The Superhero Couples can be heroes, just for one day
“If I go crazy, then will you still call me Superman?
“Kryptonite” by 3 Doors Down
If I’m alive and well, will you be there holding my hand?”
Life is hard for a superhero. You need to be ready to save people at the drop of a hat, fight costumed maniacs, and somehow keep your identity a secret. You might lash out at those who care for you, but if you’re lucky, there’s always someone you can rely on. Someone who who’ll stay with you through battles, retcons, and time itself.
Like Lennon sang, “All you need is love,” so who loves the heroes? Who are the 10 people who won’t abandon their lovers? Who are the best superhero couples? Let’s find out.
List Criteria:
Must be in mutual relationship.
Extra points if they aren’t damsels/dudes in distress.
Scene Select
#10 Agent Carter & Captain America
Played by: Hayley Atwell and Chris Evans
Captain America: [about to sacrifice himself to down a HYDRA plane] “I’m gonna need a rain check on that dance.”
Captain America: The First Avenger
Carter: [understanding] “All right. A week, next Saturday, at the Stork Club.“
Captain America: “You got it.“
Carter: “8:00 on the dot. Don’t you dare be late. Understood?“
Peggy Carter may be a badass now, but for decades writers treated her as a damsel in distress. Her portrayal in Captain America: The First Avenger was popular enough to change that and launch ABC’s “Agent Carter” show.
Peggy Carter was an agent of the Strategic Scientific Reserve who recruited Steve Rogers for a super soldier project. The project succeeded, and Rogers became Captain America. Carter worked as a liaison between Captain America’s unit and the Allies, providing Cap with intel and orders. After the war, Agent Carter continued working for the SSR, which eventually became S.H.I.E.L.D.
This star-crossed superhero couple never had a life together because Cap was reported MIA during a mission. Peggy Carter never knew that he survived frozen in the ice while she lived her life. She was dead by the time he was found and revived.
#9 Superhero Couple: Wonder Woman & Steve Trevor
Played By: Gal Gadot and Chris Pine
Wonder Woman: “Surrender. You cannot escape.”
Wonder Woman (2009)
Steve Trevor: “Oh, I don’t know about that, angel. I’ve made a hobby out of fleeing chasing women.”
Steve Trevor was a pilot whose plane was shot down during a battle. He washed up on Themyscira, homeland of the Amazons, and was found by their princess, Diana. She nursed Steve back to health and brought him to her mother, Queen Hippolyta.
Hippolyta ordered Diana to return Steve to “Man’s World” and serve as an ambassador for the Amazons. Diana became involved in many of Steve’s missions, earning the name Wonder Woman for her otherworldly powers.
#8 Hawkgirl & Hawkman
Played By: Ciara Renee and Falk Hentschel
White Canary: “Yeah, who wants a relationship based on honesty and communication? Bleh.”
Legends of Tomorrow “Last Refuge” (Season 1, episode 12)
Hawkgirl: “Believe me, a relationship based on an ancient Egyptian curse doesn’t work much better.”
Hawkgirl’s story is very strange. In ancient Egypt, Prince Khufu fell in love with a priestess named Chay-Ara. A traitorous priest named Hath-Set murdered them with a cursed dagger. The curse caused all three of them to reincarnate whenever they died. Throughout history they repeated the pattern of Chay-Ara and Khufu meeting, falling in love, and being murdered by Hath-Set.
During one reincarnation, Khufu and Chay-Ara became the superheroes Hawkman and Hawkgirl. When Hath-Set came for them again, he had to contend with the Hawks and the All-Star Squadron. He fled, swearing revenge. Weird story, eh? And that’s before you get into them being aliens! But that’s a story for another time.
#7 Black Canary & Green Arrow
Played By: Katie Cassidy and Stephen Amell
Black Canary: “Black Canary.”
Justice League Unlimited: “The Cat and the Canary” (Season 4, episode 1)
Green Arrow: “Green Arrow. I’ve noticed you around.”
Black Canary: “I know. You happy punching the bag or you wanna go a few rounds with me [Green Arrow stares awkwardly] I am talking about sparring.”
Green Arrow: “That’d be nice too.”
Dinah Lance was the daughter of the first Black Canary. She grew up surrounded by the heroes of the Justice Society of America, and wanted to become a hero like them. She developed the Canary Cry, a super-powered scream, and trained to take her mother’s place.
Soon after becoming Black Canary, Dinah met the Green Arrow. While they bickered at first, they soon fell in love. They nearly married, but called it off after she saw Green Arrow kill the villain Prometheus for revenge after his sidekick was maimed.
#6 Superhero Couple: Gwen Stacy & Spider-Man
Played By: Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield
Spider-Man: “I couldn’t save the Gwen Stacy of my world.”
– Spider-Gwen, Vol. 0 “Most Wanted?”
Spider-Gwen: “Hey, I couldn’t save the Peter Parker in mine. Make you a deal, what say we watch over each other?”
Spider-Man: “Sounds like a plan.”
Gwen Stacy was Spider-Man’s first love. She was the daughter of Captain Stacy, Marvel’s equivalent to Commissioner Gordon. But sadly, most people only remember Gwen’s death.
