Superman

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.

Background

 * Main article: Superman on the Superman Wiki

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
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.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.

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.

The Dark Knight Returns (Earth-31)
Main Article: Superman (Earth-31) Frank Miller's 1986 Dark Knight series is probably the most influential in-regards to Batman and Superman's relationship. Namely, it characterized a rivalry 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 became company policy according to John Byrne, reflecting this relationship in his Man of Steel series the same year.

Miller had a much more cynical interpretation of the Man of Steel, rather than standing up for truth and justice while standing up for the meek citizens of the world, Miller's Superman was a government errand-boy who doesn't question orders. In Earth-31's history, all superheroes except for Superman were made illegal by the government. Superman obeyed this ruling, even going to far as to apparently murder the Green Arrow for rebuking (although in actuality Green Arrow faked his death but did lose his left-arm to the Man of Steel).

When an elderly Bruce Wayne comes out of retirement, President Raegan orders Superman to travel to Gotham and take Batman out following his apparent murder of the Joker. Superman comes to Gotham with the powers of a god to take out Batman. Batman however is ready with a specialized mech-suit, his Robin piloting a heavy-duty Batmobile, and Green Arrow sniping Superman through the use of a kryptonite arrow and cybernetic arm.

Batman's suit also was built to drain Gotham of its electricity to electrocute Superman and cleats to smash him in the chin. 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.

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

 * In Batman, there is a closeup shot of a Time magazine cover story on the Corto Maltese Revolution early in the film with photos of the devastation by Vicki Vale. Later the Joker looks at the victims of collateral damage caused by US troops and Superman with delight. This a reference to the island battle fought by Superman in Dark Knight #3 - Hunt the Dark Knight.
 * In Batman Forever, Bruce Wayne tells Dick Grayson that his circus must be halfway to Metropolis.
 * In Batman & Robin, Batman gets annoyed with Robin and stated "This is why Superman works alone".

Batman literature references

 * In Batman: Gotham Knight's novelization, Detective Renee Montoya remarks that Batman must be some kind of superman.

References to Batman in Superman media

 * 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.
 * 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

 * Justicle League of America
 * All-Star Squadron
 * Kingdom Come
 * Batman: Hush
 * Dark Knight #3 - Hunt the Dark Knight & Dark Knight #4 - The Dark Knight Falls
 * The Dark Knight Strikes Again - All issues
 * Batman: The Dark Knight (Vol. 3) #6
 * Justice League (Vol. 2)
 * Superman/Batman
 * Smallville: Season Eleven
 * Superman/Batman: Public Enemies
 * Superman/Batman: Apocalypse
 * Superman: The Animated Series
 * Super Friends
 * Justice League/JLU
 * Justice League: The New Frontier
 * Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths
 * Justice League: Doom
 * Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox
 * Batman Beyond
 * The Batman
 * Batman: The Brave and the Bold
 * Young Justice
 * DC Universe Online
 * LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes
 * 'Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe'
 * Injustice: Gods Among Us
 * Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
 * Justice League Film

Gallery

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