The Justice League is the DC Universe’s premier team of superheroes. First formed to fight the deadly Starro the Conqueror (though this was later retconned to be Darkseid), the Justice League has existed in one form or another for over 60 years now. They are the pinnacle of superheroes in the DC Universe, and their number has expanded continuously over the span of their existence.
However, just because they are Earth’s most powerful heroes doesn’t mean that they can always control their immense superpowers. The members of this team have lost control of their abilities on several occasions and often to disastrous results.
10 Cyborg Being Taken Over By The Grid Of The Crime Syndicate
When the Crime Syndicate first arrived from Earth-3 to Earth-1, they did several things to assert their dominance over the Justice League teams that stood against them. One of their ploys involved their Cyborg counterpart, known as the Grid, taking Victor Stone’s cybernetics and leaving what was left to die.
Batman and Catwoman took Victor to Silas Stone to save his life and receive new cybernetic enhancements. Meanwhile, the Grid helped the Crime Syndicate and plagued the remaining heroes of Earth, including the Doom Patrol.
9 The Firestorm Matrix Being Used To Imprison The Justice League
The other gambit of the Crime Syndicate involved Deathstorm, their counterpart to Firestorm, using the Firestorm Matrix of Ronnie Raymond and Jason Rasch to imprison the rest of the Justice League. During this time, the three existing Justice League teams (the Justice League, the magic-focused Justice League Dark, and the government-run Justice League of America) were helplessly trapped inside the Firestorm Matrix.
Only Batman, Catwoman, and Cyborg escaped this fate–though Cyborg was still out of commission because of the Grid. Batman later obtained Wonder Woman‘s Lasso of Truth and used it to pull the Justice League teams free from the Firestorm Matrix.
8 Firestorm Panicking And Accidentally Turning Several Russian Citizens To Glass
During the Doomsday Clock story by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank, Firestorm ends up in Russia on a self-assigned mission. There, he is surrounded by several people who think he is connected to the “Superman Theory” and that he was created as part of a government experiment to control the populace.
The people begin throwing debris at Firestorm, and he panics. He accidentally turns dozens of people into glass and is unable to turn them back. Superman arrives to help him, but the tragedy has already transpired–and some of the people have already shattered.
7 Darkseid Taking Control Over Starfire, Azrael, And Cyborg
During Justice League Odyssey by Joshua Williamson, Stjepan Sejic, and Will Conrad, a call is put out from the “Ghost Sector” that draws in Cyborg, Starfire, and Azrael. Green Lantern Jessica Cruz joins this oddball team, as she was in charge of patrolling the Ghost Sector. While there, they encounter Darkseid, though he is far from at full power.
Over the course of the story, Darkseid convinces this Justice League team to help him, and it’s revealed that he called for Azrael, Cyborg, and Starfire. He uses Apokoliptian technology to corrupt the trio into his personal New Gods. They attack Jessica Cruz, and she, along with the help of Orion, Blackfire, Dex-Starr, and Suzi Starr the Space Ranger, is narrowly able to defeat Darkseid and free the three heroes from his control.
6 The Flash (Wally West) Losing Control And Killing The Heroes At Sanctuary
Needing help with his own fraying mental health, Wally West, aka the Flash, checked himself into Sanctuary, a haven for superheroes who need psychiatric help. Wally was struggling with the loss of his old life with his wife, Linda Park, and their kids, Jai and Ira.
He became paranoid while at Sanctuary and lost control of the Speed Force, which erupted in an energy blast that killed several other individuals at Sanctuary, including Arsenal, Nemesis, Gnarrk, Poison Ivy, and Commander Steel among others. Wally used a copy of himself to try and pin it on Harley Quinn and Booster Gold who were the sole survivors of the explosion at Sanctuary. Wally tried hard to cover everything up, but he ultimately confessed his crimes to Lois Lane and the Justice League, ultimately being put behind bars.
5 The Flash (Barry Allen) Changing The Past And Creating The Flashpoint Paradox
Barry Allen made his own major mistake before this when he went back in time to save his mother from being killed by Professor Zoom, aka the Reverse-Flash. However, doing so caused reality to be rewritten on a massive scale in an event known as the Flashpoint Paradox.
In this new reality, Barry was without his powers, Thomas Wayne was Batman, Superman was an emaciated prisoner of the US government, and Aquaman and Wonder Woman were locked in an apocalyptic war. Barry was able to regain his powers and undo the damage he had done, but the new reality was altered by Doctor Manhattan from behind the scenes and became the New 52 DC Universe.
4 The Batman Who Laughs Creating His Secret Six From Justice League Members
In his war against the DC Multiverse, the Batman Who Laughs, a horrid amalgam of Batman and the Joker, used a specialized toxin to corrupt six DC Heroes (five Justice Leaguers plus Commissioner Gordon) to become his personal Secret Six.
Jim Gordon became the Commissioner, Supergirl just went by Kara Zor-El, Blue Beetle became the Scarab, Shazam became King Shazam, Donna Troy became Deathbringer, and Hawkman was overtaken by his Earth-3 Crime Syndicate persona known as Sky Tyrant. The six were later cured by Lex Luthor of all people.
3 The Justice League’s Recent Trip To Naomi’s Native Earth
In a very recent Justice League story by Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez, the Justice League went to Naomi’s home Earth to stave off an invasion by Zumbado and Brutus.
However, the League quickly discovered that this was a complicated task. Superman’s powers quickly grew beyond his control, Black Canary’s sonic scream received a supercharge, and Naomi began vanishing from existence.
2 Green Lantern Hal Jordan Losing Control Over His Powers And Becoming Parallax
After the destruction of Coast City by Mongul and Cyborg Superman, Green Lantern Hal Jordan began pleading with the Guardians of the Universe to resurrect the city. The Guardians denied Hal this, and he began stealing Green Lantern rings to give himself the power to resurrect Coast City.
Hal began killing other Lanterns for their rings, becoming corrupted by the yellow energy demon known as Parallax. Ultimately, Hal wiped out the Green Lantern Corps and the Guardians and began warring with the Justice League. In the end, he sacrificed himself to reenergize Earth’s at-the-time dying sun, but he has since been resurrected and is a hero yet again.
1 The Time(s) When Superman Was Split Into Red And Blue Forms
After a power fluctuation, Superman was somehow rendered into an energy form. In this form, he was without his super strength and needed a containment suit but found himself faster, could become intangible, and was able to directly manipulate computer systems. However, Superman was then split into two forms by Cyborg Superman and Toyman. This turned Superman into Superman Red and Superman Blue. Superman’s original form was later restored after the Millenium Giants threat.
This was actually a recreation of a far older Superman story, wherein Superman used a variation of Kryptonite that split him into two different hyper-intelligent entities.
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