Gwen was kidnapped by the Green Goblin, who brought her to a bridge and challenged Spider-Man to a fight. Gwen fell from the bridge and was seemingly saved by Spidey. To his horror, she was dead. Spidey later realized that her neck broke when he caught her. Awkward. And true to physics, but not to the superhero world. But lots of guilt.
During the series Spider-Verse, a new version of Gwen was introduced. In her universe, Gwen had been bitten by the spider, causing her to become Spider-Woman (sometimes called Spider-Gwen). Shortly thereafter, another Gwen appeared, this one a oddball called Gwenpool. Will the real Gwen Stacy please stand up?
#5 Phoenix & Cyclops
Played By: Famke Janssen and James Marsden
Dark Phoenix: “Dark Phoenix knows nothing of love!”
Uncanny X-Men #136
Cyclops: “Oh? For love of the X-Men, you sacrificed your life. For love of me, you resurrected yourself. For love of the whole universe, you almost died a second time to save it. Know nothing of love?! Jean, you are love!”
Jean Grey was the first female member of the X-Men. She was originally a naive psychic but wound up becoming the most powerful mutant in existence. During a mission, Jean died trying to protect the X-Men and bonded with an entity called the Phoenix Force. Jean was reborn as Phoenix.
Phoenix slowly turned evil as her sheer power drove her mad. She snapped, becoming the world-destroying Dark Phoenix. Nothing was able to stop her, except for Jean’s lover, Cyclops. He managed to get through to Jean, who killed herself to stop the Dark Phoenix.
#4 The Invisible Woman & Mr. Fantastic
Played By: Jessica Alba and Ioan Gruffudd
Mr. Fantastic: What I see in your relationship is what I considered the best part of ours.
The Fantastic Four
Invisible Woman: That is?
Mr. Fantastic: Passion…for science
Susan Storm was a scientist working for Dr. Reed Richards. They were developing a new space shuttle, but the government cut their funding. Reed decided to prove the shuttle’s worth with a test flight, bringing Susan, her brother Johnny, and their pilot Ben Grimm. Cosmic radiation mutated them during the flight, and they became the Fantastic Four.
Susan originally could turn invisible, but her character also developed force fields when writers realized that she was weaker than the rest of the team. As a hero, she fell for Reed, even accepting his marriage proposal. Their wedding was attended by almost every superhero, though some had to duck out to stop supervillains from gatecrashing.
#3 Superhero Couple: Mary Jane Watson & Spider-Man
Played By: Kirsten Dunst and Tobey Maguire
MJ: “Face it Tiger, You just hit the jackpot!”
The Amazing Spider-Man #42
Mary Jane Watson was Spider-Man’s second lover and eventual wife. The Veronica to Gwen’s Betty, MJ was a party girl from a broken home. She helped Peter deal with Gwen’s death and later revealed she knew his secret identity. They soon married and endured everything the writers could throw at them, from clones and pregnancy to the Superhero Civil War.
Unfortunately, their marriage was doomed when Aunt May was shot by an assassin. It turned out that all the super science and magic in the world can’t fix a bullet wound in an octogenarian. You’d think Spidey would let May pass and carry on, right? Nope. They saved her by selling their marriage to Mephisto.
Let me repeat that. Peter Parker sold his marriage with an intelligent, caring, supermodel to Marvel’s equivalent of the devil for a few more years with his widowed aunt. What the hell? Trust me, we’ll discuss this in detail some other time. It’s a really bad trade all around.
#2 Catwoman & Batman
Played By: Anne Hathaway and Christian Bale
Catwoman: You could have gone anywhere, but you came back.
– The Dark Knight Rises
Batman: So did you.
Catwoman: Well then I guess we’re both suckers. [she kisses him]
Catwoman is one of the few people Batman has ever loved. While they are officially enemies, they work together as often as they fight.
Selina Kyle was a cat burglar with a particular focus on feline-themed treasures, attracting Batman. Bats fell for Catwoman, a kindred spirit. He still stops her crimes, but doesn’t turn her in to the police.
Catwoman has since become an anti-hero, helping fight crimes while committing some herself. She also ‘decided’ to join Amanda Waller’s Justice League.
#1 Superhero Couple Lois Lane & Superman
Played By: Amy Adams and Henry Cavill
Lois: “Partners?”
Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Season 1 episode 4
Perry: “You and Kent. The experience of the battle-scarred veteran paired with the hunger of the exciting, fresh talent.”
Lois: “I am not that scarred, and he is not that exciting.”
Lois Lane and Superman are our choice for the Best Superhero Couple.
Lois Lane is Superman’s wife and lover, but it wasn’t always that way. For decades Superman writers portrayed Lois as a shrew obsessed with marrying Superman. Despite her skill as a reporter, she couldn’t see that Superman was just Clark Kent without glasses. Superman wound up falling in love with her.
Thank Krypton for gender equality. Recent years have shown the two in an awesome relationship with one minor glitch: marrying Lois got Supes killed. The writers of Superman had planned to make the wedding a major story arc, only to learn that DC executives wanted the wedding to happen first on their new television show Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.
Needing a new story, the writers decided to kill Superman as a publicity stunt, leading to the story “The Death of Superman” and a fast widowhood for Lois. Love hurts, and executive meddling kills.
That’s our top 10 Superhero Couples list. Who are in your top 10? Tell us in the comments!
Jared Bounacos has written for Movie Rewind since 2016.
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