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NOTE: This article is about the incarnation of Lex Luthor from the DC Extended Universe film series. The mainstream version can be found here: Lex Luthor.
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| “ | The problem of you on top of everything else. You above all. Ah, 'cause that's what God is. Horus. Apollo. Jehovah. Kal-El. Clark… Joseph… Kent. See, what we call God depends upon our tribe, Clark Jo, 'cause God is tribal. God takes sides. No man in the sky intervened when I was a boy to deliver me from Daddy's fist and abominations. Mmmn-Mmmm. I figured out way back! If God is all-powerful, he cannot be all-good. And if he is all-good, then he cannot be all powerful. And neither can you be. They need to see the fraud you are, with their eyes. The blood on your hands. | „ |
| ~ Lex Luthor explaining his motives to Superman, and his most famous quote. |
| “ | I don't hate the sinner. I hate the sin. And yours, my friend, is existing. | „ |
| ~ Lex Luthor telling Superman about the essence of his hatred for him. |
| “ | And now God bends to my will. | „ |
| ~ Lex Luthor after Superman kneels before him. |
Alexander Joseph Luthor, Jr., otherwise known as Lex Luthor, is the main antagonist of the 2016 DC Extended Universe superhero film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and a minor antagonist in its 2017 follow-up Justice League and the latter’s 2021 director's cut Zack Snyder's Justice League.
He is the megalomaniacal CEO of LexCorp and who one of the smartest people on the planet who has developed an unhealthy fixation with Superman, whom he views as an alien intruder. Thinking of himself as the superior one, Lex is obsessed with defeating and killing Superman through any means necessary, even using Batman. After Lex is incarcerated at Arkham Asylum, he soon breaks out and allies with the mercenary Deathstroke.
He was portrayed by Jesse Eisenberg in his first villainous role.
History[]
Early life[]
Lex was born in 1984 and was abused physically by his father Alexander Luthor, Sr., an East German immigrant. The elder Luthor's abuse led Lex to believe God plays favorites; Lex thus developed a pathological hatred of God and anyone godlike, such as Superman.
After his father's death, Lex became CEO of his company, LexCorp.
Starting his manipulation[]
Lex is first seen at LexCorp, being visited by Senator June Finch. Lex reveals to her that he used a small fragment of Kryptonite on the corpse of General Zod, causing rapid decomposition. He asks her for permission to import a larger chunk of Kryptonite for further testing. After the meeting, he then asks another senator for access to the wreckage of the Kryptonian scout-ship and Zod's corpse for further testing, which is granted. Lex then enters the military facility in which the scout-ship is stored. Secretly, he cuts off Zod's fingertips with a Kryptonite blade.
Luthor tries to manipulate Finch
Later, Lex has a business dinner with Finch, who tells him that she is denying him permission to import the Kryptonite, claiming that she knows that Lex is not planning to import it merely for testing purposes.
After finding out that Russian gang leader Anatoli Knyazev has been in contact with Lex, Bruce Wayne decides to investigate Lex and, conveniently, is told by Alfred Pennyworth that he has received an invitation to a charitable function Lex is hosting at his villa. Bruce attends the gala and briefly listens to Lex's speech about gods before heading away from the public to plant a bug in Lex's server room. Meanwhile, Lex has a sociopathic fit onstage and ends his speech before he can damage his image; this seems to be ignored by the crowd, who applaud Lex's speech.
Lex then intervenes in a heated conversation between Bruce and Daily Planet reporter Clark Kent, jovially introducing both men and claiming how he loves to bring people together. After a brief small talk with Bruce, Lex invites him to meet with him at some point, claiming that they could work together. Lex is then told by his assistant Mercy Graves that the governor is waiting, so he leaves the two men.
Bombing the Capitol[]
| “ | Do you know the oldest lie in America, Senator? That power can be innocent. | „ |
| ~ Luthor to Senator Finch, shortly before the explosion. |
Lex later pays the bail for Wallace Keefe, a Wayne Enterprises worker who was rendered paraplegic during Zod's and Superman's fight in Metropolis. After bringing Keefe out of jail, Lex provides him with a state-of-the-art wheelchair. Persuaded by Lex, Keefe meets with Finch and convinces her to invite Superman to a Senate hearing at Capitol Hill to meet those he has harmed in his battle against Zod.
