If Superman exists and went bad....

[JWO]

How to avoid Superman ruling the world? Give him nothing to rule over by setting off all the nukes.

 

[JWO]

I just don't think there's anything we could do. We'd be screwed.

 

[WayneLigon]

Could we handle him? Assuming there are no other superheroes and ignoring the Kryptonite get-out clause on account of it being a far too boring answer. What would happen if Superman existed and he went bad and decided he wanted to rule Earth?

As with all 'superhero battle' questions, it depends on the version of the character. If it's the modern interpretation of Superman, then we humans could probably take him down, given some time and ingenuity on our part, and a little luck. Depending on how much luck, the cost might be high, but we could do it. The Golden Age Superman could probably be taken out, eventually, by military-grade weaponry.

If it's the Silver Age version, then we're boned. There's no language on Earth that could adequately express the degree to which we'd be boned, as well. Without access to Kryptonite or Magic, there is no means to oppose him.

 

[Jhaelen]

Has nobody watched the "Megamind" movie? We wouldn't need to do anything. Eventually, Superman would just get bored and leave Earth.

 

[Ryujin]

Has nobody watched the "Megamind" movie? We wouldn't need to do anything. Eventually, Superman would just get bored and leave Earth.

Well in "Megamind" it was a bored good guy. If it was a bored evil superguy then the boredom might come from having exhausted the supply of 'flies' from which to pull off the 'wings.'

 

[Jhaelen]

Actually, I was thinking about Megamind, i.e. the super-villain, after he (falsely) believed he'd killed his nemesis, i.e. the super-hero dude.
Sure, for a while he was enjoying himself and wrecked a few buildings and stuff, but he soon grew bored because there was no one that posed a threat to him anymore.

(I just realized that I perhaps should use spoiler tags in case someone hasn't watched the movie, yet?! Oops.)

 

[Legatus Legionis]

.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

As posited, no.

And even if the answer was yes, again, how much help they would be depends on which iteration of each of the characters involved in the conflict.

 

[Ryujin]

Actually, I was thinking about Megamind, i.e. the super-villain, after he (falsely) believed he'd killed his nemesis, i.e. the super-hero dude.
Sure, for a while he was enjoying himself and wrecked a few buildings and stuff, but he soon grew bored because there was no one that posed a threat to him anymore.

(I just realized that I perhaps should use spoiler tags in case someone hasn't watched the movie, yet?! Oops.)

[sblock]That's because he enjoyed the interplay with the good guy more than the actual evil acts. When the good guy was gone he had to try and create another. There is no good guy for Evil Superman to miss duking it out with, in this supposition.[/sblock]

 

[MechaPilot]

If Superman existed, would that then not logically then mean other comic-book characters do exist too?

Would we not have then a Batman or Wonder Woman or Green Lantern, etc. to even the scales of good vs. bad?

The OP's question states that other super heroes don't exist. However, the presence of Superman does mean that the nature of the universe must be shifted toward that of a comic universe such that superheroes could exist, even if none did at that time. So it is possible that a superhero could rise up from the wrongdoings of an evil superman.