8 Superheroes With the Absolute Worst Love Lives

Superheroes in Marvel and DC are known for their power, skills, and commitment to good. When discussing superheroes, many fans focus on their feats, personality flaws, moral compasses, or the heroic ideals they represent. However, what gets far less attention is the collateral damage they leave behind, whether directly or indirectly, in their personal love lives.

Love for many superheroes becomes difficult when trying to balance intimacy with heroics, secrecy, danger, and even unresolved trauma. For many iconic heroes, romance becomes a recurring cycle of loss, as partners are repeatedly pushed away or harmed. While unfortunate, these are the heroes who frequently experience instability when it comes to romance.

Cyclops (Scott Summers)

Scott Summers’s love life is wrapped in loss, obsession, and complicated choices. Most famously, his enduring devotion to Jean Grey often overshadows everything else, creating heartbreak for those who come after and causing Scott immense guilt and grief. His companionships and marriage are constantly disrupted, leaving him trapped in a cycle where he stands as his own worst enemy.

Many of his relationships collapse under the weight of his poor decisions and obsessions. He marries Jean’s clone, Madelyne Pryor, and leaves her and their son for Jean after she is resurrected, and later engages in a psychic affair with Emma Frost. As Cyclops, he also often prioritizes the X-Men over his personal life, leading to a tumultuous romantic history.

Batman (Bruce Wayne)

Bruce Wayne’s pursuit of justice leaves him little room for a lasting love life. His childhood trauma, relentless duty, and the constant danger surrounding him make intimacy practically unattainable. Even with his deep connections, his emotional distance and secrecy often strain his relationships.

His strongest and most well-known relationships with Selina Kyle (Catwoman) and Talia al Ghul led to failed engagements, manipulation, and instability. Bruce constantly puts his role as Batman first, and his inability to fully commit makes maintaining any relationship he may have very difficult for both parties involved.

Bruce Banner’s love life constantly suffers from tension between his human and monstrous sides. His deep affection for Betty Ross repeatedly clashes with the uncontrollable rage of the Hulk, turning both ordinary and special moments into crises. Even when he does manage to marry Betty, she is ultimately killed, and when she is resurrected, they do not rekindle their relationship.

That said, when the two were together, their partnership was defined by strain and toxicity. All of Bruce’s partners must face life-threatening danger, repeated loss, and unpredictable, destructive chaos. Any effort to build a normal life is sabotaged by transformations, villains, or even jealousy, making Bruce Banner’s love life an almost impossible, tragic endeavor.

Rogue

Rogue’s power makes closeness a constant risk and could turn intimacy into a dangerous proposition. Any touch drains her partner’s life and memories, making her hesitant, fearful, and heavily isolated. Even relationships with the most understanding companions would be forced into distance, leading to frustration.

Her romance with Gambit stands out as the perfect example of longing and restraint in her relationships. Years of on-again, off-again tension were plagued by emotional and physical barriers or fear of harm. While the two eventually married in 2018 and launched their own series, Mr. & Mrs. X, they were widely known as a toxic couple for years beforehand.

Daredevil (Matt Murdock)

Matt Murdock’s relationships are often steeped in danger, trauma, and heartbreak. His lovers are too often targeted, manipulated, or killed because of his identity as Daredevil. The relationships he does have tend to end in betrayal, death, or pain, making a stable love life seem impossible.

The partners in Matt’s life face unimaginable consequences from the murder of Karen Page, Elektra’s death in Matt’s arms (later to be resurrected, but leaves repeatedly), and Milla Donovan, who was driven to madness by Mr. Fear, to name a few. Others have fallen victim to addiction, manipulation, or other fatal schemes, marking Matt’s love life as fragile and tragic.

Scarlet Witch (Wanda Maximoff)

Wanda Maximoff’s love life is known for both its intensity and its losses that spiral into catastrophe. Her deep attachments, most notably with Vision and her magically created children, ultimately led to immense loss as they were ripped away. Paired with her manipulative relationship with Doctor Doom, Wanda constantly experienced immense loss, grief, and instability.

Her attempts at normalcy almost always backfire, and the loss of her loved ones sends her into a deep, destructive spiral as she mourns, causing harm to others. As the Scarlet Witch, Wanda holds great power, yet unfortunately, that power too often leads to heartbreak and destruction.

Spider-Man (Peter Parker)

Peter Parker’s romantic life is known for relentless misfortune and impossible choices. As he tries to balance his duties as Spider-Man with personal relationships, he finds himself in a cycle of constant tension and missed opportunities. His relationships are often marked by frustration, hurt, or even endangerment as Peter tries to maintain normalcy while taking on responsibility.

His most well-known relationships are with Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane Watson, relationships that are far from ordinary or stable. From Gwen’s death to Peter’s erased marriage with Mary Jane, he finds himself burdened by guilt, heartbreak, and perpetual instability that never seems to end.

Wolverine (Logan)

Wolverine’s relationships are shadowed by morality and constant danger, making lasting intimacy seemingly impossible. His lovers often die, are manipulated, or suffer trauma simply for being close to him. His love life is marked by loss and pain as every connection he has never seems to end in his favor.

From the love of his life, Mariko Yashida, who he’s forced to mercy kill after she’s been poisoned, to Jean Grey, who he must either watch die or remain with Cyclops, to turbulent, manipulative relationships with Mystique or Viper, Wolverine’s love life is constantly marked by a relentless cycle of loss.