Top 20 DUMBEST Decisions by Superheroes

“Deadpool” (2016)

Deadpool’s a lovable merc but he’s also quite a screwup. It might sound a little harsh but honestly, he’d probably agree with us. One scene in particular from the first “Deadpool” highlights his failure to prepare. When the trio of him, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, and Colossus all prepare for the final showdown, Deadpool realizes his mistake. The bags of ammo that would’ve helped them out were accidentally left by Deadpool back in Dopinder’s taxi. We’re not trained mercenaries but we have a feeling that you’re not supposed to forget your supplies. While the gang was able to quickly improvise later, things probably could’ve gone a lot smoother if Deadpool hadn’t goofed up.

“The Incredible Hulk #435” (1995)

Even the Incredible Hulk can’t help but love America’s favorite pastime! During issue 435 of “The Incredible Hulk” comic, Hulk decides to play in the minor leagues as part of the Pistols. While a change of scenery is always nice, we can’t exactly consider this a smart decision. Since Hulk’s usually on the run, a freakishly strong guy playing baseball doesn’t sound inconspicuous. And sure enough, Hulk later gets into a skirmish with a bad guy that results in massive destruction. His boneheaded decision not only harmed himself, but put others at risk. Maybe next time just stick to watching sports instead of playing them.

“The Flash” (2023)

Getting to see Michael Keaton reprise his role as Batman decades later in “The Flash” was awesome. How he went out though? Not so awesome. In the final fight against Zod’s Kryptonian army, Batman decides to do whatever he can to destroy their main ship. That means he sacrifices himself by flying the bat-plane right into it. It could’ve been an emotional moment if… y’know, it actually did anything. Barely any real damage was done to the ship thanks to its advanced technology. So this sacrifice ultimately just ended up doing nothing in the long run. In fact, it just hindered them more since the team was now down another member. Looks like Batman finally decided to get nuts.

“Green Lantern: Emerald Twilight” (1994)

“Emerald Twilight” marks the turning point for Hal Jordan. Following Cyborg Superman and Mongul’s destruction of Coast City, Hal Jordan seeks to recreate all of Coast City with his ring. We can sympathize with Hal over the pain he felt due to the loss of his entire city, but this was still a pretty reckless abuse of his power. And when the Guardians of Oa step in, Hal flies off the rails. He soon murders the rest of the Green Lantern Corp and becomes the villain Parallax. Yeah, it's kind of hard to bounce back from that…

“Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” (2016)

The dynamic of superheroes fighting each other upon a first meeting only to soon team up is a somewhat tired trope. Arguably the most glaring example of this cliche can be found in “Batman v Superman.” When the Man of Steel finally encounters the Dark Knight, tensions quickly mount. But the thing is that it all really could’ve been avoided. Since Superman knew Lex Luthor was pulling all of the strings, he could’ve easily let Batman know at any point. But instead, he goes through with an entire brawl that while certainly cool, was totally avoidable. Maybe he should’ve just done the whole “save Martha” bit at the start and saved everyone some time.

“Avengers: The Crossing” (1995)

“Avengers: The Crossing” is infamous to comic book fans as a shining example of throwing stuff to the wall and seeing what sticks. The storyline involves the Avengers discovering that Iron Man is actually now a murderous bad guy working for Kang. While that’s incredibly dumb on its own, how the Avengers react is dumb as well. Through a lot of time travel shenanigans, they recruit a young Tony Stark to fight the evil one. But their plan’s not quite rock solid as the teenage Tony gets taken out of the equation. It shouldn’t take a genius to figure out that this time-travel plot was a giant waste of time.

“Identity Crisis” (2004)

Near the end of the absolutely disturbing events that unfolded during “Identity Crisis,” the Justice League decided to erase the mind of main villain Doctor Light. But they didn’t just stop there. When Batman caught wind of the decision to alter Light’s mind, Zatanna then altered Batman’s as well. He’d eventually find out and he was definitely not happy. This gross misuse of her power fractured Batman and Zatanna’s friendship. Not only that, it also damaged Batman’s relationship with the rest of the League. It’d even snowball into his decision to create Brother Eye which would in turn lead to “Infinite Crisis.” No matter how powerful you might think you are, you should know that you can’t get away with messing with Batman.

