The 10 Unlikeliest Characters Batman Has Teamed Up With

7) Captain America

On the other end of the spectrum of Marvel superheroes is the star-spangled Captain America – but, guess what, Batman has met him, too.

In 1996’s simply-titled Batman and Captain America, the original Golden Age versions of Cap and Bats crossover – which could totally have happened, after all, as they were created in 1939 and 1941, respectively. The story takes place during World War II, when Batman and Robin team up with Steve Rogers and Bucky in order to stop the unholy alliance of Red Skull and the Joker. Though, brilliantly, that union is broken up on its own when the Joker is outraged to find out that Red Skull is a Nazi. “I may be a criminal lunatic,” the clown cries, “but I’m an American criminal lunatic!” Here, here.

By nature of it featuring the pre-brooding early version of the Dark Knight, this is one of the few crossovers where Batman gets along with the other hero swimmingly. In fact, as both are square-jawed patriotic do-gooders with young sidekicks, these iterations of Batman and Captain America are really a lot alike.