In the run up to the release of Injustice: Gods Among Us next week, we’re looking ahead to the game by answering the ultimate question. It’s not life, the universe and everything. It’s who would win in a fight between Superman and Batman. Today, Steve looks at why Superman would win.

Superman wins because he’s freaking Superman! That’s it. Mic drop…

Okay, you want an actual answer? Well, Superman is very appropriately named because he is the most super of all superheroes. He can fly, he has x-ray vision, he has super hearing and vision (not just x-ray vision), he can shoot solar energy from his eyes and is almost completely invulnerable.

There is only one way that you can hurt Superman and there lies the only possible way that Batman can beat Superman.

If Bats has kryptonite on him, Supes is in huge trouble. That’s the only thing that Superman is truly vulnerable to. Okay, red sun radiation technically affects him in that this one type of solar radiation doesn’t fuel Krytonian powers unlike other types of solar radiation.

Of course, if you’ve read the Injustice comics (Fun research for the win!) you’ll know that Superman was still able to fly away after Joker exposed him a gaseous form of kryptonite as part of Scarecrow’s toxin. Sure, Superman was vulnerable to the toxin as a result of kryptonite but he could still use his powers.

In the various Superman stories, over one dozen types of kryptonite are introduced and each has a different effect which sometime varies depending on the story. The only type of kryptonite that has always stripped Superman of his powers is gold kryptonite but that effect is temporary and recent lore pegged the power drain at 15 seconds.

Green kryptonite usually strips Superman of his powers. However, he has, on occasion, been immune to the effects of green kryptonite. This is believed to be as a result of long-term exposure to green kryptonite. Perhaps that’s as a result of the occasionally mentioned piece of kryptonite that Batman is mentioned as having in the Justice League comics. Whether he always carries it is unknown because things continually change in the DC universe. Generally, green kryptonite radiation saps a Kryptonian of his powers.

So if Batman has green or gold kryptonite, he can take advantage of Superman’s weakened strength to beat him up. And Bats can do that. Batman is probably the second best melee fighter in the DC Comics universe next to Wonder Woman. Logically, in a straight fight without powers, Batman should be able to beat Superman in a straight fight.

Of course, the kryptonite argument assumes that Batman can actually get his hands on some kryptonite. Given enough lead time, he can find or synthesize kryptonite. If he can’t get his hands on kryptonite, especially if the fight is sudden and Bruce doesn’t have enough lead time, he doesn’t stand a chance. If you can’t hurt Superman because he’s invulnerable and Supes has super strength, the fight won’t last long.

Even if Superman is vulnerable due to kryptonite but has his powers per the Injustice comics, Superman would be able to use his powers to quickly overwhelm Superman. The only chance Batman would have is to use some sort of Bat Knockout Gas to knock Supes out and incapacitate him with kryptonite laced handcuffs or something like that.

Typically, we’ve seen kryptonite in a solid, crystal like form. Should Batman get a hold of that, Superman’s super vision would allow him to see that Batman has kryptonite. Supes could change his strategy from a close-range melee fight to using his heat vision and super breath to disarm Batman of his kryptonite and his advantage.

Sorry to disappoint you bat fans, there’s no way that Batman can beat Supes. This fight would be all Superman.

Cross-posted from The Lowdown Blog.