10 Times Supervillains Fought The WRONG Hero

After the Joker stole the powers of the reality-warping Mister Mxyzptlk, he remade the universe in his own image. He turned Lex Luthor into his personal jester, ate China, and had Jimmy Olsen bludgeoned to death by rubber chickens.

Although readers were expecting Batman to swoop in at some point to save the day, he was nowhere to be seen. It turns out the Clown Prince of Crime used his omnipotent power to trap his arch-enemy in a loop of torture and death for months on end.

With Gotham's protector unable to best his greatest foe, this looked like a job for Superman. Despite the Man of Steel's might, he was nothing more than a plaything to the Joker.

To prove his absolute power over the Last Son of Krypton, the Joker said he was going to destroy the entire universe. Supes appealed to the demented clown's ego, pointing that he would never be able to torture Batman again if he wiped out all of reality.

Filled with self-doubt, the Joker was left momentarily vulnerable, allowing Superman to defeat him and return his power to Mr. Myxzptlk.