The 10 Unlikeliest Characters Batman Has Teamed Up With

Comic books thrive on crossovers. In both the Marvel and DC universe, you can bet that every conceivable team-up (or punch-up) has been attempted over the years. In the latter's case, most of these involve Batman because... Well, he's Batman. Do you really need another reason? Sometimes, however, they really push the boat out with these crossovers, breaking the boundaries between the various comic universes to bring readers some truly surprising team-ups. From rival Marvel heroes to literary classics to Saturday morning cartoon favourites, Batman has crossed over with them all throughout the years. On that note, ladies and gentlemen, read on and be amazed as we bring you 10 of the strangest, most unlikely and just downright unexpected crossovers that the Dark Knight has ever been part of. 10) Spider-Man Batman and Spider-Man had to have teamed-up at some point over the decades, right? After all, they're two of the world's most popular superheroes. However, it's rare for the boundaries of Marvel and DC to break down and allow the companies' competing characters to meet. Thankfully, though, it happened on two occasions, allowing the Dark Knight and the webslinger to work together. In 1995's Spider-Man and Batman: Disordered Minds, the Joker and Cletus Kassidy AKA Carnage - the craziest, most dangerous foe of each hero - form a terrifying team-up that causes the Bat and the Spider to pool their resources in order to stop them. The duo then came together again in 1997's Batman and Spider-Man: New Age Dawning. This time, Ra's Al Ghul makes a bid for world domination, and blackmails Wilson Fisk AKA Kingpin to work for him in the process. Naturally, this sparks the interest of both Batman and Spider-Man, who team up to bring their enemies down. 9) Judge Dredd For those not familiar with the character, 2000AD comics' Judge Dredd is sort of like an more militarized Batman who has been legitimized by the law. Given that, their crossover in 1991's Batman/Judge Dredd: Judgement of Gotham saw the similar yet very different heroes at loggerheads. Unusually, the Batman and Judge Dredd team-up proved so successful that it produced three further miniseries, each linking together to tell one larger story. As all were written by Dredd's creator John Wagner, with Alan Grant, the four volumes are standalone yet connected tales. Probably because of Wagner's involvement, the crossovers lean into the sci-fi trappings of Dredd's universe more than Batman's - with one story featuring a trip to an alien world - but fans of both heroes will find much to enjoy here. As always with these crossovers, the stories are packed full of villains, too - including the Joker, Riddler and Dredd's nemesis, Judge Death. 8) The Punisher Speaking of Batman's tussles with violent vigilantes, how about the time he crossed paths with the Punisher? Frank Castle is all about killing his enemies before they can kill again, while Bruce Wayne is firmly on the no-murdering side. So, their team-up was not full of cuddles and high-fives, to say the least. In Batman/Punisher: Deadly Knights, Castle travels to Gotham City when his nemesis Jigsaw allies himself with the Joker - which causes the Punisher to come up against the Bat. The two heroes' differing ethics are interestingly portrayed here, as Batman is forced to actually protect Joker from Castle's overzealous methods. Like Daredevil season 2, the story questions whether the Punisher is really in the right. After all, isn't Batman an accessory to murder if he lets a serial killer escape with his life? There's also Batman/Punisher: Lake of Fire - however, that doesn't feature Bruce's Batman but rather Jean-Paul Valley's version (who had taken over the Batman mantle at the time). 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. 6) Aliens/Predators Fans are always asking the age-old question of whether Batman could take on Superman, but wouldn't the better question be how would he fare against some other aliens who are actually intent on doing harm? Well, you can find out that answer in Batman/Aliens and Batman Versus Predator (and their respective sequels). First of all, BvP - written by iconic Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons - cleverly turns the tables on Batman, by making him the prey when a Predator lands in Gotham City and hunts him down. It then produces two follow-ups, Batman Versus Predator II: Bloodmatch and Batman Versus Predator II: Blood Ties. The last of these sees a father-son duo of Predators go for a rematch against Batman and Robin. The success of these two tales resulted in Batman/Aliens, which saw Bruce Wayne investigating strange disappearances in the rain forest - coming face to face with some xenomorphs. Batman/Aliens 2, meanwhile, deposits the aliens in Gotham itself and Batman has to fight to protect his home from the monsters. It's amazing that this random bar-conversation idea of a crossover managed to happen at all, let alone spawn multiple sequels. That being said, I'd love to see Batfleck turn up in the next Alien movie... 