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- TheBigBad, on 08/26/2008, -6/+48Lex Luthor in Superman Returns = most boring super villain. ever.
- kinseyincanada, on 08/26/2008, -2/+44Lex Luthor is, as many know, far and away my favorite of all supervillains. I would argue that he is undeniably one of the great ones. - but, unlike the Joker, who at this point has more or less been boiled down to a hard consensus as regards his personality and how he functions (so much so that Grant Morrison’s “rework” of the Joker, which really isn’t much of a rework at all, is deemed somewhat controversial), Lex Luthor’s modus operandi and personality are still the source of great debate.
For starters, why does Lex Luthor do what he does? Most major supervillains have a pretty narrow consensus for why they do what they do. Dr. Doom does what he does because he has a gnawing all-consuming inferiority complex and has, in his own mind, illogically determined that when he defeats Reed Richards once and for all, he will finally be complete. (He would never admit this, but let’s be honest: it’s pretty obvious.) Magneto does what he does because when he was little the Nazis killed everybody he cared about and he’s decided that the same will happen to mutants if he doesn’t take steps. [1]The Joker does what he does because he’s goddamned crazy and will do anything that suits him, especially if it ***** with Batman.
But Lex Luthor - nobody agrees. Grant Morrison’s Lex Luthor in All Star Superman is a sterling example of the “he’s just a bastard” school [2] - he doesn’t care much about anything except killing Superman, because he hates him and That Is That. (Even when Superman offers Lex a chance to be well remembered, both of them knowing that Lex has already killed him, Lex spits in Superman’s face.) This is the prototypical Lex of the Golden and Silver Ages, when he was mostly just a fat, evil scientist who got his ass frequently kicked, and it’s a popular raison d’etre for the character. (The Lex in Justice League Unlimited mostly falls into this category as well, although his singleminded desire to kill Superman was eventually supplanted by his singleminded desire to reunite with Brainiac.) This is the Lex who, in an “imaginary story,” cured cancer just to get Superman to trust him enough so he could kill him.
That’s the hot-blooded Lex. But there’s the cold-blooded Lex as well, the rationalist. It’s an Elseworld, but Superman: Red Son is an excellent example of the pragmatic Luthor. Yes, he gets angry when he loses to Superman - but he also first saves America and then the world, because he’s a genius. And when Superman isn’t around to bother him, Luthor turns Earth into a utopia - not because he’s a good person (he obviously isn’t) but because this idea of Luthor is, more often than not, right about most things. He’s too smart not to be. We’ve seen this Luthor as early as the late Silver and early Bronze Ages, in the Lexor stories - the only planet in the universe where Lex Luthor was a great superhero, and that mostly because there, there was no Superman to ruin things for him. This is Luthor as rationalist. [3]
And on top of that, there’s Lex Number Three - the paragon. This Lex hates Superman, but it’s not out of a misplaced grudge from days spent in Smallville or because Superman humiliated him in the Metropolis news Lex previously dominated. This Lex almost views Superman as an obstacle rather than an enemy - this is the Lex focused on self-improvement, on striving to be the best, to always be the best at everything. This is the Lex that always refers to Superman as “the alien” whenever possible because he doesn’t want to dignify his opponent with the use of a proper name.
Which of these interpretations of Lex Luthor is the right one? All of them and none of them. Without the nasty bastard Luthor, you don’t really have Luthor at all - you’ve got Batman. Without the egotistical paragon, Lex doesn’t have the proper amount of menace. Without the pragmatist, Luthor loses a lot of his edge and that delightful hint of moral ambiguity that allows Superman to question himself every once in a while (and if there’s ever a hero who should do that, it’s Superman).
Why is Luthor so complicated when compared to other supervillains? I’m not kidding when I say you can sum up Dr. Doom’s innermost character motivation in one sentence (more importantly, in one sentence and accurately). Lex is a book where most supervillains are a sentence. Why is that?
The answer’s pretty obvious and wears a big red cape. Lex is going to be more complex because his enemy, the battle he fights, is more mythic by far than any other. If you look at the ranks of great comic villains - and I’m talking the true greats here - they’re generally either on some level either the equal of the hero(es) they loathe (the Joker, the Green Goblin, Dr. Doom, Sinestro) or their superior (Galactus, Dormammu, Magneto on the high end of the power scale, the Anti-Monitor).
