Superman as a Villain?

So, I spent all weekend playing Injustice: Gods Among Us to get inspired for a video project I'm working on, and got to thinking how much more entertaining the Man of Steel is as an adversary to the heroes. Not only does he look bad ass as the supreme ruler of the Earth, but because of his track record as an invincible hero, he makes for a villain that can instill real fear in both the characters and the readers.

Consider this: When you read a Batman comic that features, say, Two-Face, there is never the fear that the binary villain is going to win, because he's failed to do so on a major scale since the 1940s. Superman, however, has had few and far defeats since even the 30s. Only a handful of people have ever defeated him in a fight. Doomsday, Darkseid, Captain Marvel (Sometimes, he gets murdered in Injustice) and Batman. In most cases, those who have defeated him have only does so once, or they are about equal in their win-loss records with each other.

Which begs the question: How does one stop him?

This is what makes Superman a more intriguing villain than a hero. He is nearly invincible, has very few weaknesses, and has a reputation for always coming out on top. That said, he does have weaknesses, and more than just Kryptonite.

He also has a weakness to magic, which someone like Shazam or Wonder Woman, could exploit. He can also be outmatched in strength, but this is limited mainly to other Kryptonians, or Gods.

As far as DC heroes (so not Thor and Hulk) who could match the Man of Steel's strength, I can only think of a few: Supergirl, Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Captain Marvel/Shazam, Captain Atom or Power Girl. That is not a huge list, and it gets shorter depending on the buffs that Superman has at the time (Superman Prime, Gold Superman etc.)

Then of course one could exploit his power. Superman has incredible hearing. If a sonic emitter can incapacitate or even kill someone with normal hearing, imagine what it can do to Kal-El. What would happen if all of a sudden Superman got hit by Black Canary's "Canary Cry"? Even if he survived, he'd be vulnerable, and his brains would be at least a little scrambled.

That is the reason why Superman would be a great villain, because he gives writers a significant challenge. Supes isn't the kind of villain who can be solved by punching him in the face. Writers have to be clever when putting heroes up against him, because he is a villain that not all heroes could beat. (Contrast him to the popular villains. Besides Superman's rogue's gallery there aren't that many villains that are universally threatening to all of the DC Universe.)

In the end, whoever the writers did decide to finally take down Superman for good would have a huge feat under their belt. Just please don't let it be Batman again. We've seen him win in Hush, Dark Knight Returns, and several other mediums. Below are my list of people who would benefit from taking down Superman in an Injustice-style Dictator Arc:

• Wonder Woman - She is one of the big three in DC, and this could really solidify that spot.
• Green Arrow and Black Canary - The Canary Cry and a Kryptonite Arrow, and the super-couple are taken to a new level in superheroics.
• Nightwing - Superman is Nightwing's idol other than Batman, and it would be epic for him to take him out for good, using his brains of course. Nightwing isn't punching Clark out any time soon.
• an empowered Lois Lane - for poetic tragedy reasons, this would be a fitting end to Superman
• Aquaman - Because Aquaman Doesn't Suck! and it would be a fitting comeuppance for the oft-ridiculed Arthur Curry.