When Good Guys Go Bad
We usually look up to superheroes as the ultimate pillars of morality, but they have definitely had some major lapses in judgment over the years. When they aren't saving the world from cosmic threats, our favorite caped crusaders can be surprisingly selfish, downright petty, or just terrible friends. From erasing their teammates' memories to ruining weddings and stealing advanced technology, these heroes have made some incredibly questionable choices that will make you scratch your head.
1. Iron Man Creates a Totalitarian Super-Prison
Iron Man thought imprisoning his fellow heroes was the solution during the Marvel Civil War comics. He imprisoned anyone who didn’t agree with him in a super-tech prison camp in the Negative Zone. This heavy-handed move seriously damaged his relationship with Captain America.
2. Batman Erases His Friends' Memories
The Dark Knight is notorious for his trust issues, but he took things way too far when he discovered that the Justice League had altered a villain's mind. When Bruce Wayne tried to intervene and stop them, his teammates actually wiped his memory of the entire argument to keep him quiet. Once he eventually found out about the deception, he retaliated by building a giant satellite network to secretly spy on every single hero on Earth.
3. Spider-Man Sells His Marriage to Mephisto
Peter Parker sold his marriage to the devil. Literally. When Aunt May was succumbing to a wound, Spider-Man negotiated with Mephisto of the Marvel Universe to save her. In return, his marriage to Mary Jane was wiped from existence.
4. Reed Richards Ignores His Family for Science
Sometimes Reed Richards is so busy with science, he forgets he has a family. One time, his school project took over so much that he completely forgot it was his wedding anniversary with Sue Storm. He even built an entire universe in a pocket dimension while ignoring his children’s events.
myself (User:Piotrus) on Wikimedia
5. Cyclops Leaves His Wife for a Clone
Scott Summers has earned a reputation for being a bit of a jerk. And his romantic history definitely backs that up. When his first love, Jean Grey, supposedly passed away, he married a woman named Madelyne Pryor and had a child with her. However, the second he found out that Jean was actually alive, he abandoned his new wife and son.
6. Professor X Fakes His Own Passing
Charles Xavier pretended to pass away so he could secretly plan for an alien invasion. He let his young X-Men students think he had fallen in battle. And remained silent as they grieved him.
William Tung from USA on Wikimedia
7. Hal Jordan Steals Green Lantern Rings
Hal Jordan stole rings from his fellow Green Lanterns after Earth was destroyed. He robbed other Green Lanterns of their power rings while they were asleep on Oa. Leaving his colleagues completely stranded was an incredibly selfish move that nearly destroyed the entire intergalactic police force.
8. Beast Brings Teenagers into the Future
The Beast from the X-Men once sent the original young X-Men to the present day to “educate” Cyclops. He did this using a time machine because their opinions didn’t match up. He basically fractured time and put teenagers in a world they weren’t prepared for.
9. Hank Pym Builds a Dangerous Robot
Hank Pym created Ultron. A robot that still terrorizes the Marvel universe today. To make matters worse, the artificial intelligence he designed was modeled after his own brainwaves.
10. The Flash Ruins the Entire Timeline
The Flash ran backward through time to save his mother, upsetting the entire space-time continuum. Barry Allen didn’t think through his actions. And ended up destroying countless lives in the process.
11. Captain America Forgets His Bucky Guilt
Steve Rogers felt guilty about losing his best friend decades ago. But handled it terribly when he returned. When Bucky Barnes returned from the beyond, Captain America was too busy to help his friend recover.
12. Wolverine Brainwashes His Own Son
Logan is not exactly known for being a traditional family man. But his parenting skills reached an all-time low with his son, Daken. After spending years fighting his estranged offspring, Wolverine decided that the best way to handle the rebellion was through intense psychological manipulation.
13. Superman Exiles Himself to Space
Whenever the Man of Steel experiences a minor identity crisis, his default reaction is to completely abandon the planet he swore to protect. After accidentally inhaling some weird chemicals that temporarily altered his mind, he felt so guilty about his erratic behavior that he flew into deep space. He left Earth completely defenseless.
14. Green Arrow Cheats on Black Canary
Oliver Queen might be great at hitting targets with his bow. But he completely misses the mark when it comes to relationship fidelity. Despite being in a committed partnership with Black Canary, he routinely succumbed to temptation and cheated on her with various women.
15. Scarlet Witch Wipes Out Mutant Powers
After experiencing a severe emotional breakdown, Wanda Maximoff decided that the world's mutant problems could be solved with three simple words. She uttered "No more mutants." And instantly stripped millions of individuals of their unique abilities and identities.
16. Aquaman Abandons His Kingdom for a Surface Life
Arthur Curry constantly complains about how hard it is to balance his duties as the King of Atlantis with his Justice League membership. However, he frequently chooses to hang out on the surface world eating seafood and fighting petty crime instead of actually governing his underwater realm.
17. Thor Starts an Unnecessary War
In his younger, more arrogant days, the God of Thunder let his massive ego get the absolute best of him. After a small group of Frost Giants managed to sneak into Asgard's weapon vault, Thor defied his father's direct orders and launched a retaliatory strike.
18. Hawkeye Steals the Goliath Serum
Clint Barton decided that being a master archer just wasn't flashy enough anymore. So he stole Hank Pym's size-shifting gas to change his superhero identity. He became the new Goliath, growing to massive proportions just because he wanted to feel more powerful.
19. Namor Floods the City of Wakanda
The Sub-Mariner has always been a loose cannon. But his pettiness reached a whole new peak during an argument with the Black Panther. Possessed by a fraction of the Phoenix Force, Namor decided to settle a political dispute by sending a massive tidal wave crashing directly into Wakanda.
20. Star-Lord Ruins the Plan to Stop Thanos
You probably remember this frustrating moment where Peter Quill let his emotions ruin everything for the entire universe. While the rest of the heroes had the Mad Titan completely pinned down and were seconds away from slipping the Infinity Gauntlet off his hand, Star-Lord lost his cool. He started punching Thanos, causing an interruption that allowed him to escape.