But Luthor is unique - definitively the only great villain who is, by any reasonable standard, weaker than his archenemy. Remember, Superman isn’t just powerful - he’s also smart, and wise, and personable, and generally possessed of a huge number of admirable quality traits, and he has a ton of friends who are also for the most part more powerful than Luthor is (and who all hate Luthor too), and he has alien technology nobody else does, and a secret fortress, and a super-cousin, and a super-dog. Luthor doesn’t have any of that. Luthor has brains, determination and cojones, and that’s it. Sometimes he has a corporation, sometimes a secret science fortress, but that’s all ephemeral stuff.
Other villains fight men. Luthor is, when you get down to brass tacks, a man trying to fight God.
It should come as no surprise, then, that Luthor shares a number of personality traits with Satan in John Milton’s Paradise Lost. Able to inspire/charismatic? Check. Proud? Big check there. Narcissistic? Check. Selfish? Check. Unwilling to dignify his opponent by speaking of him plainly? Oh, check. (In Paradise Lost, Milton uses Satan’s arrogance to avoid the trap of having to describe God - Satan defines God in loose, etheral terms rather than speak in the plain specifics of which he’s capable. Sound like anybody? Hint: “the alien.”) Utterly self-confident? Check. Said self-confidence (mostly) justified? Again, check. Utterly obsessed with his enemy, who is only his enemy by choice? Oh my check.
Of course, these character elements have filtered in through time. Any reasonable assessment of Lex Luthor’s enduring power as a character has to begin with the fact that he was Superman’s only serious enemy for nearly twenty years, from his first appearance through to the introduction of Bizarro and Brainiac in 1958. (And really, calling Bizarro a “serious enemy” is kind of pushing it, given his frequent comic relief status.) For that first chunk of the Golden Age, there were hordes of anonymous gangsters, aliens and monsters, the occasional appearance by the Toyman [4] or Prankster (neither of whom were even remotely threatening for most of their careers), occasionally a Mr. Mxyzptlk gag story… and there was Luthor.
Even then, Luthor was dismissive of Superman and simultaneously envious of him -the maniacal hatred didn’t really show up until the mid-50s. This Luthor would invent a super-suit not as a weapon with which to battle Superman, but instead simply to rob banks more effectively and negate Superman’s powers. Can you imagine the Luthor of today, with a super-suit giving him power to equal Big Blue’s, doing anything other than going for the alien’s throat?
As the Golden Age became Silver and then Bronze, Luthor’s evolution began in earnest. He gradually lost weight and de-aged - the paunchy scientific con man in his 50s became a rugged mad scientist in his mid-40s and then gradually became an exceptionally fit man only a few years older than Superman. (John Byrne, in his revamp, tried to take Luthor back to the older, heavyset motif, and although the idea of Luthor as corporate raider took, the fat-older Luthor didn’t - one of the few elements of the Byrne revamp that just didn’t feel right. Which of course led to Clone Australian Luthor, which honestly wasn’t that bad a plot idea for a while.) After all, if Superman was going to have an enemy - a real enemy, worthy of being Superman’s greatest foe - then that man had to be completely bad-ass. He had to be Batman, but evil.
With the Crisis revamp, Byrne made the mistake of making Luthor old and fat (which lasted a little more than five years), but improved on Luthor’s motivation. No longer did Luthor hate Superman because Superman made Luthor lose all his hair when he was young. (While adorable in a comic-booky sort of way, face it: it’s kind of silly.) Now Luthor hated Superman because Superman came along and made Luthor look like small potatoes. Envy and jealousy supplanted revenge as motivation, and for a man destined to fight a god, it was perfect. (I don’t know when Lex’s eyes officially became green, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that his eye color was solidified around this time.) Lex wants Superman’s power. Depending on the writer he might hate to admit this or he might do so gleefully, he might want it to spite his foe or he might want it in and of itself - but he wants it.
Byrne also revamped Lex’s origin at the same time, giving him a ridiculously hard-luck origin story: brutal parents (whom Luthor kills), then brutal foster parents (who force their daughter to seduce Lex for the insurance money he got from killing his parents - and when she refuses, they beat her to death), and then creating the world’s largest corporation out of nothing. As Luthor has evolved from Byrne’s original corporate model to incorporate the original scientific genius as well - and really, if Batman can do it, there’s no reason Lex can’t - the origin has mutated somewhat, but in all versions of it the idea that Luthor created LexCorp more or less on his own (like Bill Gates on steroids) has remained prominent. Luthor is self-made.
And that self-making ultimately informs all aspects of Luthor’s character. Luthor drives to better himself because it’s what he’s always done. Luthor is a rationalist because faith in a greater power would only diminish his achievements. Luthor ultimately hates Superman for no real reason other than he chooses to hate Superman. (He himself knows this - and at times it introduces a tiny element of self-loathing.)
