The 15 Hottest Superhero Love Interests

It's a pretty good week to be a fan of superheroes, with The Green Hornet hitting DVD shelves today and the long-awaited Thor opening in theaters this Friday. That gives us not one, but two women to supercharge our week: Cameron Diaz (from The Green Hornet) and Natalie Portman (Thor).

Of course, we can always count on superhero movies to get the most attractive women in Hollywood onto IMAX screens. Never does any actress clamor to play a clichéd damsel in distress more than for a guaranteed blockbuster franchise. Not only are they secured financial success, but there's also the relatively stable future in sequels.

So who cares if they don't have superpowers and are paid to simply look pretty? We sure don't mind, and the following women obviously don't, either. If they did, we wouldn't have the 15 Hottest Superhero Love Interests. And that'd be a crime no masked avenger could rectify.

Love interest: Bruce Wayne a.k.a. Batman

Katie Holmes had a chance to redeem her career in Batman Begins. As both the District Attorney and Wayne's childhood friend, her character Rachel Dawes would play an integral part in ending crime in Gotham; she promised to commit to Wayne after he finished his Batmanly duties. Yet, despite being Batman's driving force, she was recast in The Dark Knight. Were we the only ones who were pissed?

Love interest: Clark Kent a.k.a. Superman

Margot was one of the first to feign ignorance when Superman put on those stupid glasses; nevermind that Lois Lane is actually a driven, witty journalist. Maybe another power that Superman has is that the residual effects of him crashing through walls with his head affects the IQ of everyone else but him.

Love interest: Peter Parker a.ka. Spiderman

Mary Jane was smokin' before we ever knew what that would literally mean. She was Peter Parker's sexy love interest that little boys would giggle over when they'd see the cartoon version on screen. We've gotta admit, hearing the word "Tiger" uttered by an actual human manifestation of Mary Jane in the live-action elicited more than just a giggle from us.

Love interest: Clark Kent a.k.a. Superman

Arguably the most memorable Lois Lane, Teri Hatcher was perfect for what 1990s Lois Lane would be like: a sassy yet vulnerable career woman. Hence the reason why she became entirely infatuated with the godlike hero and overlooked the dude in the button-up shirt and hipster glasses whose style is making strides with the ladies nowadays.

Love interest: Lamont Cranston a.k.a. The Shadow

Cranston's Shadow alter-ego (played by Alec Baldwin in the 1994 flick The Shadow) is gifted with the ability to influence minds and bend people's perceptions. But this proves ineffective with New York socialite Margo Lane (Miller), not just because she has a presumably impenetrable arrogant demeanor, but because she's also a telepath who could read every single thing he was thinking. Frankly, we supported his decision to end their relationship. We don't find blackmail particularly sexy.

Love interest: Kit Walker a.k.a. The Phantom

In the 1996 superhero dud The Phantom, Diana Walker fell for the title character (played by Billy Zane) when he saved her from a panther back when they were kids. After that incident, she grew up to be as physically self-sufficient as Sir Phantom by gaining an Olympic medal in diving and a black belt in karate. Even if the panther wouldn't cross dare cross the adult Swanson, physical prowess doesn't intimidate us. We'd still stare into the eyes of this tiger.

Love interest: Bruce Banner a.k.a. The Hulk

Betty Ross isn't a pesky journalist in 2008's The Incredible Hulk, nor an emotional actress; she's a female scientist who's trained to experiment on and handle big weapons. In the later versions of the comic, she is even resurrected as She-Hulk. Now we understand why she was so at ease with her green hero; if there's anyone who can take the ginormity of the Hulk's appendages, it's a woman just as big. Um, pause.

Love interest: Clark Kent a.k.a. Superman

Erica Durance's Lois Lane was introduced to Kent (Tom Welling) through her cousin, Kent's best friend Chloe, while he was still a high school student on the hit TV show Smallville. Sure, it fucks up common knowledge about her classic character, but it does make for ratings-winning steamy fantasy scenes that added two more seasons to the show after Durance's introduction.

Love interest: Bruce Wayne a.k.a. Batman

In Tim Burton's Batman (1989), photojournalist Vicki Vale fell for his alter-ego, Bruce Wayne, while on an assignment to cover Batman. Yet, unlike Superman's Lois Lane, Vale fell in love with him in his non-hero state. Obviously, Vale's relationship with the reputed millionaire womanizer did not last.

Love interest: Bruce Wayne a.k.a. Batman

There are so many problems with 1997's horrendous Batman & Robin. Let's discuss two here. First, its star, George Clooney, has gone on record to say that it was a waste of money. Second, and most importantly, most of Julie Madison's (portrayed by a supermodel!) scenes were cut out of the movie, despite her being his first prominent love interest in the comics. To avoid disgracing the franchise anymore in the eyes of future audiences, producers should just re-release this film as a parody on Funny or Die.

Love interest: Clark Kent a.k.a. Superman

During Clark's high school days on Smallville, he only had his X-ray eyes on one girl in the locker room: Lana Lang. Yet she ultimately married, and got impregnated by, his best friend turned archenemy on the show, Lex Luthor. Understandably, for the show to last ten seasons, they needed to follow the long-running soap opera formula.

Love interest: Britt Reid a.k.a. The Green Hornet

Britt's new assistant Lenore is the most sexually frustrating kind of superhero love interest: the perpetual tease without the pay-off of even a kiss. Instead of laying the pipe, Reid learns to treat her with dignity and respect as an equal. And no, this was not set during the second-wave feminist movement.

Love interest: Cliff Secord a.k.a. The Rocketeer

Jenny Blake is an actress in Hollywood saved from Nazi kidnappers by a stunt pilot. It just so happens that said pilot is also a superhero, named The Rocketeer, who can fly with a top-secret jet pack that he randomly found. Even if the premise didn't exactly cause box-office figures to soar, Jennifer Connelly's presence was most definitely effective in causing other things to skyrocket.

Love interest: Thor

In the original comic book version, Jane Foster is a nurse who meets Thor at the hospital they both practice at while he's under his human disguise, Dr. Donald Blake. However, in the 2011 film, Potman's Foster is an astrophysicist who discovers Thor's body after he crash-lands onto Earth. One can only wish that Portman would discover our superhero body...after crashing into bed.

Love interest: Johnny Blaze a.k.a. Ghost Rider

Nicolas Cage's Ghost Rider scored a woman played by the gorgeous Eva Mendes, who still loves him even though he has a skull for a head. Mendes' Roxanne got a hero played by a miscast Cage who utters hokey phrases such as "You cannot live in fear" repeatedly. Somebody definitely got the short end of that stick.