The core problem is that if you give Superman stats that compares to what he can do in the comics, he will completely outshine Batman (who is still an ordinary human) without even trying.
This leaves the player playing Batman sitting at the table feeling that he can do nothing.
In the comics, they solve this in two ways. First, they can script so that the focus is on Batman a specific time (which "forces" Superman to be in the background), and second, they usually makes Superman slightly weaker/slower/dumber when he is around Batman (or the rest of the Justice League).
It's this last point that got me thinking:
Could you build a RPG where the abilities of a character is relative, and not absolute. When the player playing Superman is by himself, he has one set of abilities, but as soon as he works with others, he loses some of his abilities in favor of others. Same thing goes for Batman. By himself, he is a complete warrior, detective and inventor. When in a group, he moves towards being "just" the detective.
There are games that have done this (the Amber RPG comes to mind), but it's still not particulary common.
When the players create their characters, they don't do it one-by-one, but instead they together create the group as a whole. They choose the level of intelligence, the strength, the prowess etc. Then they have to distribute which character that best represents that particilar ability or attribute. When you play with your group, that character is connected to that ability trumps all other characters within that area.
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