Ever since Superman showed up in 1938, the heroes of DC Comics have been battling evil in all forms. From crooked politicians to intergalactic armies looking to wipe out mankind, DC’s greatest champions have been there to make sure everything turns out fine for the regular people of Earth.
But in all of their journeys, both separate and together, the heroes of the DC Universe continue to make the same mistakes time and time again. For some heroes – the newer ones – making these mistakes are understandable, but when the likes of Hawkman or Wonder Woman are also guilty of not learning from the past, it’s time to really assess what it is that the heroes keep doing wrong, and how they can learn from these mistakes to become even better saviors of humanity.
10 Forgiving Lex Luthor
Lex Luthor is, without a doubt, one of the biggest villains in the DC Universe. While the billionaire mad scientist primarily faces off against Superman, Lex has certainly been a thorn in the sides of many heroes. This is a man who cheated his way into the White House and then let an alien invasion happen to try and make Superman look bad. And even after Lex was impeached, the Justice League still let him join the team. Most recently, Lex teamed up with Perpetua in an attempt to rule Earth, but when Perpetua rejected Luthor, the heroes welcomed him to their side. It’s only a matter of time before Lex betrays the heroes – and humanity – again.
9 Trusting Batman Even When He Doesn’t Trust Them
Two things every superhero knows is that Batman doesn’t trust them and he has a plan for everything. In the now-classic Tower of Babel story, it was revealed that the Dark Knight detective had concocted ways to take down every member of the JLA, including himself. In the time since it has become an open secret to the superhero community that Batman spends his free time figuring out how to beat them all up.
Still, the heroes continue to trust Batman and listen to his advice. They know that whatever he is telling them, Batman’s real goal is to make sure he can always take them down, so every piece of advice Batman gives feeds into that strategy. Add in that Batman’s own actions and distrust of the other heroes has caused a number of deadly events over the years and it has to be questioned why any heroes hang out with the Caped Crusader.
8 Messing With Time And Space
The heroes of the DCU really like to travel through time and space. Flash built his own special treadmill to do it, and Booster Gold has made a whole superhero career off of time travel. No matter how much Rip Hunter and the Time Masters have begged the heroes to stop messing with time, they keep doing it.
Because of the endless need to toy with the past, DC’s heroes have erased the timeline on multiple occasions, most notably when Flash went to save his mom and created the Flashpoint reality. Each time these heroes mess with time, they cause paradoxes that weaken the fabric of reality, leading to yet another Crisis event.
7 Ignoring Lower-Tiered Heroes
In a world with people like Superman, Martian Manhunter, and Mera, it can be hard for the upper-level heroes to take the lower-tiered gang seriously. After all, who would trust Blue Beetle after he turned the island of Kooey Kooey Kooey into a casino and bankrupted the Justice League?
But this lack of listening to the B and C-level heroes have on occasion caused some big problems for the DC Universe. If Batman had taken a few minutes to listen to Beetle about Max Lord, the heroes may have been in a better position when Infinite Crisis began. If the League trusted Booster Gold, the events of Heroes in Crisis could have turned out differently.
6 Letting Kids Get Into Superheroics
While every superhero universe has teen heroes, the DC Universe stands out as having no issue with these young fighters doing things without adult supervision. And considering that three of Batman’s Robins have died, it is hard to understand why they continue to let kids fight in universe-shattering battles.
Yes, the Robins have come back to life, but that doesn’t excuse the decision to let those kids – or the many other kids who have died in costume – fight the good fight before they’re even old enough to drive.
5 Ignoring The Next Generation
Almost every major hero of the DC Universe has a sidekick. Batman has half a dozen of them. The idea is that these great heroes are training the next generation to continue the good fight after they’re gone. But, in reality, these heroes almost never spend time with their sidekicks.
Batman has easily collected the most sidekicks, but he almost never works with them. Flash barely talks to Kid Flash. It isn’t clear that Wonder Woman remembers that Wonder Girl is her sidekick these days. The only reason Superman spends so much time with one of the two Superboys is that they’re father and son.
4 Trusting Arkham To Hold Criminals
The amount of times criminals, like Joker and Two-Face, who have escaped from Arkham Asylum may seem like an issue specific to Batman, but in truth this just part of a larger problem within the DC Universe. The heroes of the DCU have the ability to create virtually inescapable prisons but instead, they let their greatest foes break out time and time again. Superman could easily put Parasite in the Phantom Zone. Flash could bring the worst of the worst back in time and leave them in the Jurassic era (with facilities to make sure they survive of course). A prison on the moon would certainly make it harder for Cheetah to slip away and cause more headaches for Wonder Woman. But nothing like this ever happens.
3 Keeping Technology To Themselves
Many of DC’s greatest heroes have technology that could all but solve every problem on Earth. Overcrowding wouldn’t be a problem if the Atom would share the inner workings of his Bio-Belt that allows him to shrink down. The Justice League’s teleporter tubes would totally change transportation.
Speaking of the Justice League, they have ships that can take them to the far ends of the galaxy in mere hours, but humanity has yet to make it past the moon. This is the kind of technology that could lead to mankind reaching out to other species across the universe, but for whatever reason, the team doesn’t share it.
2 Thinking They Have All The Answers
One reason heroes often give to explain why they don’t share their technology with the world is that it is important that mankind discover these things on their own. The problem there is that much of the technology they use was created by humans. Ray Palmer is indeed human. So is Batman. And Flash. But still, they hold the technology back because the heroes believe they know what is best for everyone.
Of course, these are the same heroes who let children fight demons and demi-gods on a regular basis. These are the heroes who have accidentally erased all of reality multiple times. They believe they have all the answers, but they are just as flawed as the people they protect.
1 Trusting The Guardians To Handle The Rest Of The Universe
For the most part, the heroes of the DCU stick to handling problems on Earth. For the rest of the universe, there are a handful of heroes and, of course, the Green Lantern Corps. The Green Lanterns, a universe-spanning police force, answer to the Guardians, a race of little blue people who claim to be nigh-omnipotent.
And despite their big heads and claims of being on top of everything, the Guardians are constantly caught off-guard. They did not foresee the coming of the Anti-Monitor during the Crisis on Infinite Earths and weren’t prepared for the Manhunter attacks of Millennium. Most recently, their home planet of OA was left in rubbles after a mysterious foe destroyed the Green Lantern’s central power battery. The Guardians can’t be trusted to protect the universe.
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