10 Marvel Fighters Who Could Challenge Batman (2024)

Bruce Wayne is the world’s greatest detective and the king of prep time. Batman’s not afraid to get his hands dirty, frequently visiting righteous violence on Gotham’s criminal underbelly. Known for putting street-level crooks in traction and dealing with threats too big for the GCPD, he’s one of the best hand-to-hand combatants on any Earth in the DC omniverse.

The Marvel universe has its roster of fighters whose motivations give them the power to strike down foes without high-level superpowers. Through focused energy and lifetimes of training, the best fighters in Marvel Comics hone their bodies to become weapons. Many would pose a real challenge to The Dark Knight if he engaged them in hand-to-hand combat.

10 Elektra Is The World's Greatest Assassin

Elektra Natchios is the greatest assassin on Earth-616. Her connection to the Beast allowed her to psionically track and control targets psionically. Decades of martial arts training and practical application make her an elite fighter even without any enhancement. Batman’s enemies include assassins like Talia al Ghul and her father’s League of Shadows, and Talia is always a challenge.

Elektra can effortlessly disarm skilled warriors in the blink of an eye, and she’s strong enough to punch through people and tear out hearts with her bare hands. She’s fast enough to react to muzzle flashes and can control her nervous system to heal faster and shut off pain receptors. Elektra is an absolute monster, and Batman would struggle to contain and stop her fury if a target ever took her to Gotham.

9 Daredevil And Batman Have Much In Common

Matt Murdock is Marvel’s Man Without Fear, and he has more in common with The Dark Knight than anyone ever talks about. Both pointy-cowled heroes suffered the tragic loss of their parents at a young age, and both used their pain to become urban instruments of hand-to-hand vengeance.

He’s not totally against killing if necessary and has as little regard for his safety as a young Bruce Wayne. These traits and both heroes' senses bordering on precognition make the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen an especially intriguing match-up for Gotham’s champion.

8 Punisher Doesn't Give Up

Frank Castle saw his family murdered in front of him and now visits murderous justice on anyone he deems fit. Batman lives by a strict moral code and never uses guns. The caped crusader’s armor is sufficient to stop ballistics of all kinds, but the Punisher’s artillery would give him a run for his money. Brian Bolland’s non-canon tale, “An Innocent Guy,” from Batman: Black and White #6, shows how susceptible Batman could be to an unknown lone shooter.

Castle beat Jean-Paul Valley in Chuck Dixon's Batman/Punisher: Lake of Fire, but Bruce Wayne decidedly won when they met in Dixon's Punisher/Batman: Deadly Knights. Most readers would attest that Batman’s incredible focus allows him to perceive threats before they happen, but The Dark Knight is fallible. When Castle wants something dead, he goes after it and does not stop until it's dead. He doesn’t do anything flashy, so there aren’t many obvious tells, even for the world’s greatest detective.

7 Deadpool Loves Jokes and Swords

Deadpool is pretty much the opposite of Batman. Human lives don’t particularly matter to him without context, and he is borderline incapable of internal monologue. Wade's mental illness and his need to make jokes are less reminiscent of Batman and far more akin to his greatest and most challenging foe: The Joker. Batman’s only edge is the freedom afforded by Deadpool’s incredible healing factor. Wade isn’t subtle, so Bruce would likely see him defy death and realize he didn’t have to hold back.

In Joe Kelly and Mike Hawthorne’s Deadpool: The End, the multiverse-hopping Merc With A Mouth takes the form of The Deadpool Who Laughs and critiques how deconstructive comics stray from the ideal of “comics.” The cosmic snap that follows is a perfect reminder that Deadpool doesn’t follow the rules of man, god, or nature (or anything else) and is entirely unpredictable. Batman usually gets the drop on the Clown Prince of Crime, but the Joker doesn’t have the arsenals Deadpool can pull out of nowhere.

6 Captain America And Batman Are Equals

Steve Rogers is an all-American scrapper. Brooklyn-strong with the added power of super soldier serum, the Star-Spangled Avenger can duke it out with the best of them. Batman fights according to his moral code, while Cap upholds specific ideals. The conflict between Wayne, a private business executive, and Rogers, a government agent and national treasure, would be political and physical.

Sam Wilson is also an incredibly skilled hand-to-hand combatant, even without super soldier enhancement. With the aid of his vampiric bird friend Redwing and Cap’s trusty shield, he'd give Batman a real challenge. While Wilson never met the man, Rogers teamed up with The Dark Knight in John Byrne’s Batman and Captain America and showed definitively that the two are equals in martial ability.

