10 Best Times Supervillains Switched Sides

Doctor Doom as Iron Man really shouldn't work, and yet...

by Ewan Paterson

Superhero comics can be identified through an array of pretty obvious signs: bright costumes, secret identities, ominous narration - but one element that will always be present is the dichotomy between hero and villain; those that operate on the side of good, with or without powers, and those who work on the opposite, sewing chaos and destruction wherever they go.

They're a constant in the genre, but there are times where supervillains have briefly dabbled in superheroics, divesting from the dark arts and joining forces with their nemeses in search of a common goal. Some, in rare occasions, even make the switch permanent, so much so that their time as a supervillain has actually been forgotten by the general public.

It's not as though these switches have been limited to one publisher solely either. Both DC and Marvel have exercised this trope in the past to varying degrees of success, but when done properly, it's hard to think of a better one present in the superhero genre.

So, with double-crosses, changes of heart and romantic entanglements aplenty, here are the times supervillains proved that being a hero is worth the trouble - briefly, or in the long-run.

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.