Marvel and DC Comics have spent decades defining exactly what superheroes can be. Superheroes have changed many times over the years; in the Golden Age, superheroes killing was a much more common thing than it is now. In the Silver and Bronze Ages, killing became verboten, as much because of the Comics Code Authority as any moral matters. The Modern Age of comics has seen this change again, with the morality of superheroes becoming an important part of the superhero discourse in fan spaces. As superheroes have expanded their focus, more heroes with questionable morals have become popular, to the point that the debate of whether heroes should kill or not is just about never ending in fan spaces.
The morality of superheroes is one of the more interesting aspects of superheroes. Looking at the gamut of superhero morality reveals something that is actually very realistic about superheroes — different superheroes have different ideas of what should be moral. Over the years, many heroes have wrestled with the morality of their actions. Some heroes are people with impeccable moral compasses, but some of them, well, aren’t. These seven superheroes have the most questionable morals, their actions leading readers to think about whether they are as heroic as they imagine.
7) Batman
Now, it might be odd to see Batman on a list of morally questionable superheroes. Batman stopped killing in the comics decades ago, and since then has one of the most stringent no kill policies. There’s seemingly nothing questionable about Batman’s morals. However, there is a problem with Batman’s no kill policy and it’s the Joker. Not killing the Joker has ended thousands of lives. It gets to the point that Batman’s whole “if you kill a killer, you leave the world with the same amount of killers” thing is actually pretty childish. It’s also not like death would stop the Joker either; there are multiple ways to bring back the dead in the DC Multiverse. Batman is an unequivocally great hero, but his deciding not to kill someone like the Joker is actually quite morally questionable. Batman definitely shouldn’t kill every villain he fights, but there should be some leeway in his beliefs. Batman can’t save everyone before he stops the Joker, but he can at least make sure the thousands who will die in the future won’t.
6) The Hulk
The Hulk is easily one of Marvel’s most questionable heroes, and he has been from the beginning. The Hulk just wants to be left alone, and is known for going on rampages when he doesn’t get his way. While it has been established in many comics that Hulk’s rampages have somehow never directly killed anyone, there’s no doubt that his inability to control his anger has cost untold billions of dollars of damage. Hulk is not a traditional superhero; there have been plenty of times when the Hulk has decided not to help the heroes. In fact, the Hulk is just as likely to fight the heroes as he is to help them. The Hulk does his best to do the right thing, but he also often does the exact opposite of that. It’s really hard to blame the Hulk for any of it — he’s a person who was abused for ages and got DID, to the extent that calling him one person isn’t technically correct — but anyone who’s looking to the Hulk as any kind of moral compass needs to look elsewhere.
5) “One More Day” Spider-Man
This entry isn’t about Spider-Man in general, just Spider-Man from one specific story. Spider-Man is known as a person for whom responsibility is the most important thing; he’s not at all morally questionable. However, the Spider-Man of “One More Day” is extremely morally questionable because his actions are all about escaping from his own responsibility. Aunt May was fatally injured because of Spider-Man’s actions. You can argue that him trying to save her is quite responsible, but responsibility goes both ways. Spider-Man didn’t want the responsibility of dealing with the consequences of his actions, and made a deal with a literal devil, selling a major part of not only his life but the lives of his family and friends by giving up his marriage. In fact, over the years, it’s been shown that Spider-Man making a deal with Mephisto was motivated by Mephisto not wanting to face off against Spider-Man and Mary Jane’s child, because that potential child is the one who defeats Mephisto. Spider-Man abdicated his responsibility for what happened to Aunt May and made it so that Mephisto wouldn’t be defeated one day. It’s a terrible look for a hero of Spider-Man’s caliber, and it’s not talked about enough. Joe Quesada and Tom Brevoort wanted back the Spider-Man of their youth, and they did that by destroying everything that Spider-Man stood for.
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4) Lobo
DC doesn’t have nearly as many morally questionable heroes as Marvel does, but there are definitely some. There are some who would put Wonder Woman on this list, but Wonder Woman only kills when it is morally right, so she doesn’t fit. The most easily recognizable morally questionable DC hero is Lobo. In fact, calling Lobo a hero in general isn’t technically correct. Lobo is a mercenary, and he’s just as likely to destroy the entire planets as he is anything else. The only beings in the universe that Lobo will help no questions asked are space dolphins. Other than that, it’s all about the money for Lobo. Sure, Lobo will help out when it’s called for, but it takes a lot to get Lobo to actually help out; the universe itself has to be in jeopardy. Lobo is the perfect anti-hero of the DC Multiverse, a character who will do anything for the right price.
3) Deadpool
Saying that Deadpool is anything but morally questionable shows a deep misunderstanding of the character. Deadpool was a soldier, who lost his mind because of the powers that saved his life, and became a mercenary, killing anyone if the price was right. While Deadpool is no longer a villainous mercenary, and works with the authorities as much as possible for someone like him, his actions are still extremely morally questionable. Deadpool runs through henchmen like they’re going out of style, and while many of them certainly deserve painful death, not all of them do. Deadpool even questions his morality on a semi-regular basis, especially since he became friends with more morally upstanding characters. Deadpool’s actions aren’t evil anymore, but the fact that he’s still as much of a ruthless killer shows his questionable morality. On top of that, his sense of humor revolves often revolves around his more violent tendencies, showing to an extent he finds the whole thing funny. Deadpool’s morals make him a much more interesting character than he once was, as the questions they bring up and how they affect him have become a much bigger part of the character than ever before.
2) Punisher
The Punisher is basically the ultimate hypocrite and that’s all there is to it. Frank Castle lost any sense of morality as a Marine in Vietnam (or the Siancong War outside of the Punisher MAX comics; Earth-616’s sliding timescale makes his being a Vietnam vet impossible), and came back to the States as a completely different person. The death of family saw him lose the tenuous shreds of sanity left to him after the war and the Punisher was born. Since then, the Punisher had made it his mission to kill as many criminals as possible. It’s a somewhat noble goal, but the way the Punisher goes about it is terrible. He believes that he’s the only one doing things the “right” way, that his extreme methods are the only form of crime control that work. He misses the damage his actions do, perpetuating a never-ending cycle of violence and pain. He’ll defend his rights to kill anyone he chooses for any crime to the hilt, yet he’ll say someone like Spider-Man or Daredevil are “children” for not killing every mugger they come across. The Punisher has some great stories that dig into his unyielding view of the world, but anyone who looks at the Punisher as anything but a violent monster doesn’t really understand who the Punisher is.
1) Professor X
A lot of people would put Wolverine on this list, and that’s a somewhat valid thing to do. However, I’d argue that Wolverine’s actions, outside of mind control and complete berserker rages, are actually quite moral. He’s a soldier, and he kills when he needs to do. However, if you want a morally questionable X-Man on the list, look no further than Professor X. Charles Xavier had a dream of peaceful coexistence between humans and mutants, and he decided that he would do anything to make sure his dream happened. Xavier had no problems using his wealth or his mighty mental powers to stack the deck in favor of mutants. He lied to his students, and even mindwiped them when it fit his purposes. He enslaved the Danger Room’s computer when it became sentient, because it was more useful to his dream to train the X-Men than to live its own life. Xavier played the games of power on Krakoa, manipulating and lying to nearly everyone in order to keep the island going. Xavier’s morals are as gray as they come, and calling Professor X a villain isn’t exactly a stretch. This is the reality of Xavier in the present day.
What superheroes do you think have questionable morals? Sound off in the comments below.
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