10 Best Alternate Universe Versions of Superman

James Gunn’s Superman is the latest movie incarnation of a character who was created in 1938. However, over those 90+ years, we’ve seen several different takes on the character. Here are the 10 best alternate universe versions of Superman.

The 10 Best Alternate Universe Versions of Superman

1. Ultraman (Justice League Crisis on Two Earths)

As seen in the animated movie Justice League Crisis on Two Earths, Ultraman isn’t just Evil Superman or some version of General Zod; he’s mafia boss Superman. Describing himself as the “boss of bosses,” he doesn’t come across as particularly intelligent, at least not compared to fellow Crime Syndicate member Owlman. However, it’s possible that was a trick, as he’s certainly smart enough to remove every trace of Kryptonite from the Earth, forcing the non-evil Lex Luthor to seek help elsewhere.

2. Super-Soldier (Amalgam)

The idea of a Marvel and DC Comics crossover might seem laughable today, but up until the early ’90s, the two were happy to team up. We got to see the Fantastic Four join forces with Superman, and Batman and the Punisher had their own team-up. The latter had Batman stopping The Punisher from killing The Joker, which, given the latter’s body count, seems like a huge mistake.

Super-Soldier was the product of one of their biggest joint efforts, dubbed Amalgam. This was a comics line that blended DC characters with Marvel characters, creating new villains and heroes. Super-Soldier was one of those heroes, a mash-up of Captain America and Superman. This Clark Kent fell in love with Lois Lane, only to discover she’d married Lex Luthor. Ouch. At least he got his revenge when he took out a still-living Luthor’s new Hydra.

3. Medieval Superman (Dark Knights of Steel)

Dark Knights of Steel introduces us to a Superman who’s crash-landed on medieval Earth, which is an interesting twist. But the real game-changer is that his parents, Jor-El and Lara, have landed with him and, with their powers, become king and queen. Instead of being alone in the world, Superman/Kal-El is raised by his actual parents and becomes increasingly frustrated by their actions, which includes a crusade against those who have magical powers.

4. Son of Zod (Justice League: Gods and Monsters)

Justice League: Gods and Monsters introduces us to a Superman who is so completely evil he has a goatee. However, he actually isn’t, even though, as the movie later reveals, he’s the son of Superman’s arch-nemesis, General Zod.

Raised by Mexican migrant farmers, Hernan Guerra isn’t quite the boy scout Superman is, but he’s still a hero. However, the revelation of his parentage, plus a plot to bring him and his fellow heroes down, takes him to a very dark place, and we’re left to see whether he’ll follow in his genetic father’s bloody footsteps.

5. Russian Superman (Red Son)

Perhaps the most famous of all the alternate Supermen, comics legend Mark Millar asked, “What would happen if Superman’s ship landed in Russia?” The answer is Red Son, a three-issue comic run that reimagines the hero as a tool of the USSR. America took issue with communism (and still does), but here, it’s got a real reason to be worried due to a “..costumed individual more effective than our hydrogen bomb.” So, who does the US turn to? Lex Luthor. What could possibly go wrong?

Related: Is Brainiac in the Trailer for James Gunn’s Superman?

6. Dark Knight Superman (The Dark Knight Returns)

Superman is famed for fighting for “truth, justice, and the American Way,” and some critics have painted the character as nothing more than a tool to support America’s interests. That’s not strictly true, and Red Son played on that skewed perception of the character. But Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns takes things all the way, making him into a literal American agent, at the beck and call of Ronald Reagan. It’s fascinating to see him in that position, to the point where I wanted to know exactly how he’d ended up being such a stooge. More likely, it’s just so more people will cheer when Batman kicks his bottom.

7. Zombie Superman (DCeased)

If there are two heroes you wouldn’t go zombie, it’s The Flash and Superman. DCeased, essentially a DC version of Marvel Zombies, saw both of them infected with the anti-life equation, and while Superman dispatches The Flash, it’s too late for him, as he’s already been infected. It’s at that point you know this world is completely screwed, and as if biting people wasn’t enough, the series has Zombie Superman attempting to devour the literal sun.

It’s rumored, though not confirmed, that Marvel Zombies‘ patient zero, an undead “hero” from another universe, was going to be Superman, minus his logo, and you can see the resemblance if you read the Ultimate Fantastic Four story “Crossover.” However, the character was switched up to The Sentry.

8. British Superman (Superman: True Brit)

With input from Monty Python’s John Cleese, Superman: True Brit is played for laughs from beginning to end. Crash-landing in English, Colin Clark (yes, really) is raised by an increasingly stressed British couple who have to deal with him smashing his head on the ceiling, using his heat vision to over-boil their tea, that sort of thing.

He accidentally hurls a cricket bat through someone’s torso, goes to work for a Murdoch-style tabloid The Daily Smear, and gets into trouble with the taxman. It’s as amazing and ridiculous as it sounds, and if you’re a fan of British humor, it’s well worth hunting down a copy.

9. Bizarro (Action Comics)

Bizarro isn’t so much an evil Superman as a seriously confused and damaged one, whose appearance and reverse talk often result in him being seriously misunderstood. The current Bizarro isn’t some Lex Luthor creation; he’s a fish out of water from his own strange universe, and all he really wants is to be understood or, at least, find somewhere he belongs. The best Bizarro stories play on that, even if it doesn’t always end well for him.

10. Regime Superman (Injustice: Gods Among Us)

Injustice: Gods Among Us doesn’t delve that deeply into this villainous Superman’s motivations, largely because there’s no time. But the Injustice comic, particularly Year 1, fleshes things out, detailing Superman’s slide into dictatorship. Determined that no one else will have to suffer the same tragedy he did, he tries to fix the world, which divides the superhero community in two.

And those are the 10 best alternate universe versions of Superman. If you’re looking forward to James Gunn’s take on the hero, here’s every DCU cameo and Easter egg in the teaser trailer for Superman.