Does Superman Actually Suck as a Superhero? Here’s 4 Reasons That Suggest He Just Might

• Superman is regarded as the greatest superhero ever, but does he actually suck?
• Kal-El’s super strength and endless powers render him virtually unbeatable.
• Add in his laughable disguise and Superman may be the worst superhero ever.

I have been a big Superman supporter for pretty much my entire life. It wasn’t until the latest stand alone Superman movie reboot (Man of Steel) came out that I started questioning my Superman fandom.

Granted, that movie came out forever ago. We’ve gone through a sequel and a Justice League movie since then.

Heck, Henry Cavill returned and then was banished back to an exploded Krypton since then, too.

Now we’re getting another new Superman series. But should we even care? Seriously, I may be at the point where I care more about what villain will be in Superman: Legacy than actually following the main character.

You might not agree. Maybe you think my points aren’t valid. But I’ve got four (somewhat) good reasons why Superman actually sucks as a superhero.

Nobody Can Actually Beat Him

Put simply, the dude is just way too powerful. There’s no real competition that he’ll ever fear, and any storyline is instantly crippled by the fact that you know he’s going to win.

In fact, to flip that the other way, the only way Superman is remotely interesting is if you’re pretty sure he might actually get killed.

Superman only has one weakness, and he has a shit ton of powers. He’s stronger, faster, and more versatile than everyone he goes up against, making basically every story you come up with a complete waste of time.

The Guy Has Too Many Powers

I touched on this in my first reason for why Superman sucks, but seriously, this guy can do too much shit.

Obviously you are pulling for the protagonist to win in any story, but when you know they’re a really good bet to win every time, it takes some of the intrigue out of it.

Add in the fact that he can kill his opponent (pretty much instantly, in most cases) in so many ways – with such little effort – it’s almost like every concept you can conceive for this character is pointless.

Take the whole Batman vs. Superman debate, for example.

None of that was believable. At all.

Batman is a human. Superman is not. Game over, man.

No human stands a chance against Superman. The literal only way to make a Superman story interesting is to get super outlandish with another alien or something we’ve never seen before.

More often than not, that story becomes gimmicky or over the top in a hurry. And Superman probably still wins in the end because he’s fucking unstoppable.

His One Weakness is Remarkably Stupid

So far, I’ve eloquently detailed why Superman is probably the worst superhero of all-time. First, because he’s too powerful, and second, because he can do too much as a hero.

Those are arguably very similar, but Superman’s storylines collectively are redundant as hell, so that’s rather fitting.

That brings me to the best reason to say Superman sucks; he has only one weakness and it’s really dumb.

The guy has a bunch of crazy powers and nobody can beat him. Ever. The only way? Get some little glowing green nuggets from his dead planet and bring them in close proximity to him.

Okay, that’s fine, but let’s do that storyline like once.

Not. Every. Damn. Time.

Seriously, we get it, Kryptonite saps Superman of his powers and can kill him. But there’s so much going wrong here.

First, it feels like there is limitless supply of this shit. That’s ridiculous. Also, Superman knows it’s the one thing that can fuck his shit up and he – being more powerful than anyone – never sets out to destroy it all?

Also, if he sees Lex Luthor or some other asshole carrying a suitcase of this shit (ya know, cuz the dude has x-ray vision, and all), he just sits there and doesn’t laser-beam that dude to the moon?

I don’t buy it. Any of it.

Superman can see through the damn suitcase. He can hear you talking shit about him a mile away. He can laser the hell out of you. He can blow you across the room with one breath.

But you’re going to effectively sneak up on this dude and trick him with a glowing green rock.

GTFOH.

His Secret Identity is Not a Secret

Real quick. Walk into a room with glasses on. Walk out. Walk back in with your glasses off. Does even one person in there not realize you’re the same damn person?

Side bar: actually, my wife does have this thing where she forgets whether or not people she knows regularly wear glasses.

While that is true, that is not the same thing as not recognizing a person in front of you whether they’re wearing glasses or not.

The visual differences between Clark Kent and Superman are so miniscule that this “secret identity” shit is embarrassing. He is just strolling around AT A NEWSPAPER company without taking any measures to conceal who the hell he is?

Please.

If this happened in real life, we’d know who Superman was instantly.

I am a fan of Superman’s look. However, the idea that he can just freely parade around town as Clark Kent and nobody realizes who he is just boggles the mind.

Wear a mask. Grow a mustache. Don’t have a regular job where everyone can definitely easily tell who you are! Make it make sense.

Is Superman the Worst Superhero Ever?

No, he’s freaking amazing. I love Superman. Growing up, he was my absolute favorite. He’s basically a god walking the Earth and he can beat any villain.

Unfortunately, Superman stories are incredibly boring. He’s an awesome superhero, but he’s too powerful and too cool for his own good.

He makes positively zero sense as a member of the Justice League. His secret identity should not be a secret. He’s way too powerful.

Quite frankly, he’s just too good to be true.

The character is awesome, in theory. If you’re in a jam and want an easy out every single time, Superman is your guy.

Want to lift a damn plane out of the sky and land it safely? Superman’s got you, bruh. Want to reverse freaking time? He’ll go fly around the Earth a bunch of times.

Superman is/was a great idea for a superhero. Sadly, his stories are all lame and repetitive. You can’t make Superman interesting without taking his powers away or killing him.

For those reasons, as a superhero, Superman does kind of suck.

• Also Read: Ranking Every Actor That Played Superman