A superhero can just say go fuck yourself to law enforcement.
At this point they would probably be seen as supervillains by most people, especially if they are routinely destroying half of the city they are “saving”.
Haven’t read the comics yet, but the show Invincible has an interesting deconstruction of this topic. When Mark comes on the scene, superheroes are popular and generally seen as virtuous.
Mark and his opponent are so much more powerful than any other heroes who came before and he’s unable to stop their battle from destroying huge chunks of a city and killing thousands.
The government understands his limits and the elevated stakes, but the people on the ground vilify Mark and he has to deal with his guilt and their hatred throughout the series.
At this point they would probably be seen as supervillains by most people, especially if they are routinely destroying half of the city they are “saving”.
Kill half the police force and military because they tried to stop you from saving children - Superman Israel edition.
Haven’t read the comics yet, but the show Invincible has an interesting deconstruction of this topic. When Mark comes on the scene, superheroes are popular and generally seen as virtuous.
Mark and his opponent are so much more powerful than any other heroes who came before and he’s unable to stop their battle from destroying huge chunks of a city and killing thousands.
The government understands his limits and the elevated stakes, but the people on the ground vilify Mark and he has to deal with his guilt and their hatred throughout the series.
It is a bit of an older troupe, 1970’s at least. Hero saves city, but few knew of the villains plot. Hero run out of town, and villain runs wild.