i totally agree with JB's point above, the "my guy can not only beat YOUR guy, he can beat ANY guy!" problem inherent in fandom and the way that cancer has spread into the professional sphere. people want to root for winners, and they want the guy they root for to be a winner. if that means degrading, trashing, and even inflicting permanent humiliation on a powerhouse like darkseid or galactus, well, so be it. that's no excuse, just a line of reasoning that results in crimes against characters. and comic book creators have been monstrously guilty of this.

then you need a pro like JB to come in and find a way to redeem a guy who's been systematically destroyed as a credible menace. (i'm thinking of dr. octopus, who was a punching bag for a long while before dan slott made him into the superior spider-man. who was taking otto octavius seriously back in the 90s or early 00s?)

as for batman:
i think batman *would* consider how to stop out of control superheroes, if only because as a detective 1) it's an interesting thought problem and 2) he's seen superheroic colleagues go rogue. if the superheroes can't police themselves, then the government will do it-- and that would be the end of batman's career. so he HAS to take some interest in doing that, logically. it should not mean he evolves into the most dangerous man alive or the scariest guy in the room, wherever he goes, but it makes some sense that he would give some thought and effort to this scenario. the concept is justifiable but the extent to which it's been carried, less so.

that said, it doesn't mean batman should have a plan (much less the capability) for taking out whatever threat happens to appear. his strong suit is that he fights weird criminals; he helps out with a group of heroes (or two) who can make use of his expertise. he isn't a one-man illuminatus capable of ruling the world from the batcave. unfortunately, a lot of professed bat-fans seem to feel otherwise. probably the same group who think wolverine should be able to kill every last character in the marvel universe...

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So everybody knows how Spider-Man got his powers, now?

that deadpool segment, to me, doesn't represent snark-- it represents contempt. it's pathetic.

to address JB's original point, i have no idea how a "world without wolverine" would play out. in story terms, he's been part of the x-men during a number of their key encounters. if he'd been killed off early, the hellfire club storyline would have played out differently, for one thing. and arguably alpha flight would not have existed, or at least would have been somewhat different. (JB, what do you think?)

in terms of the industry and fandom, i rather sadly suspect that fandom would have elevated some other character to superstardom. who? no idea. but nature abhors a vacuum, and something would have filled that space eventually. we might be talking about how omnipresent rom spaceknight became after his out-of-nowhere smash success as part of the avengers... ;)

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Or, y'know, being GOOD GUYS, disables him. . . .

My problem with the "Batman Beats Everyone" concept is that the Penguin Beats Batman. As does the Riddler. And the Gentleman Ghost. Every villain who has ever put Batman into a death-trap has beaten him long enough to tie him to an overhanging hook, a plank in a lumbermill, or a car speeding downhill without brakes. Long enough to have shot him dead.

So, can the Penguin also beat Superman and Galactus? Or, y'know, at least knock them out long enough to kill them while they're unconcious?