It’s always complicated when you find out that your significant other is a villain—or vice versa—but it makes for very interesting stories in the comicbook universes and the films adapted from these tales. Below are a few examples of Marvel and DC character pairings that go to show you that just because your loved one is across enemy lines, it’s not always a dealbreaker!
Daredevil and Elektra
Daredevil’s battles against the bad guys have always been in the name of justice. But Elektra, his on-again off-again girlfriend, has a much blurrier moral line when it comes to winning the fights she picks. Regardless of how much Matt Murdock tries to stay in the light, love keeps bringing him back to Elektra. Daredevil empathizes with her, but their opposing views about how far they should go in their “work” gets in the way of their relationship.
Batman and Catwoman
No misunderstandings here, since the Bat and the Cat are well aware of the other’s differing stance on justice from the very start. Through comicbooks, TV series, and film adaptations, Batman is drawn to Catwoman and has an unspoken understanding with her, and vice versa. Catwoman is more like an anti-hero, but that doesn’t mean there is any shortage of disagreements, fights, and eventual make-up sessions.
Spider-Man and Black Cat
Felicia Hardy, aka Black Cat, may be a cat burglar who often finds herself being thwarted by Spider-Man, but these characters’ battles usually have a fair bit of flirting, as well. Eventually, Black Cat even decided to mend her ways and fight for the good guys with Spider-Man at her side. Unfortunately, once the masks came off, the romance kind of fizzled.
Nightwing and Harley Quinn
While most people can only picture Harley with the Joker, there are a few other comicbook stories that have her falling for someone quite unexpected: Nightwing. As their storylines within the comicbooks moved forward, there were certain times that the two Gotham-ites showed an undeniable attraction to each other, regardless of their super-affiliations. In some animated films, the two of them actually get together, and just recently, they even got married in one of the comicbook runs.
Cyclops and Phoenix
To be fair, Phoenix is sometimes the gentle and reasonable Jean Grey, who has a lovely relationship with Scott Summers, aka Cyclops. It wasn’t until later that her powerful psychic abilities got the better of her and Grey became the larger-than-life, astronomically powerful force of destruction that is Dark Phoenix. It became very difficult for Summers to handle the dangerous direction that his love had gone in, but the two did their best to make it through.
Sue Storm and Dr. Doom
At the start of several X-Men comicbook runs and at the beginning of the film franchise, Sue Storm and Victor Von Doom are either dating or married. However, even with all of Doom’s intellect, his desire for power always gets the better of him and he turns into a dangerous supervillain. This not only steers Sue Storm right into the arms of Mr. Fantastic, but it leads two people who once loved one another into some pretty brutal fights.