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Superman is a superhero, and ally of Batman. Unlike Batman, Superman has a vast amount of superpowers at his disposal naturally occurring in the presence of a yellow star.

History

Background

Main article: Superman on the Superman Wiki
Superman 0193

Classic Superman

Kal-El was sent from Krypton by his parents before their home planet and most of its inhabitants were destroyed in an apocalyptic event.

He was found by Jonathan and Martha Kent of Smallville, Kansas when his vessel crashed in a field. They adopted the baby as their own, naming him Clark Joseph Kent. The yellow sun of the Solar system in the Milky Way galaxy gave Clark superpowers.

He grew up in Smallville and moved to Metropolis to work at the Daily Planet where his relationship with many humans grew, especially with Lois Lane his wife to be. He always helps out those in danger as Superman and has fought many arch enemies with his most common enemy being Lex Luthor.

Relationship with Batman

SM&BM 01

Superman & Batman: The World's Finest

Over the years, both Batman and Superman have had an on-and-off again rivalry, although both heroes have eventually developed a grudging respect for each other. Superman, along with Batman and Wonder Woman founded a team of Superheroes called the Justice League of America. Enemies of both Superman and Batman have formed alliances against the two heroes over the years, most notably the Joker and Lex Luthor.

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Superman entrusts Batman with the Kryptonite Ring

Batman and Superman have discovered each other's secret identities. This happened on a cruise ship while they battled Owlman and Ultraman, their alternate dimensional counterparts. Deathstroke and Deadpool were also fighting on the ship. Superman was able to change Batman out of his costume (along with himself back to Clark Kent) to satisfy Lois that Clark and Bruce Wayne were not Superman or Batman. The speed at which he did it caused Bruce to vomit from motion sickness.

A demonstration of Superman's trust for Batman occurred when Superman entrusted Batman with a Kryptonite Ring made from a piece of the villainous Metallo's heart and which was constructed by Lex Luthor. Batman came into ownership of it in Gotham after it was mugged from a LexCorp employee and after solving the case regarding it, Batman returned it to Clark. Superman then decided to give it to Bruce in-case he ever lost control and needed to be stopped.

Silent Night

Superman reading a copy of Batman #27 to a child on Christmas.

This occurred in the Batman: Hush storyline when Superman was brainwashed by Poison Ivy into attacking Batman and Catwoman. Batman used the kryptonite ring to take on Clark but ultimately it was breaking through to Clark's humanity which saved him and allowed the Man of Steel to break free from Ivy's control.

During the events of Batman: Endgame, Superman alongside several other Justice League members got infected by a virus created by the Joker and Crazy Quilt which altered their brain-chemistry to make them as psychotic as the Joker. The Justice League proceeded to attack Batman with Superman posing the greatest threat and Batman relying on his Fenrir mech-suit to defeat him. After a lengthy fight, Superman tore through the suit only for Batman to defeat him with kryptonite infused gum. Superman later received therapy with his fellow leaguers to recover from the virus.

Elseworlds

Dark Knight Universe

Main Article: Superman (Earth-686)

Man who Beat you

Batman punching Superman in the Dark Knight Falls

Frank Miller's 1986 Dark Knight series is the most influential on the pair's relationship in modern publications. The year of its release DC ceased publication of the World's Finest series where they were always depicted as good friends. It redefined their association with tension and enmity between the two heroes as Miller believed that the two were polar opposites, unable to coexist from their differences. While taking place outside mainstream continuity, it immediately became company policy according to John Byrne, reflecting this relationship in his Man of Steel series the same year. A similar tension had existed between Captain America and Iron Man for years prior to this but DC editors always kept their characters pure paragonical figures of virtue.

Miller had a much more cynical interpretation of the Man of Steel, showing the darkside of his loyalty to the government policy of his beloved homeland. Superman obeys the US President without question, carrying out secret wars in Corto Maltese not caring for the collateral damage to its native people. In Earth-686's history, all other superheroes were outlawed by the government. Superman obeyed this ruling, even going so far as to hunt down former members of the Justice League. Green Arrow managed to escape but lost his left arm to Superman's heat vision. Kent had a certain amount of respect for Bruce Wayne and never betrayed him as long as Wayne promised to cease all vigilante activity.

When an elderly Wayne comes out of retirement, the US President orders Superman to travel to Gotham and take Batman out following his apparent murder of the Joker. Superman comes to Gotham with government operatives in helicopters to take out the Dark Knight. Batman however is ready with a specialized Power Armor plugged into the streetlight where his parents were killed. Wayne's discrattionary backup were Robin piloting a Riot Tank Batmobile and Green Arrow sniping Superman through the use of a led arrow that would explode into Kryptonite napalm when shattered by his heat vision. With Superman weakened, Wayne uses the city's power to send a high-voltage shock through his skull. Batman proceeded to tell Superman, “I want you to remember, Clark. In all the years to come, in your most private moments, I want you to remember, my hand, at your throat, I want you to remember, the one man who beat you.”. Following this, Batman simulated a heart-attack in order to fake his death as a means of getting the government off of his back. Superman attended his funeral where his super-hearing detected Batman's beating heart but the Man of Tomorrow chose to keep this a secret.