“Avengers: Infinity War” (2018)

When the heroes have Thanos briefly subdued on Titan, they have a chance to get the Infinity Gauntlet away from him and end the chaos before it starts. But when Star-Lord learns that Thanos killed Gamora, he attacks the Mad Titan, which gives him a chance to escape. Star-Lord was right to feel upset but this wasn’t the way to handle things. You could make an argument that everything that happened in “Infinity War” needed to happen. But it’s still hard to call what Star-Lord did a smart choice. His failure to separate his feelings from the task at hand cost our heroes half of the entire universe!

“The Incredible Hulk #91-112” (2006-2008)

Longtime friendships were forever broken when a secret network of heroes called the Illuminati exiled the Hulk into outer space. The moment from the “Incredible Hulk” comic is infamous for leading into the iconic “Planet Hulk” and subsequent “World War Hulk” storylines. It’s also infamous for being one of the most incredibly stupid decisions ever made in the Marvel universe. You know for a group of highly intelligent individuals, it’s crazy how they didn’t think pissing off a monster fueled by rage would come back to bite them. When Hulk arrived back on Earth during “World War Hulk,” he nearly destroyed the world. It’s true that Hulk can be incredibly dangerous, but he’s a force you always want on your side, not against!

“Avengers vs. X-Men” (2012)

In this 2012 Marvel Comics crossover event, the Phoenix Force is on its way to Earth to take Hope Summers as its host. The X-Men believed that she and the Phoenix could restore the dying mutant race, while the Avengers believed the Phoenix would bring about the end of the world. Rather than finding a middle ground, the two teams battle it out until the Phoenix Force arrives, splits apart, bonds with Cyclops and four other mutants, and forms the Phoenix Five. Oh, it gets worse: Cyclops kills Xavier while under the Phoenix’s influence. Though the story ends on a happy-ish note, Professor X’s death could’ve been avoided had the Avengers just not interfered.

“Identity Crisis” (2004)

Now, DC’s “Identity Crisis” has PLENTY of moronic moments to spare, but this one takes the cake. The Elongated Man’s wife Sue is mysteriously murdered, and the Justice League somehow can’t solve the case. The culprit is ultimately revealed to be Jean Loring, the ex-wife of Ray Palmer, aka The Atom. Jean didn’t intend to kill Sue; it was all just a confusing plan to get Ray back that ultimately backfired. Ray declares her insane and ships her off to Arkham Asylum… where she later finds a black diamond that turns her into the cosmic evil force Eclipso. But what did Ray expect? Nothing good ever comes from sending people to Arkham.

“Watchmen” (1986-87)

In the final issue of “Watchmen,” the vigilantes have discovered the man responsible for the central mystery – Ozymandias. It turns out, the giant alien squid destroying New York and killing millions was part of his insane plan to try and bring about world peace. He makes the others keep his plan a secret… but Rorschach refuses to concede. Rorschach’s black-and-white view of justice doesn’t let him see the bigger picture, and he’ll never compromise even in the face of death. He coulda lied and said he was going to go along with it, but that’s not Rorschach’s style. Instead, he threatens to tell the world about the conspiracy, and Dr. Manhattan vaporizes him.

“X2: X-Men United” (2003)

In the comics, Magneto has proven time and time again that he’s not exactly trustworthy; but in the movies, the X-Men had to learn this lesson the hard way. In the first “X-Men” film, he was the big bad, fighting for mutant supremacy against Professor X’s dream of harmony. In “X2,” Magneto allies himself with the X-Men to thwart a genocidal maniac from using Cerebro to kill all mutants, but then turns on them and tries to use it to kill all humans instead. Magneto will rise to the occasion when mutant kind’s at stake, but he’s suffered too many hardships to show concern for humanity – and the X-Men should know that by now!

