10 Different Ways Superman Has Been Defeated

7. Nuclear Weapons

In Frank Miller€™s seminal work The Dark Knight Returns, Superman is forced to divert a Russian nuclear warhead, transforming the typically muscled hero into a skeletal frame of his former self. In the aftermath of this devastation Superman somehow absorbs the trapped sunlight from a nearby plant, regenerating himself a teeny bit at a time, allowing him to return to Gotham strong enough to battle the Kryptonite-armoured might of Batman. The comic later saw a one armed Oliver Queen shoot Superman with a Kryptonite arrow, allowing Batman to make his mark, showing Superman to be a fallible hero - he was beaten by Batman, Green Arrow and a nuclear warhead. Next year€™s Batman V Superman is set to draw heavily from this spectacular piece of comic book history, so it will be interesting to see how much of this makes it onto screen. DC don€™t want their flagship character to look weak, but after the destruction seen in Man Of Steel they need to show that Earth has a response to its alien visitor.