5 Justice League Members Who Make Batman Look Like the Underdog, and Fans Forget How Powerful They Really Are

Batman is often looked at as the pinnacle of the Justice League. Now, obviously, he isn’t the most powerful member of the team, but he’s the one that no one else wants to fight. Bats has made it the mission of his life to figure out how to defeat everyone out there, including his own teammates. Villains would sometimes mock the fact that Batman was fighting alongside the Justice League, but they would soon learn that he was the group’s secret weapon. Even when it seems like the cards are against him, he ends up coming up aces. There are very few heroes and villains out there who can make the Dark Knight look like the underdog.

However, there are definitely heroes and villains out there who are all able to make the Caped Crusader look like the underdog, including several members of the League. While he has plans to beat most of them, those plans are highly dependent on them not using their full power right away. They completely and totally outclass the Dark Knight, with even fans forgetting just how potent they could be. These five Justice Leaguers make Batman look like an also-ran, heroes with powers on another level.

5) Superman

Superman is DC’s greatest hero, but has often been shown as lesser than Batman. Bats has numerous plans he can use against the Man of Steel, from his Kryptonite ring to the Hellbat armor to weapons that involve red sun lamps and numerous others. However, all of these methods of defeating the Last Son of Krypton hinge on the fact that Supes won’t go all out right away. Basically, if Superman wants to beat you, unless you are on his level of above, there’s really nothing that can be done about it. This is a hero who can move faster than the speed of light and is strong enough to lift a planet; he can be done with 99% of the metahuman community in seconds. Batman needs every advantage he can have when he goes up against Superman, because at any time, the Metropolis Marvel can change the entire tenor of a fight. This one may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s easy to forget just how powerful Supes is.

4) Hawkman

Hawkman isn’t often looked at on the same level as Batman, but those people just don’t understand the history of Carter Hall. A big part of this is his complicated, highly retconned existence. Basically, Carter has been reincarnating across time and space for millennia, all in order to make up for his life as the Deathbringer K’Tar. He has thousands of years of experience in just about everything a superhero needs to be able to do. He’s an amazing hand to hand combatant, a great detective, and a cunning leader. His Nth metal harness gives him superhuman strength, durability, and a healing factor and he’s a master of just about every melee weapon you can think of. Batman is great at a lot of things, but he doesn’t have the experience or strength of Hawkman. If you judge them both by their tales of the tape, you’re going to see that Hall is basically better at everything than Batman.

3) Wally West

Wally West is the greatest Flash. Beginning his superhero career as Kid Flash, he helped found the Teen Titans alongside Dick Grayson, Batman’s first sidekick. He worked with Batman often, as Barry and Bats were friends, and would eventually take his uncle’s place as the Flash, working with the Caped Crusader on the Justice League. The Dark Knight has watched Wally grow as a hero, becoming more and more powerful, so he does have some plans to use against him. However, even someone as confident in their abilities as Batman knows that he doesn’t have anything on Wally. West is one of the most powerful humans on the planet; when he’s truly tapped into the Speed Force, there really isn’t anything anyone can do about him. Batman knows that every time he’s had to go up against Wally as the Scarlet Speedster, he can’t make any mistakes. Wally’s perceptions are just as fast as everything else about him, and he’s proven adroit at figuring out his enemies’ traps before he springs them. Batman’s only hope against him are traps, so he knows he has to bring his A-game.

2) Plastic Man

Batman will often act high and mighty with other heroes and he usually actually does believe his own hype. That’s one of the most fun parts about the Dark Knight; he’s the best and he knows it. However, there are some members of the Justice League that he knows for a fact are better than him and Plastic Man is one of them. Bats worked with Plas a lot over the years and he’s the one who originally brought the stretchy hero into the League. Plas does more than stretch, though. He’s able to shapeshift into anything he can imagine. So, he can turn into, say, a rocket ship and is able to actually fly into space. He’s also almost completely indestructible. He’s entirely unpredictable as well, which means that even Batman’s best laid plans have a chance of missing him. Plas is one of the most dangerous heroes out there and Batman knows that any fight between the two of them has the chance to go very badly.

1) Big Barda

DC has some amazing cosmic heroes and one of the best of them has always been Big Barda. Barda was raised on Apokolips and became a member of the Female Furies. She rose to the top of the team, becoming their leader. However, she also fell in love with Scott Free, the future Mister Miracle, leaving the Furies behind and becoming a superhero. Barda has since become a member of the Justice League several times, becoming one of the heaviest hitters on the team. Batman knows better than to mess with Barda; she doesn’t really have any weaknesses for him to exploit. Her strength level is insane as well; New Gods like her are sometimes said to be on the same level on Superman. Bats is usually able to beat his foes because he can find a way to exploit them. There’s really nothing like that with Barda; the only thing that would hurt her to lose is Scott and if she lost Scott, she’s going to kill everyone between her and the person who did it. Batman doesn’t really mess with Barda and he’s smarter for it.

What Leaguers do you think make Batman the underdog? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!