“Civil War” (2006-07)

During the events of Marvel Comics storyline “Civil War,” Tony Stark convinces Spider-Man to unmask himself as Peter Parker to show his support for the Registration Act. After consulting with his family, Peter reveals himself to the world… and puts a giant target on his back. As a result, Aunt May is shot and killed. Instead of letting his Aunt go peacefully, Peter makes a deal with the villainous Mephisto: he’ll let Aunt May live, if Peter gives up his marriage to Mary Jane. The unmasking is reversed, but for all his talk about “great responsibility,” this has to be one of the LEAST responsible moves Spider-Man or anyone else has ever pulled.

“Iron Man 3” (2013)

For a “genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist,” Tony Stark’s ego can lead him to some pretty stupid decisions. America is under the threat of the mysterious terrorist known as “The Mandarin,” but Tony isn’t bowing to him just yet. In an act of defiance, Tony challenges The Mandarin… by publicly announcing the address of his Malibu mansion. He’s practically inviting the Mandarin to come blow up his home… which is exactly what happens. While it turns out later that the Mandarin is big a hoax, it goes to show how an oversized ego can lead to some idiotic and risky decisions.

“Thor: The Dark World” (2013)

Since his debut in the first “Thor” movie, Loki has been a recurring foe in the Marvel Cinematic Universe – constantly looking to seize power, and manipulating others to help achieve that goal. In “Thor: The Dark World,” Loki is offered a chance at redemption when Thor recruits him to help fight the Dark Elves. Though they can’t stand each other, their brotherly bond really shines through right up to the end when Loki “sacrifices” himself to save Thor. However, the God of Mischief still has some tricks up his sleeves – turns out he faked his death and assumed the guise of his missing father, usurping the throne as king of Asgard – all thanks to Thor… oops.

“Fantastic Four” (2015)

2015’s “Fantastic Four” has a lot of dumb ideas in it, and this is no exception. Reed Richards has been brought into the Baxter Foundation to help build a teleportation machine alongside Johnny Storm, Sue Storm and Victor von Doom. The boys are hoping to be chosen as the first humans to test it… but, no such luck. So, like the “geniuses” they are… they get drunk, and drag Reed’s friend in to test a machine that takes them to another dimension. The new world’s terrain starts to collapse, Victor falls to his supposed death, but the others escape. However, the machine’s explosion grants them – and Sue – superhuman abilities. Booze and science don’t mix!

“Avengers #58” (1968) & “Avengers: Age of Ultron” (2015)

Ultron is one of the Avengers’ most dangerous foes – a sentient machine with mind controlling abilities, supreme intelligence, and near immortality. But the most terrifying thing about him? It was the good guys that created him. In the comics, Hank Pym creates Ultron-1 using his own brainwaves while experimenting with artificial intelligence; however, it uses said intelligence to try to end humanity. In the “Age of Ultron” film, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner creates Ultron as a peacekeeping project… but its idea of peace ALSO involves humanity’s extinction. Although the movie version of Ultron is destroyed, the struggle leaves deep scars on the team. Both scenarios show that even the best intentions can accidentally create your own worst enemy.

“Batman” (1939-)

Despite being a breeding ground for criminal psychopaths, Gotham isn’t very keen on the death penalty… even in the case of killer clowns. The Joker has committed some insidious deeds over the years – torturing heroes, murdering innocent citizens, and leaving more than a few scars on the Bat Family – and yet, even after everything he’s done… Batman can’t bring himself to kill the clown. It’s not that Batman doesn’t dream of ending the clown prince of crime’s reign of terror… but Batman’s moral code won’t let him sink to that level. And, as a result, the citizens of Gotham will continue to suffer because Batman doesn’t want to break the rules.

“The Flash” (2023)

Barry Allen’s decision to go back in time and prevent his mother’s death ended up having major ripple effects across the DCEU. Sure, he didn't know his choice would lead to a world where nearly all superheroes were gone, but he was still warned about the ramifications of time travel. So his insistence to go back in time anyway ended up resulting in a chaotic mess of a timeline that nearly killed him. Not only that, this timeline allowed General Zod to launch a far more successful invasion of Earth than the one he attempted in “Man of Steel.” The ability to change the past may be tempting, but as this showed, it could have grim consequences.