Why Do We Love Batman But Hate Superman?

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Vivide

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"Sure let's cheer on the billionaire as he beats down the poor farm guy who grew up feeling othered."

People hate Superman. That's the message of the recently released trailer for Zack Snyder's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, in which disembodied voices express their anxieties about the Man of Steel. "We're talking about an alien whose very existence challenges our own sense of priority in the universe," one says, while another shouts, "This is our planet!" And then there's the big finish with Batman whispering, presumably to Superman, "Tell me, do you bleed? You will."

Batman making Superman bleed is familiar territory to comics fans. One of the most iconic battles in superhero comicdom appears in Frank Miller's comic book miniseries The Dark Knight Returns, where Batman thumps the tar out of the supposedly invincible Kryptonian. Superman has super-strength, super-speed, and super-everything else, but, as comics blogger Richard Cook has pointed out, Batman has the greatest power of all: "popularity." (The last Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises, grossed nearly $450 million in the U.S., versus less than $300 million for 2013's Man of Steel.)

So why does everyone love Batman and hate Superman? There's no great mystery about it.

Superman is boring and irritating precisely because he's all-powerful. Miller states this clearly in The Dark Knight Returns. When Batman is punching Superman, he thinks to himself, "still talking … keep talking Clark. You've always known just what to say. 'Yes' … you always say yes … to anyone with a badge … or a flag." Superman is so overwhelming, he's the structure of power itself. As such, all his power ends up symbolizing not virile resistance but servility to the bureaucratic status quo. Superman is a "false god," as the graffito in the Batman v. Superman trailer declares—which is to say, he's false precisely because he's a God.

Everyone loves Batman, meanwhile, because American pop culture's archetypal hero is, in fact, the flawed and gritty antihero—a lone badass fighting the forces of injustice and corruption against impossible odds. Batman is a scourge of the underworld, skulking just outside the law, his fists clenched in anger. But Superman? He's so super that there's nothing exceptional about him. Instead he looks like The Man, the avatar of a staid unjust system.

But Superman isn't only that. Paradoxically, he's also the quintessential outsider—literally an alien from another planet. "Go home, go home, go home," a crowd chants in the Batman v Superman trailer. In this scenario, Superman hate is driven by anti-immigration, rather than anti-establishment, sentiment. Meanwhile, Batman, as Bruce Wayne, is the one percent; the lone badass turns out to be the embodiment of capitalist hierarchy. As one Twitter user wrote after seeing the Batman v Superman trailer:

Sure let's cheer on the billionaire as he beats down the poor farm guy who grew up feeling othered. God I hate this whole thing so much.

— Shades of Limelight (@CertainshadesL) April 17, 2015

The fact that Superman can be hated for being both The Man and the alien is the unavoidable flipside of creator Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's original assimilationist fantasy. Siegel and Shuster were working-class Jewish kids in a still very anti-Semitic America when they created their first Superman stories in the late 1930s. Superman was a dream that the Jewish stereotype of the nebbish Clark Kent could turn into a perfect white symbol of "truth, justice, and the American way" (as the 1950s Superman television show put it).

Fascist ideology of the '30s positioned Jews as evil supervillains, all-powerful plotters against whom the brave Germans fought for purity. Superman turned that stereotype inside out. The all-powerful alien was now the good guy, raised in the American heartland, exemplifying American values. Siegel and Shuster, comics scholar Chris Gavalerhas argued, may have been partially inspired by KKK pulp fiction likeThe Clansman, from which superheroes borrowed "costumes, masked identities, codenames, emblems … while reversing the Klan's political aims." The result is "a contradiction"—a Jewish anti-fascist reversal of fascism.

This explains why superheroes, many of them created by Jews, can often seem to uneasily mimic Nazi anti-Jewish propaganda. The X-Men, for instance, are discriminated minorities with fearsome power—a hated, oppressed underclass who could easily wipe out the majority if they felt like it. Similarly, Superman is the unfamiliar outsider possessed of near-mystical powers. This duality allows the marginalized to be interpreted as the real establishment and the real danger, an interpretation that aligns with post-9/11 America. The United States is the lone superpower—the lone Superman, if you prefer—on Earth, but we tend to present ourselves as under assault, in constant danger from distant militias and shadowy elements. The narrative that they're more powerful than us justifies any military excesses. We're the lone underdog badass multi-billionaire; out there is the overwhelmingly powerful alien other, against whom we grittily struggle.

But Batman v Superman suggests that fear of an alien superbeing is not just an excuse for violence and international intervention. It's a pleasure in itself. Superheroes may be empowerment fantasies, but they're disempowerment fantasies too. It's just as fun to imagine the strong becoming weak as it is the other way around. With just a bit of ingenuity, you can locate the dangerous Superman anywhere, which means you can hit whoever you want and feel good about it.

