Why does everybody hate Superman?

[Joseph Alexander]

I didn't know he was widely hated.

People like to root for the underdog. Its hard to picture superman as the underdog.

Superman's only weakness in kryptonite, of various types. Think about that.

No normal person has a chance against Superman. Entire armies of normal humans and every other super hero in existence could fire everything they have at him at the same time (barring the unobtainable plot device of kryptonite, or transporting him to a solar system with the wrong sort of sun) and not even have a chance of scratching him.

No other superhero is like that. Everyone else, if you can catch them off guard, can be killed, captured, or thwarted in dozens of different and interesting ways. Superman, though? If you haven't lucked out and had the right meteor land at your feet (the very definition of a deus ex machina) you shouldn't even bother.

This tends to make him uninteresting as a hero, really... much of the fun of magic, or superpowers, or mad science is watching people do interesting things with it, watching someone get out of a situation that should be deadly if they didn't know how to use their powers cleverly to exploit the loophole. Superman usually just takes things on the chin, shrugs it off because he's invincible, and smashes through the oposition with a broad, cheesy grin... which is really, really boring to watch.

you really have no fucking clue about any of this do you?
do us all a favor, button it.

kyrptonite, magic, red solar radiation, and psychic attacks.
want to know how hard it is to actually get a hold of any one of those? not that really.

several ways to generate fake red solar radiation.
lex makes synthetic kryptonite.
magic? are you fucking kidding me? that shit is EVERYWHERE.
psychic attacks, there are machines that can do this.

then there just being plain overpowered, which there are SEVERAL character who can do this to supes.

 

[KingofMadCows]

The DCAU Superman is great.

Just watch episodes like "Knight Time," "Apokolips Now," "Brave New Metropolis," "The Late Mr. Kent," and "Legacy."

Unfortunately, the DCAU team was forced to shelve a JLU arc involving Superman's son due to the show being canceled.

 

[subtlefuge]

1. People are unable to look past the powers and such to see the incredibly deep and interesting mythology.

2. People wrongfully assume that a superhero with little weakness makes for a boring character.

3. Kryptonite makes for fucking awful stories and bad writers milk the hell out of it with every chance they get.

3. For every good Superman story that explores the more clever vulnerabilities of Superman, there are 10 that are kick ass, gah kryptonite, kick ass.

4. Most of his rogues' gallery is too powerful/destructive to allow very much interaction time. I mean Doomsday can't stick around for too long before he destroys pretty much everything.

5. Very few people appreciate Lex Luthor on the level that his character deserves (including writers).

 

[CrazyGirl17]

Not really, no. At least, as long as he's written well...

 

[Joseph Alexander]

Theres one reason I hate him. Because my heart belongs to another...


<---

you mean the Namor the sub-mariner ripoff thats acting like Marvel's Hercules?

 

[For.I.Am.Mad]

I only hate Superman when he becomes an analogy for Jesus Christ.

 

[Qitz]

Well when you can fly backwards and turn back time or just throw a Cellophane S at people who's going to find you interesting?

Also because he's an Alien, you know how us 'Mericans feel bout them there Aliens.

Personally, I'm more of a fan of Captain America, Iron-Man, Thor and some of the DC Villains (Joker, Clayface, Two-Face.)

 

[IamQ]

Because he is made out of the material known as "H4X". He is super buff, super strong, can fly, shot lazors and all that jazz, and all without any effort. I mean seriously, he didn't have to do a thing to get that awesome. He was just born like that, and that makes him boring.

 

[Lunar Templar]

he's a boring, overpowered boyscout.

that's pretty much why i don't like him. though, can't say i like most of DC's roster, mostly just Batman and Wonder Woman

 

[Korenith]

Because the only really good stuff written to make Superman a genuinely interesting character is found almost exclusively in comics and most people aren't interested because they don't want to go through the insanity that is comicbook continuity.

That being said I can't stand any character who constantly exceeds his/her limits as Superman did in the most recent film by lifting the Kryptonite Island. The Hulk and Wolverine are both seriously guilty of that and a lot of action anime. As soon as writers start doing stuff like that it becomes a contest to see who can make the character do the most utterly ridiculous thing like destroy planets with a sneeze or whatever.

Batman is popular because in mainstream media he doesn't have some extra level to go to when things get crazy. He has to work out a way round things rather than hitting a switch in his brain marked "I must protect *insert name here*" which gives an extra boost to his powers. It takes away any feeling of suspense.

 

[CODE-D]

Lame ass villains, all of which usually just exploit his kryptonite weakness.
Also his outfit.
And the fact that hes IS BORING, he himself makes himself boring by pretending to be normal.
Maybe if he was a parody or a funny asshole jerk but no he works at the newspaper and only acts when trouble happens.


Whereas Batman is constantly Batman and trying to prevent trouble.

 

[Prosis]

Bullets bounce off of his eyes. Even when people use kryptonite against him, its hard to believe that he's in any real danger of death.

Although to be honest, the Flash irritates me more. The things that qualify under "super speed" are absolute bull.

 

[verdant monkai]

Superman is in my opinion very BORING because he all ways wins, and just is basically the most generic hero you can think of even his name is generic.

Oh yes and before you put down you Dr.Pepper, run your hand through your grease ridden hair, adjust your spacious posterior on your throne of super man comics. And reply "well actually sir your argument is invalid because Doomsday kills Superman in issue 567 snarf snarf". Just let me tell you NO Superman does not get beaten he comes back and wins, you faceless Superman nerd.

I know about doomsday from having this exact conversation with a friend, so no I am not a fan of Superman. He is ok as super heroes go just a bit too generic.

 

[Something Amyss]

Like many here, I don't really hate or like him. He's a very vanilla, milksop character (referring to the character himself, not his powers). I don't dislike him, but I don't exactly like him, either.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

With a good writer Superman can be incredible. Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow, All Star Superman, Earth One (for a slightly different take on it) Kingdom Come, even storylines like 52, focusing on him as Clark Kent. In the hands of a good writer, it's easy to see why Superman has such a following.

With bad writers, he is terrible.

Unfortunately, Batman tends to get most of the good writers, and even when he doesn't, the bad writers at least tend to go sort of the right way. Dark and gritty is a huge part of Batman, and it takes a long way to go too far (All Star Batman and Robin) and even that will have its supporters. Superman can't be made gritty very easily (At Earth's End) but if he's written to idealistic then he becomes bland and annoying. You need a writer who can tread that line between idealism and realism much more finely that Batman.

Weirdly enough, Batman is larger than life, Superman has to be very human.

 

[DrgoFx]

Not in super power, but as representation, Superman's Marvel equivalent is Captain America. Both Captain America and Superman have the same basic idea: Pure good, save humanity. Captain America is only titled that because he was an American experiment. That aside, he follows Humanity as a whole and does what is right for the world, not just America. He doesn't always defend America either, and in some issues fought against it.

Superman is relatively the same thing. No one act is beneath him. Superman's goal on Earth is to protect and save us. He is the overall good guy, genuinely good guy. And that's his character point.

 

[Legion]

Welcome to the forums.

Speaking from the perspective of somebody who isn't that into 'superheroes', I have never really liked Superman because he seems to have no flaw, and as such, this makes him hard for me to see as a real character, he is more like a caricature.

 

[babinro]

I hate superman because my experience with the movies and the Animated Series in the 90's had boring stories and boring villains.

I'm sure there are some great villains and stories out there with Superman. But my experience with his character has been sour enough that I don't care to get involved with more content.