5 Moon Knight Is Chaotic Batman

The many minds and monikers of Moon Knight amount to Marvel’s best Batman analog. Nocturnal justice, stylized gadgets, and incredible martial prowess are traits they share, but Mr. Knight’s mental instability is wildly different from Bruce Wayne’s. A match-up between the two would likely include bouts of combat broken up by investigation, but the ending is hard to call.

Khonshu gives Moon Knight enhanced abilities, but Batman’s home-field advantage levels the playing field if they battle in Gotham. Batarangs and crescent darts clattering on asphalt would be the only things onlookers would see as the two fighters brawled through the night. Batman could probably figure out a way to incapacitate Moon Knight, but it’d be a hard battle up to that point.

4 Shang-Chi Is The Master of Kung Fu

Batman trained with legendary martial arts practitioners from around the world, but he’s still no match for the power of the ten rings. Living weapon and foremost Master of Kung Fu, Shang-Chi makes Bruce Wayne look like the star pupil in a karate class for children. His hand-to-hand skills are legendary beyond compare, and his mystical enhancements give him godlike power.

Shang-Chi is the rightful guardian of the ten rings, granting him superior strength, speed, durability, flight, and superhuman reflexes. His mastery over his body allowed him to channel a small portion of the Phoenix Force and become the God of Thunder and Blades for a time. His ability to manipulate his chi gives him superhuman advantages without any external enhancement. Batman is an incredibly martial artist and notoriously good at finding weak points, but his best bet would be to de-escalate and talk things out before they come to blows.

3 Iron Fist Is Batman With Powers And Jokes

Danny Rand is another Marvel hero whose backstory parallels other heroes'. Instead of retreating into Gotham and using his resources to train into adulthood, Danny was marooned and taken to K’un-Lun, where the mystic residents and creatures trained him to become the Iron Fist.

Iron Fist's powers can change, and he can redirect energy in novel ways to some degree, so Batman would be seriously challenged to counter the impacts of his earth-shaking punches. Eventually, Batman would probably figure out The Hero For Hire's style and strengths and use them against him.

2 Batman Should Be Diplomatic With Black Panther

T’Challa trained to become the Black Panther his whole life, and his martial prowess is legendary. Armed with the fantastical Black Panther Habit and all its amazing abilities, he’d prove to be a real challenge for The Dark Knight. Both heroes are immensely wealthy and only concerned with their particular slice of the world, but they’d likely fight each other before any diplomatic discussions.

T’Challa and Bruce both tend to fight opponents to test their potential. In a meet-up that would most likely take place at some international gala or an embassy, readers can imagine Bruce Wayne and T’Challa locking eyes, each knowing the other holds a secret. Perhaps because of vibranium trafficking in Gotham, the black-clad vigilantes would put on quite a show if they ever fought, and the King of Wakanda would be a major challenge for Batman.

1 Wolverine Is The Best There Is

Wolverine is an apex predator of Earth-616, possessing heightened senses, virtually indestructible bones, razor-sharp claws, and a better healing factor than almost any other character. Batman is tough, but he's better off retreating to his cave unless he decides to take lethal action to incapacitate the Wolverine.

Incapacitating Logan only lasts so long, so Batman would be forced to take lethal action. Even knowing that Wolverine would return, each killing blow would be challenging for someone with any moral code. Eventually, Bats could pool resources to contain or immobilize Logan, but that still doesn’t ensure victory.

Batman

Batman is one of the oldest comic superheroes, with nearly a century of comics, TV-shows, films, and video games. The mild-mannered Bruce Wayne becomes Gotham City's caped crusader, protecting it from villains like The Joker, Killer Croc, The Penguin, and more. Batman is also one of DC comics' "Big Three" alongside Superman and Wonder Woman, and together the three help keep the earth safe as founding members of the Justice League.

Created by

Bill Finger , Bob Kane

First Film

Batman: The Movie

Latest Film

The Batman

Upcoming Films

The Batman – Part II

First TV Show

Batman

Latest TV Show

Batman: Caped Crusader

First Episode Air Date

January 12, 1966

Cast

Adam West , Kevin Conroy , Christian Bale , Robert Pattinson , Ben Affleck , Michael Keaton , Keanu Reeves , Josh Hutcherson , Will Friedle , Anson Mount , Will Arnett

Character(s)

Batman , The Joker , The Penguin , Mr. Freeze , Two-Face , The Riddler , Catwoman , Poison Ivy