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/121595/dawn-justice-trailer-batman-love-vs-superman-hate

Normies not falling for the batgod?

preposterous!

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Cloakx14

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i like Superman.

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mysticmedivh

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Vivide

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_Mongul

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"I like Superman."

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Bystander

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#7  Edited By Bystander

"Why Do We Love Batman But Hate Superman?"

Because Batman is cool, and Superman... Is not, I guess?..

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Cloakx14

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Mos, made me understand him better and i believe he will kick a** bats a** come next year.

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makhai

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Superman is superior. Batman has money, Superman has power.

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Con7879

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I kinda think a lot of the "batman is awesome, superman sucks", at least with people who don't read a lot of comics, is due to mis information. Batman is very much so a gateway character to comic books, and an easy sell to convince someone to get into them. I've been told by people I know who have only seen the movies, or animated series's that the reason they don't like Superman is because he's boring and overpowered, and doesn't have great villains. Someone I knew even thought he could take the rest of the league put together, which certainly isn't true. But supermans reputation to the general populace as the strongest does seem to back their logic to them, despite never having read a superman comic in some cases.

I also think its an Image thing. usually once you get to be about 12 you start to prefer anti heroes over regular heroes. Spawn, Midnighter, Wolverine, Alucard, Batman, Seto Kiba, anybody named Uchiha, Light Yagami, Deadpool, ghost in the shells section 9, half the cast of bleach, Batman doesn't play by the rules, wears black and is more likely to hit you than smile, And that's bad ass. I'm not denying it, I love anti heroes too, even if I do prefer Superman to Batman, I can understand the othersides point of view.

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Saren

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@welldone: Swearing is not allowed on the CV forums. First warning.

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mickey-mouse

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Superguy1591

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Our brains are lazy.

We would rather associate ourselves with things most familiar than to try to understand things that are different.

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Vivide

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Our brains are lazy.

We would rather associate ourselves with things most familiar than to try to understand things that are different.

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BlackWind

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Because we live in an age where its cool to be gritty and dark. Because idealism and hope are seen as lame and silly. Its easier these days to attract a crowd with "omgsobadass!!1!"

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ariesxmasters

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#16  Edited By ariesxmasters

I like them both I do like Batman better for multiple reasons:

If Batman was real I would be able to understand him, and I wouldn't necessarily be afraid of him in a matter of speaking. Could Batman mop the floor with me? Uhhhm he'd stomp only using his feet. But Batman is still human, and if caught at a bad time can be taken down if necessary. It might take some planning, but if a screw goes loose in his head there is a way to stop him.

Superman's story I can't say the same about. I like Superman course, but speaking from a real life standard I can't say I wouldn't fear Big Blue. I also can't say I wouldn't side with Lex Luthor, because I probably would. The alien is entirely to powerful not to fear the fact that he could wipe out the whole human race without much effort really says something about his strength. I'm sorry , but someone with that kind of power should not be a loud to live. At any moment he could snap, blow the planet to bits and kill everyone which is something I don't like knowing he has control over. Of course Superman's heart is always in the right place, but it does only take one telepath to screw with his mind, and when that happened I don't think there would be anything me or any other human could do to put a stop to Big Blue.

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buttersdaman000

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People only started loving Batman in 2005; give it another 15-20 years and Superman, or somebody else, will be on top.

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MasterKungFu

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batman is also quite hated too.......at least on cv he is

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deathstroke52

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nefarious

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Because Batman is a genius and Superman is not.

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Rpgesus

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Batman is alright I guess same reason people like him, for being human, is the same reason I think he is just alright I read comics to powerful stuff and superman is just alright hate his morals, his boring power set, and doesn't really intrigue me

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EarthsMightiest

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#22  Edited By EarthsMightiest

Because

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I kind of agree with Lex about Superman. How can humanity compete with him? Don't get me wrong I do like Superman but IMO he is way overpowered.

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Blade_R

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Idk who "we" is, I like Superman and couldn't care less about Batman lol

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SoA

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#24  Edited By SoA

superman always wins. and when he doesnt you are left wondering how could he not win ? given the few that have hurt if not deafeated superman because they are crazy powerful (doomsday,darkseid) are few and far between . almost all of batman's villains have come close to killing him and even though you know batman is going to pull through somehow , you wish to know how he is going to get out of that particular trap/plot. superman can be okay but he is not my favorite . neither is batman but i like batman over superman. if you are the type who feel good guys always win and bad guys always lose,no one curse , prays at dinner , good morals, the american way ,in bed by 8pm, etc etc. go hang on to the silver relic that is superman , more power to you.

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lxlGiftedlxl

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I like them both. There both amazing characters.

