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DC’s been trying to bring Lobo to the big screen for a long time (a Lobo movie was even announced all the way back in 2009, but wound up in development hell). Supergirl‘s Lobo is impressively comic book accurate, a faithful recreation of the Main Man, and excitement is building for the so-called “Main Man” to make his live-action debut. Even better, the new Supergirl trailer makes it pretty clear Lobo is no supervillain – he’s being introduced as the antihero he eventually evolved into.
Lobo’s Powers Make Him a Match for Superman
Hailing from the planet Czarnia, Lobo is one of the toughest beings in the entire universe; it’s said that members of his race can only be killed by other Czarnians. He’s functionally immortal, and has in fact been rejected by both heaven and hell; that means even when Lobo takes the most brutal beat-downs, he simply gets up again and carries on fighting. Lobo can withstand the vacuum of space, and he claims he’s taken short-cuts through stars; some of his feats suggest that may well be true. If Lobo does sustain injury, he has a phenomenal healing factor stronger than Marvel’s Wolverine.
As powerful as Lobo may be, it’s frustratingly difficult to properly estimate his physical strength. This is because – as with Superman himself – he’s been effectively rebooted many times, as a result of DC’s various multiversal resets. He’s a skilled hand-to-hand combatant, holding his own against some of DC’s greatest martial artists. Lobo’s greatest weakness, though, tends to lie with his intellect; although he’s smarter than most (even seemingly genius-level on occasion), Superman has been able to outsmart him many times.
Lobo and Superman Tend to be Evenly Matched
Lobo and Superman have fought many times, and the outcomes have always been inconclusive. Their first clash, in Adventures of Superman #464, happened simply because Lobo got drunk and fancied going up against a Kryptonian. More often, though, it’s been because Lobo has been hired to kill Superman. One such brawl took place in DC First: Superman/Lobo, in which an alien Hegemony sought to acquire Earth, and hired Lobo to kill Superman so they could do so. That particular fight ended when Hegemony droids opened fire, with Lobo considering it voiding the contract because he perceived it an attempt to “help” him.
Superman has learned the hard way not to underestimate Lobo, whose blows can even make him bleed. At the same time, though, Superman can fight back; his own punches and kicks hit Lobo pretty hard, even if some of Superman’s other powers – such as his heat vision – tend to be irrelevant to the Czarnian. Superman has sometimes figured out ways to outmaneuver Lobo with his super-strength; in Superman: The Man of Steel #30 he punched Lobo into space, knowing he could survive in the vacuum but would be neutralized because he can’t fly.
Superman Could Beat Lobo If He Ever Cut Loose
Superman has sometimes beaten Lobo when powered up in some way (once prompting Lobo to reflect that “the superpunk has been workin’ out”). But probably their most intriguing fight took place in The Adventures of Superman annual #4, when Superman had been possessed by the demonic entity known as Eclipso. Superman tends to instinctively hold back, showing restraint even when he’s in a fight for his life; it even took time for him to stop holding back when he was battling Doomsday. The eclipsed Superman showed no such restraint.
Possessed by Eclipso, Superman unleashed his full power on the Justice League and the L.E.G.I.O.N. – which, at the time, included Lobo. It’s notable that an unrestrained Superman was able to take Lobo down with breathtaking speed and ease, with the Czarnian barely left breathing. Even more impressively, the full force of Superman’s heat vision did actually hurt Lobo. Given Lobo always fights without restraint, this clash proves that Superman is actually more powerful than Lobo, even if he won’t ever beat him down this way again.
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