Powers and abilities

Superman possesses powers and abilities that are far above those of any mortal or other superhuman beings, his powers included Superhuman strength, speed, stamina, invulnerability, enhanced senses and intelligence, regeneration, longevity, super breath, heat vision, x-ray vision and flight. Amongst others. These powers are a result of his Kryptonian body being exposed to Earth's yellow sun.

Superman's primary weakness comes in the form of meteorites from his birth planet Krypton. Known as Kryptonite, this rock has the abilities to weaken him draining him of his powers and over long exposure to the substance could kill him. Superman is also vulnerable to magic. His powers are dependent on the yellow sun of Earth or any other planet to fuel his abilities and needs it to maintain his abilities, otherwise he will have to rely on the reserve energy in his cells. Under the effects of a red sun, Superman possesses none of his aforementioned abilities, making him just like any normal human under a yellow sun. Superman's solar flare ability is mostly used as a last resort, which will render him powerless for a day following it's use and his x-ray vision cannot penetrate lead.

In other media

Rocksteady Suicide Squad

The teaser poster for Rocksteady's Suicide Squad features Superman with a target on his head.

Radio

  • In The Adventures of Superman radio drama, Superman was voiced by Bud Collyer. Batman and Robin appeared in some episodes, which represented some of their earliest appearances outside of the comics. Batman was first played by a voice actor on the show.

Animation

  • In Max Fleischer Superman (1941-1943), he is voiced by Bud Collyer who'd reprises his role as Superman again in The New Adventures of Superman (1966-1970).
    • Animation legend Max Fleisher produced a series of short animated films featuring Superman, the first of which, "The Mad Scientists" was nominated for an Academy Award. This series was an inspiration for Bruce Timm and company in creating Batman: The Animated Series.
  • In Super friends (1973-1985), Danny Dark provides the voice of Superman for the series.
  • In Superman: The Animated Series (1996-2000), Superman: Shadows of Apokolips (2000), Superman: Brainiac Attacks (2006), Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009), Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010), and Justice League: Doom, (2012) he is voiced by Tim Daly.
  • In Batman Beyond (2000), he is voiced by Christopher McDonald.
  • In Justice League and Justice League: Unlimited (2001-2006), The Batman (2007), Superman/Shazam!: The Return of Black Adam (2010), Superman Versus the Elite (2012) and Injustice: Gods Among Us (2013) he is voiced by George Newbern.
  • In Krypto the Superdog (2005), he is voiced by Michael Daingerfield.
  • In Legion of Superheroes (2006-2008), he is voiced by Yuri Lowenthal.
  • In Superman: Doomsday (2007), he is voiced by Adam Baldwin.
  • In Justice League: The New Frontier (2008), he is voiced by Kyle MacLachlan.
  • In Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths (2010), he is voiced by Mark Harmon.
  • In Young Justice (2010-2013), he is voiced by Nolan North.
  • In All-Star Superman (2011), he is voiced by James Denton.
  • In Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2012), he is voiced by Roger Rose.
  • In The Dark Knight Returns: Part 2 (2013), he is voiced by Mark Valley.
  • In Superman: Unbound (2013), he is voiced by Matt Bomer.
  • In Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (2013), he is voiced by Sam Daly.
  • In JLA Adventures: Trapped in Time (2014) he is voiced by Peter Jessop.
  • In Justice League: War (2014) he is voiced by Alan Tudyk.
  • In The Lego Movie - (2014) he is voiced by Channing Tatum, who reprises him in The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part and The Lego Batman Movie.
  • In Lego Batman: Be-Leaguered (2014), Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League vs. Bizarro League (2015), and Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash (2016) he is voiced by Nolan North.
  • In Justice League: Throne of Atlantis (2015), and Justice League vs. Teen Titans(2016) he is voiced by Jerry O'Connel.

Interactive Entertainment

  • Superman appeared as a playable fighter in Sunsoft's Justice League: Task Force.
  • Superman was playable alongside Batman for the first time in Snowblind's Justice League: Heroes.
  • Superman will appear as an enemy boss in Rocksteady's Suicide Squad.

Batman film references

Batman literature references

References to Batman in Superman media

Superman Batman-smallville

Superman and Batman's first team up in Smallville: Season Eleven.

  • In Superman Returns a news reporter announced that Superman had been spotted in Gotham City.
  • In Smallville, there is a number of allusions to Batman.
    • Batman makes his debut in the Smallville universe in Season Eleven comic book spin-off series.
  • Michael Keaton's Batmobile was seen in the Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman episode called "Don't Tug on Superman's Cape", an episode which shows that some collectors had apparently stolen the Batmobile.
The World's Finest BvS
  • A Wayne Enterprise satellite appears in the 2013 film "Man of Steel" during a space battle between Superman and Zod. The Wayne logo is an allusion to Bruce Wayne existence in the DC extended cinematic universe.
  • Batman appeared in the 2016 film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice a sequel to Man of Steel, making it the first time these two iconic characters appear together in live action media.
  • In Supergirl, there are several reference made to Gotham City.
    • Jimmy makes a mention of Clark's friend who operates in the night using fear and terror to fight crime. a clear reference to Batman.

Appearances with Batman

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