The criminals of the DC universe might all be scared of the Joker, but they’re in awe of Luthor, and rightly so because Luthor is a cut above all of them and they know it. [5] It’s no accident that of all the villains in the DC Universe, it’s Lex Luthor who resists Libra’s promise of Apokoliptian evil power in exchange for servitude in Final Crisis (and you just know at a crucial moment, Lex is going to stab Libra and Darkseid in the back, and say something like “Luthor worships no god!”, and the good guys will only at that moment get their chance to save the day).
And that’s why Lex Luthor is the greatest supervillain ever. Join us next time for the first part of my 12-part lecture, “Deep Down, We Are All Metallo, Even If Some Of Us Only Appear To Be Kite-Man.” - supermanred, on 08/26/2008, -3/+32This is why my call display reads "Lex Luthor"... freaks out people I haven't called before.
TIP OF THE DAY: Convincing the tech support guy who is in India that your middle names are Alexandre Luthor and having him use Lex Luthor as your call display name is easy!! - HillerMylife, on 08/26/2008, -1/+29Lex Luthor is hands-down the best villain, because when no one was looking, he took forty cakes. He took 40 cakes. That's as many as four tens. And that's terrible.
- JeddHampton, on 08/26/2008, -2/+24Wordpress Error.
- Roger, on 08/26/2008, -7/+27Superman Returns sucked.
- Elranzer, on 08/26/2008, -0/+19Lex is great in...
- Superman: The Animated Series (+Justice League, Animated Movie, etc)
- Smallville
- (Most of) The Comics
Lex is horrible in...
- The Superman movie series (Christopher Reeve)
- Superman Returns (Singer's version)
Lex better be in...
- Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe - valleyvideo, on 08/26/2008, -6/+25Don't agree -- but great article. Luthor is interesting because he's still so flexible in the hands of writers.
- D3PyroGS, on 08/26/2008, -0/+19If nothing else, Michael Rosenbaum has done an amazing job the past seven seasons for Smallville and he will be greatly missed. The depth he adds to the character makes him all the more likeable and unlikeable at the same time.
- MacSuxWindozSux, on 08/26/2008, -3/+21This is why Lex Luthor is the greatest villain.
http://www.devotedfansnetwork.com/gallery/albums/t ...
Unlike the movie version, the accepted character has the ability to be the "enemy within". He can be a false savior. Unlike Joker and etc. Luthor can commit his evil deeds and be protected by the law. He can avoid justice by corrupting it, or controlling it.
There's nothing that you can do until he actually breaks a law.
If the hero moves against him, the hero becomes the villain. - Merendino, on 08/26/2008, -2/+20Apparently Lex is the best supervillian... you can't catch him! 404!!!!!!!!
- PhoenixAvatar2, on 08/26/2008, -1/+18WRONG!!!
- RedBear, on 08/26/2008, -0/+16Agreed, Rosenbaum is by far the best Lex to date. He's probably the main reason I kept watching Smallville for all these years. I'm not sure what this season will be like. It's been a steady decline in storyline quality for quite some time.
- paradexes, on 08/26/2008, -0/+15He has more depth than people give him credit for. For instance if you ever read Lex Luthor: Man of Steel, you get a very different picture of what he is about. That is the Luthor writers are trying to portray. The "benevolent" philantropist trying to save humanity and raise it to a new level. Luthor sees Superman as a cancer that will turn humanity into lazy slobs who cannot do anything for themselves because the bar was raised to high. He made it his life's mission to destroy that.
- koonchu, on 08/26/2008, -1/+15That's because the movie(s) painted him out to be a businessman. Lex is *not* a businessman; he's a crusader in every sense of the word.
- RealmDown, on 08/26/2008, -1/+15It's part of Lex's evil plan, of course.
- lamiaconfitor, on 08/26/2008, -0/+13He was actually better written then the Lex from the earlier movies, but still wasn't what he was supposed to be. Too much comic relief to believe that he was supposed to be a viable villain to the man of steel. But in the comics, (especially the later ones.) Lex is a almost superior to superman himself. As a character and stands as proof that intellect is more then a match for the sheer power of superman.
- drmangrum, on 08/26/2008, -2/+15Behold the mighty power that is WORD PRESS ERROR ATTACK!
- kinseyincanada, on 08/26/2008, -2/+15wow that is ridiculously nerdy
- LiberalKid, on 08/26/2008, -0/+10Read the Watchmen.