5) Sherlock Holmes On paper, Batman and Sherlock Holmes are natural teammates. After all, they're two of the World's Greatest Detectives - the Caped Crusader is even directly inspired by Holmes in many ways. However, it's still odd to have the Victorian era private eye turn up in Batman's Gotham City. To celebrate fifty years of DC, Detective Comics #572 saw Batman and Robin travel back to the 1880s to team up with Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson. The dynamic duos must join forces to defeat Edgar Moriarty, the great-grandson of Holmes' nemesis Professor Moriarty. The end of the issue reveals that Holmes is miraculously still alive in the present day, having retired to Tibet to prolong his life. He also totally deduces Batman's secret identity. The memorable issue was later adapted for TV in 'Trials of the Demon!', an episode of the animated Batman: The Brave and the Bold. The duo have a pricklier relationship in that version though, as they try to defeat Etrigan the Demon. 4) The Incredible Hulk The fact that Batman has crossed over with the Hulk isn't that strange in itself. By now, we've firmly established that the Dark Knight has met with many a Marvel hero over the years. In this particular example, from 1981 special, the Knight and the Giant cross paths due to some complicated things with the Joker and the Shaper of Worlds. What's unlikely about this crossover, then, is the outcome of the brawling battle that happens when these two heroic heavyweights meet. In 1981's Batman vs The Incredible Hulk, Batman somehow wins. When Hulk storms the WayneTech building, Batman chucks a knock-out grenade at his head and kicks him in the solar plexus. Job done. Look, obviously Batman is one tough fella - we know he can hold his own against Superman, of course - but for him to take down the Hulk single-handed seems pretty far-fetched. It's something not even the combined Avengers could do in the movies, for example. Still, it isn't Batman's sheer force that ensures his victory, more his canny use of the Hulk's weak spots and pressure points. If we were the Hulk, though, we'd demand a rematch. 3) Scooby-Doo You might not see it, but Batman and Scooby-Doo actually have a lot in common. Both are detectives who foil the evil schemes of costumed villains. Both travel around in iconic vehicles. And, you know, both of them have pointy ears. No, we're not clutching at straws. The Caped Crusader and the meddling mutt met in two episodes of classic cartoon The New Scooby-Doo Movies, when Batman and Robin teamed up with Mystery Inc. to defeat the Joker and Penguin (who were dressing up as a ghosts... for some reason). Despite its goofiness, the Batman/Scooby crossover struck a chord with young fans of the 1970s, leading to the two to pair up again in more recent years. First, Batman: The Brave and the Bold perfectly spoofed the old episodes in the meta-heavy 'Bat-Mite Presents: Batman's Strangest Cases!' in 2011. Two years later, DC's Scooby-Doo Team-Up #1 comic book brought the Dark Knight together with the dog once again. Who'd have thought these two characters would be so connected? 2) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Yes, the Dark Knight really has met those heroes in a half-shell. In 2016's Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Turtles and their enemy Shredder are transported to the DC universe, where they land in Gotham and team up with Bats to take down a number of his rogues gallery. Batman even shares a pizza with Michelangelo! Despite - or maybe - because of the total incongruity of this crossover, the miniseries proved so popular that it produced a spinoff. It was called Batman/TMNT Adventures, which ingeniously crossed over the Batman: The Animated Series' Batman with the characters from the TMNT animated series. This one becomes even more meta when you remember that the Turtles were originally created as a parody of Daredevil. So, in theory, this is a crossover between a team of spoofs of a gritty, dark superhero and the grittiest, darkest superhero of them all. 1) Power Rangers The current crazy crossover that Batman's involved in is Justice League/Power Rangers, the miniseries which brings together DC's pantheon of heroes with the colour-coordinated team of teen warriors. We've only had two issues released so far, but already these books are looking to be pure fanboy delight through and through. Who can resist the sheer joy of moment when Superman flies up alongside the Pink Ranger's Pterodactyl Zord and knocks politely on the windscreen? Naturally, the Dark Knight has had a prominent role in the comic so far, which allows this team-wide crossover a place on this list. Hilariously, the Rangers assumed he was a villain when they first met him because of his ferocious demeanour and generally scary look. Fingers crossed for a future issue showing the Caped Crusader at the wheel of the Rangers' Megazord.