Out of Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, and the Hulk, which (super-)hero do you find to be the most overrated?* I suspect that many people will choose either Superman or the Hulk, but I’ve got to go with Spider-Man, myself. I know, I know: Blasphemy! But aside from the fact that I loved anything Spider-Man related when I was a kid (I lived for his appearances on The Electric Company), I just find him sort of, well, annoying. Yes, I get the fact that the whole Spider-Man thing is that Peter Parker’s supposed to represent the common man, the regular Joe, all of us, and that even after he gains his super powers and alter ego, his life doesn’t get any easier (in fact, lots of completely new problems surface). I understand. But it just has never really connected with me (it probably doesn’t help that I find his witty one-liners clunky and annoying).
So, what say the rest of you?
*I wanted to stick with comic book characters who are (arguably) the most recognizable to the general public, and not just comics aficionados. Also, I decided to stick with individuals, hence, no X-Men or Fantastic Four.
Let’s face it: he’s just a guy with a cape. Sure he’s smart, and sure he’s tough, but a hero without superpowers has no business operating in the same universe as someone like Superman.
No, he was surviving on the writers turning him into progressively more of a Mary Sue because they can’t stand the idea that a ‘normal human’ can’t do everything that a superhuman can do - ONLY BETTER. Because he’s HUMAN. And HUMANS are better than anything. (A necessary message to put into any work of popular fiction that features non-humans.)
But that’s kind of a cheat, no? In fact, it’s largely because of what Peter David did with the character that prevented me from selecting the Hulk as my answer to this poll question, despite my previously stated overall ambivalence toward Spidey.
It’s true that, as you say, had the Hulk character never evolved, he’d be the shoe-in to “win” this poll. But what David did with the character is canon, and so must be taken into account. And I’d posit that nearly any single Peter David-penned Hulk story blows away any Spider-Man story I’ve ever read.
I hate Superman. I find him to be one of the most boring characters ever created. He’s so incredibly powerful that I fail to see any drama associated with anything he does. In order for a character to be interesting, in my opinion, they need to be constantly pushing up against and challenging their own limitations, something which Superman seems not to have unless the plot arbitrarily calls for it. There’s a quote I’ve seen attributed to Orson Welles, “if anything is possible, then nothing is interesting.” I have yet to find an authoritative source attributing it to him, so if I have done so incorrectly please correct me, but I think it’s true. If Superman needs to be strong enough to move the Earth himself, he can be. If he needs to be fast enough to exceed the speed of light, he can be. If he needs to have the super-hearing and super-brainpower to hear and process everything happening on Earth simultaneously, he can have it. Without limits on his abilities, he can do pretty much anything, and therefor there’s no real drama. Pretty much everything he does seems like a deus ex machina to me.
Batman and Spider-Man, on the other hand, have real limitations that I can relate to. In a weird way, I can imagine scenarios in which either could be defeated by forces within my comprehension. It would be extremely, extremely difficult, but I can envision scenarios in which I even I could potentially defeat them if I dedicated all my resources, time, effort toward
it. To me, those limitations make them interesting characters. They may be overrated, perhaps, but nowhere near as much as Superman is to me.
Admittedly, I’m not a comics fan so if someone wants to correct my ignorance please go ahead. I’m pretty much just going on my general, pop culture impressions of Superman.
Oh come on. Batman had no superpowers but he was not “normal.” The guy was a rich, playboy, DON. When he wasn’t shagging everything in sight, he was cruising Gotham (in his fucking BATMOBILE!) looking for a little vigilante justice.
“Superman” was literally just an alien who could do anything.
Bullets? No problem, he’s invincible.
Turn back time? Sure, why not.
Come back from the dead?! Alright guys, we might be pushing thi… HOLY SHIZNIZ, THE SUCKAS ARE FRIGGIN BUYIN THIS SHIT!!!
His (one) weakness has been so overplayed it just became silly. If I was a villain in Metropolis I would just snort me up some Kyptonite then go on the biggest crime spree just to watch “Superman” go into painful/orgasmic spams when the fool tried to stop me.
Hulk is boring, boring, boring. Totally not interesting in the least. His presence in The Avengers movie makes it unlikely I will bother to see it in the theaters, even if Joss is directing.
Batman has come back from the dead (twice, now), has time traveled extensively - not as much as Superman, granted, but plenty - and has, despite his nominal lack of invulnerability, somehow only had to come back from the dead twice - and the first time was suicide, and the current one was after facing down, and almost defeating, a GOD.
Plus he’s beaten an enemy who held his own against Superman…BY WHISTLING. (Or, he would have, if stupid Superman hadn’t come blundering in and ruined the whole thing by actually capturing the bad guy.)
Batman is the single worst Mary Sue ever perpetrated on comic books.
He is the World’s Greatest Detective. The World’s Third Best Martial Artist. One of the World’s Smartest Men. An expert escape artist. A top grade scientist. A historian, with deep knowledge in all nations, time periods, and cultures. A successful, clever businessman. He’s a better hacker than Oracle, a better engineer than Steel, a better hand-to-hand fighter than Black Canary, a better…
You get the picture.
Superman’s superpowers have NOTHING on Batman’s ridiculous skills.
All this, when he’s only in his mid-late 30s (depending which writer you ask).
The only thing keeping him from being the single most perfect person ever to have existed is the fact that he’s an asshole.
But even THAT’S OK. Because he’s always fucking RIGHT about EVERYTHING.
Plans to murder his friends? No problem, they might go evil, so any sane person would plot out how to kill them, and not tell them, or anyone else. Because only the Batman is incorruptable. Only the Batman can possibly stand up to Superman, or Wonder Woman, or the Flash. Despite them all being ‘too powerful to do anything interesting with’, while he’s ‘just a badass’.
Plans to destablize his city and create a gangwar? No problem, if HE’D actually put them into action, instead of that stupid girl, he’d have defused the whole thing, so that the criminal organizations had less power than before they started.
But, since he’s not an ‘alien who can do anything’ all of this is completely reasonable, and just means he’s a badass.
Superman is a more human character than Batman will ever be, but he’s dismissed as ‘impossible to write about’ because he’s powerful. Which is bullshit.
Anyone who can’t write an interesting story about a farmboy who also happens to be incredibly powerful (but not nearly the most powerful man on Earth) is a crap writer.
None of them are overrated. Or, to be more precise, they’re all equally overrated–by a small number of fans. Spider-Man is probably the least overrated, though, as everyone gets that he can’t do everything. Supes actually can any time, Hulk can if he gets mad enough, and Batman if he’s prepared enough.
And, on the whole, I find none of them boring, except when the writers don’t know what to do with them.
Thank you Tengu for writing my thoughts exactly. Not that Batman can’t be interesting, as Nolan has shown in the current movie series. But as written in the DC comic universe? The only character I find to be a more annoying Mary Sue in all comics is Wolverine.
Batman. In the comic book / super hero universe, I want to see people with extraordinary powers and see how they use them and what problems or difficulties their special status gives rise to. Batman doesn’t have any special super powers and so basically the stories are about a guy who can fight so well that he always wins. This boring.