- Wanger1234, on 08/26/2008, -2/+11I was never a fan of Lex, but after this article I can see some of his admirable side.
- nickert0n, on 08/26/2008, -1/+10Dont believe it, its a lie.
- Ljay90, on 08/26/2008, -1/+9Justice League Unlimited Lex Luthor > All other Luthors.
- inactive, on 08/26/2008, -0/+8Couldnt agree more. Lex is the sole reason I kept watching Smallville and putting up with some of the camp (it paid off in later seasons). And the animated Lex is even better still.
- hakz, on 08/26/2008, -1/+8how do you make your call display lex luthor before they add you to their address book?
- inactive, on 08/26/2008, -0/+7So true, I've never appreciated Lex in anything until I saw what they did with his character in the animated Justice League series (especially the episodes in which he runs for president).
- Handout, on 08/26/2008, -1/+8Lex Luthor stole forty cakes.
That's as many as four tens.
And that's terrible. - jkoski, on 08/26/2008, -1/+7And Batman isn't really a 'super'hero but he's still THE BEST.
- MoralThreat, on 08/26/2008, -6/+12People read the article (assumingly) and click the little button that says "Digg." because they liked it. Not that complicated really.
- proliance, on 08/26/2008, -0/+6Unfortunately Rosenbaum won't be back this season. It was hoped he would make several guest appearances in Smallville, but he hasn't signed for any.
Smallville does a better job at describing why Lex hates Clark (still no Superman in the tv show) better than any comic. Lex was jealous of the relationship Clark had with not only with Clark's father, but also with Lionel (Lex's father.) Clark was the perfect kid and Lex was ignored. Lex had to become powerful to get his father's attention, but never earned his father's love. Clark got the girl, lost the girl to Lex, then got her back.
Clark got all the attention, but was never more than a farm boy trying to live up to his father's tough expectations, while Lex became one of the most powerful people in the country, still incapable of earning his father's respect.
That show is such a freakin soap opera, but I can't help but love it. I still think Clark should have banged Cloe. - petebot, on 08/26/2008, -0/+5Miss TESSMACHER!
- Synn, on 08/26/2008, -0/+5Terrible song...terrible.
- JDoorjam, on 08/26/2008, -1/+5For the curious: http://www.collegehumor.com/picture:1738269/contex ...
- Rudegar, on 08/26/2008, -2/+6haven't seen any of the superman movies where Luther is much use
- xtal3, on 08/26/2008, -0/+4Yeah, I have to agree. I finally started watching JLU this week and it's shockingly good.
- MysticSavage, on 08/26/2008, -0/+4Nail on the head. The characterization in Red Son is sort of like that as well.
- xtal3, on 08/26/2008, -0/+4YOU FORGOT GORILLA GRODD HOW DARE YUO
- omarlassan, on 08/26/2008, -0/+4Season 1 Rocks of the JLU
- heretrix, on 08/26/2008, -0/+4That's probably one of the best explainations of Luther's character that I've ever read.A very good read.
- ontain, on 08/26/2008, -1/+5Read both LL: Man of Steel and Red Son and that is how I see Luthor now.
- Trifold, on 08/26/2008, -1/+4...so is Joker.
- contradictator, on 08/26/2008, -1/+4They pulled off a great Lex Luthor in the animated shows (Superman TAS, Justice League).
- staticneuron, on 08/26/2008, -0/+3You cannot be serious? Sure if you want to wax philosophical sure we can continue this conversation but face it, in terms of power and use of that power marvel stomps all over DC. Not only that but marvels heroes and enemies are more interesting because the all come in shades of grey, where as only a few DC heroes and villians make you pause at their complexity.
- RudeTurnip, on 08/26/2008, -0/+3I often refer to it as the "gay Superman" movie. Not because the two lead actors happen to be gay, but because the movie itself sucked balls.
- omarlassan, on 08/26/2008, -2/+5All hail magneto ... Since he controls steel he can control superman cuz he is the "man of steel"
MAgneto >Superman ..... end of story - cotaskmemalloc, on 08/26/2008, -0/+3I first read your comment as "you'd figure he'd stop messing with an invincible alien with so many features". I don't know why. I thought, you're right, he does have a lot of features.
But then I re-read it and discovered I was wrong. - RaulMuadDib, on 08/26/2008, -0/+3Way to quote the article! :P
- Elranzer, on 08/26/2008, -0/+3Villian better than X (where X = Every Marvel villain): The Joker
- inactive, on 08/26/2008, -3/+6The Narcissist / Total Package Lex Luger.... he will torture rack the ***** out of you!
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