10 Times Supervillains Fought The WRONG Hero
It feels so wrong for the Joker to fight anyone except the Dark Knight.
Batman and the Joker have one of the most fascinating rivalries, not just in comics, but in all storytelling. Joker isn't just a baddie - he is Batman's opposite. The fact that their morals, ideologies, and philosophies are antithetical is what makes their conflict compelling. They work off each other so well, it would seem weird - even wrong - if the Joker fought someone else like Green Lantern of Hawkman.
But since Marvel and DC are overloaded with heroes, supervillains are bound to face someone besides their nemesis at some point. Sometimes, these sort of changes work. After all, it would be repetitive if the Green Goblin fought nobody but Spider-Man for 50 years straight, so it's nice to see him clash with other characters.
Most of the time, these changes are done as a gimmick but sometimes, they turn out better than the writers ever imagined. In fact, some of the most iconic moments in comic history occurred when a baddie fought a hero outside their wheelhouse.
Let's have a look at the hero/villain crossovers that worked, the ones that didn't, and the ones that were just... bizarre.
10. Sabretooth Vs Iron Fist - Iron Fist #14
For decades, Sabretooth has served as Wolverine's arch-nemesis. He has beaten Wolvie to the brink of death more times than one can count and has personally slashed his loved ones to ribbons time and time again. Because of their bitter antagonism, it's hard to envision Victor Creed going against anyone except the Ol' Canknucklehead.
Strangely, Sabretooth didn't start off as an X-Men villain. In fact, he didn't face Wolverine until nearly ten years after he debuted! The first superhero he ever encountered was Iron Fist the Living Weapon. The pair butted heads when Sabretooth was hired to kidnap Jerry Hogarth, the lawyer of Iron Fist's father.
Now, this confrontation didn't seem odd at the time since Sabreooth was just another random goon. But in hindsight, it's crazy that the cannibalistic mutant that caused so much anguish in Wolverine's life started off fighting a kung fu master.
It's clear that the writers hadn't figured out Sabretooth's backstory yet since he doesn't seem to have a healing factor in his first few appearances. Iron Fist managed to defeat him by simply punching him in the face. The Sabretooth that we know today would have taken a hundred times more punishment before admitting defeat.