Lex Luthor (Arrowverse)


 * NOTE: This article is about the incarnation of Lex Luthor from the Arrowverse. The mainstream version can be found here: Lex Luthor.

"He is not a man! I was the Man of Tomorrow! Not him! NOT! HIM!"

- Luthor angrily expressing his hatred of Superman to his sister Lena prior to his arrest.

Lex Luthor is a villain in the CW TV series Supergirl. He is an unseen antagonist in the premiere of Season 2 and one of the main antagonists of the second half of Season 4. He is the former CEO of Luthor Corp (later L-Corp), the archenemy of Superman and the half-brother of Lena Luthor.

He is portrayed by Jon Cryer, who is best known for playing Alan Harper on Two and a Half Men.

Origins
Lex was born to Lionel and Lillian Luthor and hails from one of the most prestigious and wealthiest families in Metropolis. Even at a young age, he showed a high-level intellect which his mother saw him as a genius. When Lex was 7-years-old, his pet dog Ignatius was ill and needed to be put down. Although he wanted to be there, Lillian typically thought he was too sentimental and sent him on one of his father's business trip. Lionel introduced him to a women, who was one of his affairs. Initially hating her, Lex learned to care for her and on the day Ignatius passed away, she comforted him. Therefore, Lex wished she was his mother instead, therefore possibly straining his relationship with Lillian.

After Lionel sent this women away due to being pregnant, it is possible that Lex developed a bad relationship with his father due to how much he cared for her. After the unnamed woman's death, her four-year old daughter Lena was adopted into the family. Remembering her mother's kindess, Lex made her feel welcome when they first met and played chess in which she eventually won. During their childhood, they were very close.

However, as he got older, Lex became more cold, power-hungry and delusional to the point of his relationship with his family becoming estranged. Due to his possible disdain for his parent's morals, Lex began to care little for his family name. When Lionel died, Lex inherited the family company Luthor Corp. After this, he then hired Mercy Graves and her brother Otis as heads of his security. Lex's relationship with Mercy grew over time and eventually, she became his closest confidant and frequent dinner guest.

At some point during his adulthood, Lex became partners-in-crime with Bruno Mannheim, who then laundered money through Luthor Corp. The center of their scheme was the parking lots, which Bruno purchased through a subsidiary he bought off Lex. However, when Lex came under investigation by the state, Bruno dumped him. According to Lena, Lex's relationship with Bruno was the real reason he went down the wrong path in his life.

Rivalry with Superman
Later on, Lex became best friends with Metropolis's Kryptonian superhero Superman and the two of them agreed to work together and try to prevent any future alien invasion threats. However, despite Superman's protests to the contrary, Lex's methods were far more crueller. Eventually, after years of deceiving the Man of Steel about how he can still change his ways, Lex's true nature was revealed to him, which instantly set the two of them at odds with each other. Lex then came to the belief that Superman's presence was the cause of alien terrorism on Earth, and thus declared war on the Man of Steel. Lex's obsession with defeating him also soon dissolved his relationship with Mercy.

During his war with Superman, Lena grew concerned for Lex's well-being and tried to help him, but he ignored her and continued committing unspeakable crimes in the city. Amongst the crimes included triggering a fault line in California with an earthquake machine that Superman tended to, and another that involved Lex manufacturing and selling a series of battle armors he called "Lexosuits". He used these to gain the upper-hand on Man of Steel when in battle. Over the years, he built secret storage facilities around the world to house various arsenals of weapons to defeat Superman. Lex also converted his own cloaked mansion's basement into a bunker facility designed to protect him from any threats and only confided in Lena of its location. Lex also at some point injected himself with Kryptonite, hoping that it would keep Superman away from him.

Then, a year before Supergirl's arrival, Lex kidnapped Lena and engulfed Earth's atmosphere under the presence of a Red Sun. While watching news of anarchy and destruction across the world, Lex believed that the world will thank him as he wants to prove that Superman is a false god that can bleed and how humanity was better off without him. He displayed his ego about he was the "man of tomorrow", not Superman. Eventually, the police arrived and arrested Lex. It is presumed that Superman removed the Red Sun and saved all life on Earth.

Lex was finally defeated and his crimes exposed by Superman to the public, which resulted in the former being incarcerated and sentenced to Stryker's Island Penitentiary on 37 consecutive life terms. Mercy was a key witness in Lex's trial and betrayed him as she grew frustrated with his obsession with defeating Superman above anything else.

Post Incarceration
After Lex was sent to prison for his crimes, Lena took over the company and planned to rename it as L-Corp and cut off all ties from his name. Enraged by this, Lex hired the assassin John Corben to kill her. However, this plan was thwarted by Superman and his cousin Supergirl.

Even with Lex still in prison, his crimes forever tainted his family's name as nobody trusted a Luthor again. This is evidenced by his mother losing her medical license without even being granted a hearing, and when Lena was accused of breaking her out of prison, nobody began to trust her instantly due to being her daughter.

Following the defeat of Reign and Selena, Lex secretly started funding Lena's secret project to use the Harun-El to create an experimental drug, and fulfilled his word to her that nobody else knows about it. Eventually, thanks to Lena tricking Lillian, Lex's partnership with Bruno and his involvement in the latter's money laundering business was exposed to the public and under investigation.

During his incarceration, Lex was diagnosed with Kryptonite-based terminal cancer that he received from his injection, and was left in a critical state that he couldn't even stand up. After reaching out to Lena, he convinces her to help cure him with the Harun-El serum. Six weeks later, Lex's condition continued to deteriorate and decided to speed up Lena's progress by having a still-alive Otis Graves shoot James Olsen in his office.

Return and Escape
Following this, Lex was secretly furloughed to his cloaked mansion where Lena was waiting for him. Upon arriving, they bickered about his predicament and how he was behind the funding of her project. Eve Teschmacher then arrived and told Lena that Olsen was shot. When she returned, she asks for his expertise on Kryptonite so she can separate the superpower effects from the serum. He mocks her relationship with Olsen and how she never told him about their secret partnership. Nevertheless, he agrees to help her finish the serum to save him as well.

Lex and Lena argued about their past partnerships and how she was driven to impress him. After he continued coughing up blood and assured her that he was never popular in prison, he explains that he was always proud of Lena and her intelligence. After Lena became uncertain of James' fate, Lex told him the story of his dog's passing and how he also met Lena's mother during one of his father's many affairs and that he was aware of Lena's true parentage. Eventually, the serum is complete and Lex tells her to go. Lex then secretly had the hospital's power cut off during Manchester Black's attack on the dam so it would force Lena to save James.

After Olsen was cured, Lena confronted Lex that she figured out he was behind the power cut during his operation in order to force Lena to test the cure on him. He admitted that he was behind it but he then reveals that he had James shot so he would be placed in that predicament. Enraged, Lena declares that she won't give him the cure and he would die in prison. Lex then quickly reveals that he predicted this and that he already took the cure, revealing Otis was alive and that Eve was working for him the entire time. After having Eve lock up Lena, Lex uses the security measures to kill the authorities and escape in the helicopter with Otis. After Supergirl arrives, Lex was pleased to finally meet her.

Trivia

 * Luthor's previous friendship with Superman mirrors the same relationship his counterpart had with him in the Smallville series.
 * Although he hasn't yet physically appeared in the series (save for his flashback appearance), he is repeatedly referenced and mentioned by many heroes and villains, and he is best remembered for his crimes of terrorism against both human and alien life as well as his rivalry with Superman.