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midnightdragon18

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AllStarSuperman

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Stormdriven

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I think it's just a lack of understanding about who Superman is as a character.

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deactivated-5c901e667a76c

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Because lack of superpowers = "more relatable".

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I_Am_Lightning

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"Why Do We Love Batman But Hate Superman?"

Because Batman is cool, and Superman... Is not, I guess?..

Superman is cool too, he's just not in Batman's league of cool

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Bystander

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kidchipotle

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Moul

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I don't like Superman, he's just a boring character

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KritikalMassX

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batman is also quite hated too.......at least on cv he is

Well, I don't think Batman is hated...as much. I agree that with all the gadgets, tech, and skill that he has, he can get out any sticky situation. What I can't stand is that Batman has to upstage Superman in every way possible.

I swear, you probably can't go one day without someone saying, "Batman can defeat Superman because...He's batman." Oh really?

@lukehero said:
No Caption Provided

We can admit that Superman does come out being someone that's "faster than a speeding bullet", "more powerful than a locomotive", and "able to leap tall buildings in a single bound", but why does Supes always have to be in 2nd place? Isn't this supposed to be a MoS sequel and not "a Batman movie but with the other DC heroes"? Isn't Superman just as popular as Batman is? I believe he is. They both fight for the same thing, they both have tragedies that has happen to them which led them to become the heroes that they are and (most of the time) they both are worshiped by many and criticized by others.

Bottom line: Both Bats and Supes (or Supes and Bats) are great and I have no love lost for either one of them.

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algorhythm511

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Because too many people still associate Superman with being a Boy Scout. The MOS movie did help a little to move past that myth, but it still persists.

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Noone301994

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@moul said:

I don't like Superman, he's just a boring character

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Dratini1331

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Superman is a very interesting character when you actually look at it. Most heroes fall into 2 general categories: Gods doing godly things (Hercules, Achilles) or people being given extraordinary powers and learning how to use them (Odysseus, Theseus, Perseus). Most of the time, it's just gods being gods, or regular people trying to be gods.

Superman is neither, and that's what makes him interesting. He's a god that wants to be human, he wants to live the life of Clark Kent, but can't. Superman doesn't wear a mask because his identity is superman, his mask is Clark Kent. He wants what any normal person wants: a family, a decent job, and to just do the right thing. However, because he has these powers, he can chose to do so much more and he's compelled to do so. Superman is a god who wants to be mortal, but can never truly be one of the everyday people.

Even more so, because he's a god to normal men, his failures carry more weight. When a normal hero fails, we can say, "There's nothing he could've done! What a shame!" But superman is almost exempt from this. When he fails, he has to live with the thought of, "What could I have done differently?" That alone is what makes him one of the most relatable characters and one of the most human.

Sometimes he's written poorly, but superman as a character is a good character.

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those_eyes

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Because he is a motherf!ckin mary sue!

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DeathpooltheT1000

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This should be called why people that never read any comic book, not even by mistake and Frank Miller hate SuperMan, but love BatMan and likes to pretend they know about this subject.

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Deadgod

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I like Superman. A good hearted , optimist farmboy trying to make his adopted world a better place & inspiring people to do good. Someone told me that he's the embodiment of the American dream.

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SamRF_

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I think it's just a lack of understanding about who Superman is as a character.

Exactly, people judge superman without knowing s*** about him.

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vance_astro

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#44  Edited By vance_astro  Moderator

Superman is bland. He's a boring character. That's all. Batman has the cooler alter ego, the better villains, the cooler allies..everything.

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BlackLegRaph

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Because power is scary.

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SilverPool

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... yeah I like Superman more than Batman, bruh.

I was one of those people who wanted Bruce to stay dead so Dick Grayson could be Batman.

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TheComedian_

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#47  Edited By TheComedian_

I think it's just a lack of understanding about who Superman is as a character.

@samrf_ said:

@stormdriven said:

I think it's just a lack of understanding about who Superman is as a character.

Exactly, people judge superman without knowing s*** about him.

This should be called why people that never read any comic book, not even by mistake and Frank Miller hate SuperMan, but love BatMan and likes to pretend they know about this subject.

This should be called why people that never read any comic book, not even by mistake and Frank Miller hate SuperMan, but love BatMan and likes to pretend they know about this subject.

This should be called why people that never read any comic book, not even by mistake and Frank Miller hate SuperMan, but love BatMan and likes to pretend they know about this subject.

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Moul

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@deathpoolthet1000: Or "why Superman fanboys can't live knowing their favourite character is boring as hell ;)"

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Lone_Wolf_and_Cub

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@buttersdaman000: Batman has been more popular than Supes for a long time. Superman will never be more popular than Batman IMO. Bats has better stories, villains, costume etc. Supes can't touch him.