Superheroes Should Kill More Often

I'm in a silent minority. I like superheroes. I like them a lot and they make up the bulk of my pull list. There's something that I want from my heroes that causes waves any time I mention it. I think superheroes should kill villains a lot more often. People usually greet this with "they wouldn't be the good guys if they did that" or "that's not very super." But, I think they're wrong. For some heroes killing would be a much better option.

I'm not saying that every hero should kill all their enemies. For example The Flash's Rogues adhere to a code of honor. They don't harm innocent people, going as far as killing a member of their own group for breaking this code. They don't really deserve to die. Most of Batman's villains are clinically insane, or general criminals, some have even been cured until they were forced into another psychotic break. Two Face and Riddler being the best examples, Riddler even helped solve crimes at one point. There's no reason for him to just kill every bad guy he comes across. However, there are some villains who need to be dealt with differently. To quote Jason Todd:

"Ignoring what he's done in the past. Blindly, stupidly disregarding the entire graveyards he's filled, the thousands who have suffered, the friends he's crippled. You know, I thought... I thought I'd be the last person you'd ever let him hurt. If it had been you that he beat to a bloody pulp, if he had taken you from this world, I would've done nothing but search the planet for this pathetic pile of evil, death-worshiping garbage and then send him off to hell...I'm not talking about killing Penguin or Scarecrow or Dent. I'm talking about HIM, just him"

While Jason's words were mostly fueled by emotion, he's right. Joker does need to be punished and since he's escaped the justice system multiple times, only to kill more, it falls on Batman. Every time he apprehends The Joker he's just setting him up to escape and cause another genocide. The cycle has to end eventually, either when Batman finally kills The Joker, Joker runs out of people to kill, or he just gets tired of killing.

I'm not just picking on Batman either. Think of how many times that Captain America has allowed Red Skull to escape? Before the Squadron Supreme put a permanent end to Namor, people allowed him to keep walking around. This is a man that flooded the entire country of Wakanda. Superman may be one of the biggest offenders. His villains can destroy planets yet he's content trying to keep them in his Fortress of Solitude. Nobody is asking him to kill Lex Luthor, but letting others live when they've brought the Earth to the brink of destruction is silly and immature, I understand that they can change but these are dangerous villains set in their ways.

It's not even all heroes that need to kill more, some heroes already know when it's right to kill. Wonder Woman snapped Max Lord's neck at the last moment before he could take over the world. No other hero was willing to put an end to his reign because they were concerned with capturing him. She did what needed to be done. Wolverine killed his own son Daken because he was a danger to everyone else, he made that call. I get that it's a tough call when a hero has to kill a person, and it shouldn't be made lightly, but it needs to be made.

I know some of you may feel as if that's too violent to be a hero. However, the very idea of a superhero fighting a villain is violent. This is the next logical step for some. Heroes like Aquaman and Cyclops have already made that jump from their campy past-selves. Every hero doesn't need to kill and every villain doesn't need to die. I get that it isn't always clear but the world isn't simply black and white. It's not always good vs evil. And, sometimes the good guys kill.

You can hear Darrell on the CP Time and Powerbomb Jutsu podcasts. He also plays classic arcade games on The Cabinet
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