLA: Tower of Babel storyline, Ra’s al Ghul orchestrates an attack on the Justice League using plans originally created by Batman. Although Batman didn’t intend for his plans to be used this way, and Ra’s is the one carrying out the attack, it effectively counts as Batman defeating Superman and the rest of the League. Batman had developed these secret contingency plans for each member ‘just in case’ they ever went rogue, and Ra’s exploited them as a diversion while enacting his larger scheme for world domination.

Batman’s plan to stop Superman involves a special, man-made version of Red Kryptonite. This substance doesn’t kill Superman, but it weakens him severely, causing intense pain and making his skin see-through. It also disrupts his ability to process sunlight, overwhelming his senses. Batman clearly prepared for the possibility of needing to fight other heroes, revealing both his strategic thinking and his tendency to suspect the worst, and this is one way he could defeat Superman.

2) Batman: The Devastator

On Earth -1 in DC’s Dark Multiverse, Superman became corrupted and caused immense destruction, even killing Lois Lane – a sign of just how terrible things had become. To save humanity from this evil Superman, Batman made a drastic choice. He engineered a version of the Doomsday Virus and infected himself, turning into a being called the Devastator. This new form combined Batman’s intellect with Doomsday’s incredible power, and it worked – he was able to defeat and kill Superman.

It was a victory, but ultimately a devastating one. Batman couldn’t undo what had happened, and a dangerous virus quickly began turning people into uncontrollable, monstrous beings. Eventually, Batman was forced to work with the Batman Who Laughs.

1) World’s Finest #240

No list of great comic book stories would be complete without something from the Silver Age – a truly wild and fun period, particularly for DC Comics. One standout is World’s Finest #240, featuring a bizarre situation where Superman agrees to become king of the miniature city of Kandor to prevent a civil war. Living inside a bottle, Superman’s behavior becomes erratic, causing widespread chaos. Ultimately, the President of the United States orders Batman to stop Superman – even if that means killing him.

Okay, buckle up, because this comic is… a lot. It starts with Batman, desperate, turning to Superman’s people, the Kandorians, for help, but they can’t deliver. Things escalate quickly, and shockingly, Batman actually kills Superman – with a poison needle, no less! But that’s not the end of it. Superman’s body swells up, bursts out of Kandor, and then… get this… it’s revealed the whole crazy situation was caused by a sentient cat at the Fortress of Solitude! Seriously. Eventually, Superman revives once he’s freed from Kandor, handles the feline menace, and everything returns to normal. So, technically, Batman defeats Superman, but it’s a win achieved through one of the strangest, most unexpected plots I’ve ever seen in a comic book. Comics, am I right?

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2025-12-14 00:12