10 Moments When Superman Was A Real Jerk

9. When He Decides To Take Over Earth

Though in his earliest stories Superman's powers were limited -- the whole "faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound" deal - by the time the Silver Age rolled around he was usually portrayed with limitless powers. In addition, as DC Comics' most popular character, the company regularly portrayed him as far more powerful than any of the other superheroes.

By that measure, if Superman wanted to take over the Earth there would be little standing in his way. So there are a few stories of this era featuring Superman getting annoyed at humanity for one reason and another and deciding, whatever, I'm just going to run things from now on. Though he always changes his mind, the fact that he's done it multiple times is worrisome enough.

What's interesting about this is that modern versions of Lex Luthor have used this exact argument to explain why he hates Superman so much. Luthor sees himself as humanity's best defence against Superman if he ever decided to use his powers to enslave the Earth. He might be a supervillain, but considering comics like the ones above, Luthor might be on to something.