Warning! Spoilers ahead for Wonder Woman #7!Superman has a few things to say about something that’s seriously lacking in Batman’s rogues’ gallery. Out of all of the DC Universe’s heroes, few have a coterie of supervillains that rivals the Dark Knight’s. But is something missing from Batman’s cache of colorful criminals?

Obviously, Batman has some of the most identifiable villains around like the Joker or Two-Face. The Caped Crusader also has dozens of threats who regularly endanger the DC Universe like Ra’s al Ghul. But as notorious as Bruce Wayne’s villains are, Superman thinks that Batman is missing one particular type of villain that would really round out his collection of super-foes.

Batman Faces the DC Universe’s Greatest Threats

When Batman lost his family to random violence, he swore that he would do what it took to rid Gotham City of crime. After training for years, Bruce returned to his beloved city and began rooting out the organized crime that permeated his city. While the World’s Greatest Detective managed to make an impact and take down various mob bosses, the city got a new threat in the form of over-the-top villains like the Riddler, the Penguin, and the Joker.

After making a name for himself in Gotham fighting these curious supervillains, Batman eventually formed the Justice League with heroes who would become some of his closest allies. By Superman and Wonder Woman’s side, Batman fought some of the worst threats in the DC Universe. Mongul, Despero, and even the Lord of Apokolips Darkseid are just some of the all-powerful threats they faced as a team. Thankfully, Batman was never alone fighting these terrors and the Justice League routinely saved the world from their various plots.

As one of the most dedicated and driven heroes in the DC Universe, Batman continues to face off against dangerous, new threats. Whether it’s fighting a dark and twisted variant like the Batman Who Laughs or Bruce’s ultimate contingency and backup persona Zur-En-Arrh, the dangers Batman faces as the years go on only grow more powerful. But with skills and heart, Bruce does whatever he must to stop his antagonists, no matter what danger it presents to him.

Superman Thinks Batman is Missing an Alien Villain

In Wonder Woman #7 by Tom King, Guillem March, Arif Prianto, and Clayton Cowles, Batman’s birthday is coming up, and Wonder Woman and Superman are determined to get him the perfect present this year. They meet up at Andromeda Mall, the biggest mall in the galaxy and a place that has almost anything anyone could ever want. Unfortunately, both Diana and Clark know that Bruce isn’t the easiest person to shop for and what should be a simple outing becomes an arduous quest.

While Superman tries to use their shopping trip as a chance to talk to Wonder Woman about the recent anti-Amazon hysteria, an alien attempts to purchase a piece of kryptonite from a nearby shop. Despite the shopkeeper dragging out the process, the alien procures the radioactive piece of rock. Clark and Diana continue going over ideas for what to get Batman, but their conversation is interrupted by the mad alien, who has only procured a small sliver of kryptonite, but enough to weaken Superman.

Even as Superman begins to suffer the effects of kryptonite poisoning, he never breaks in his conversation with Wonder Woman. Diana merely takes out the alien and barely breaks out a sweat. As Wonder Woman takes care of the rude intrusion, the event gives Superman the idea of getting Batman an alien villain to “make him feel important too”, reasoning that Batman likes it when he feels important. Diana dismisses the idea and helps Superman recover by dragging him to a movie theater to rest.

Would a Space Villain Give Batman What He Needs Most?

Superman does raise a good point. Out of all the villains in Batman’s traditional rogues gallery, he doesn’t have a villain that comes from space. He’s got serial killers, maniacs, terrorists, crime bosses, assassins, doctors, mutants, and even a man made of living clay. Batman does have a lot of supervillains that have a supernatural bend to them like Solomon Grundy, Deacon Blackfire and the creepy sect the Court of Owls, but no villains that would technically qualify as as alien.

That’s not to say that Batman has never fought an alien villain before, as he obviously has with the Justice League. But threats like Darkseid, the Anti-Monitor, or Starro are all team-based villains, not ones that Bruce is generally capable of handling on his own. Despite the epic face-off Batman had with Darkseid in Final Crisis, few fans, if any, would qualify Darkseid as a member of Batman’s rogues’ gallery. And while there are plenty of low-level space-themed villains Batman could defeat like Kanjar Ro or Manga Khan, none of them are on Batman’s radar.

The lack of a space villain really is one of the few things that separates Batman from Superman and Wonder Woman. Superman has several alien enemies like Brainiac and Lobo. While Wonder Woman mostly fights magic threats, even she’s battled a few evil alien races that have come to Earth such as the Ichor (not to mention Diana’s rivalry with Darkseid’s daughter Grail). Superman might be right that a hero as established as Batman should have at least one consistent foe that breaks from the norm and comes from outer space.

It’s Time for Batman to Have an Alien Supervillain

Batman doesn’t need an alien villain to prove himself as a competent hero. He’s fought some of the most insidious threats in the DC Universe and has been crucial to stopping some of the most catastrophic events in DC history. However, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for Bruce to have a villain that challenges him in a way that Scarecrow or Bane can’t. Batman’s more than just a street-level defender and he deserves a villain that shows off his talents more than his usual foes.

Heroes are only as good as their villains. While Batman has a rogues’ gallery that routinely shows off his deductive prowess and hand-to-hand combat, a villain that’s slightly more stronger and durable than could be an interesting change of pace for Batman. It would force Bruce to find new and interesting solutions to his problems that can’t be solved by placing his opponent in Arkham. Superman might not be getting Batman a space villain for his birthday, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good idea for Bruce to have one.

Wonder Woman #7 is available now from DC Comics.