Luthor at the capitol, moments before blowing it up
Viewing the information he obtained from Lex's server, Bruce finds out that Lex is smuggling the Kryptonite to Metropolis and decides to steal the rock to form it into a weapon against Superman (ironically the same plan Luthor has for it). While pursuing Lex's men, Bruce, as Batman, is stopped by Superman. With Batman prevented from taking it, the Kryptonite is delivered to Lex.
Shortly before the hearing, Lex sends Mercy into the meeting room to hold him a seat. He then approaches Finch, coldly remembering her and how she stopped his plans to build a weapon against Superman because she was weak. Finch storms off after being told that Superman has indeed arrived for the hearing and before she is gone, Lex tells her that the oldest lie in America is that power can be innocent. Despite sending Mercy in for the hearing, Lex doesn't enter himself; instead, he leaves the building while Superman enters it. Although Mercy is perplexed, she remains seated. Moments later, the hidden explosives Lex planted inside Keefe's chair (made of lead, which Superman cannot see through) go off, killing Finch, Mercy, and everyone else inside the building except Superman. This leaves Superman blamed by the public, leading him to go into a self-imposed exile.
Zod's corpse is delivered to Luthor
When Lex returns to LexCorp, he finds that the Kryptonite has been stolen and that a Batarang has been left in its place. The same night, he enters the Kryptonian scout-ship again, accidentally activating it and thus gaining access to its database, discovering the existence of Doomsday — a bio-engineered Kryptonian abomination developed by Bertron during the Last War at Krypton — in the process. Inspired by the records that came with Bertron's notes, the criminal mastermind decided to create his very own Doomsday which involved the use of the ship's surviving genesis chamber, some drops of his blood, and Zod's corpse in his possession. Although the ship's computer warns Lex that the High Council of Krypton has forbidden the creation of the creature Lex is about to produce, Lex overrides this security measure by stating that the High Council is long gone. With that, the scout-ship's genesis chamber begins morphing Zod's and Lex's DNA, resulting in the birth of the new Doomsday.
Batman versus Superman[]
Lex sends his men to kidnap Martha Kent. He also has Knyazev capture Lois Lane and bring her to the roof of LexCorp, where Lex is waiting. Lois, who has been able to prove that Lex was involved in the earlier incident in Nairobi, is thrown off the roof by Lex, but is caught mid-air by Superman who has returned to the city. Unbeknownst to both, this was exactly what Lex had expected.
Luthor mocks Superman
After ensuring Lois's safety, Superman flies back up to the roof to face Lex. Superman threatens to bring Lex in, but Lex, ranting about how Superman stands above everything like a god, reveals that he knows Superman's true identity as Clark Kent/Kal-El and that he wants for the world to see Superman as the fraud he is. Pointing at the Bat-Signal shining in the sky in the distant Gotham City, Lex reveals that he expects for Superman to fight Batman to the death. When Superman asks if Lex really expects Superman to fight for him, Lex confirms it, showing Superman photos of Martha being held captive by his henchmen and hinting that Martha will die should Superman refuse.
When a shocked and enraged Superman falls to the ground in front of Lex, looking at the photos, and demands to know where Martha is, Lex states that he has forbidden his henchmen from telling him, but assures Superman that his mother will die should he attack Lex or try to fly off, his only chance of saving Martha being to kill Batman and to bring Lex his head. Lex gives Superman one hour to complete his task, then flies off in his helicopter. His continuous manipulation of Batman and Superman eventually leads to the titular battle between the two superheroes. However, before Batman can impale Superman with a Kryptonite spear, Lois arrives to clear up the confusion and to reveal Lex's manipulation. Teaming up with Superman to save Martha and defeat Lex, Batman locates Knyazev's mobile phone in a warehouse and takes out his men and the Russian himself, saving Martha.
Luthor pits Superman against Batman
Meanwhile, Superman enters the Kryptonian scout-ship where Lex is awaiting his return. Upon seeing that Superman doesn't have Batman's head, Lex calls Knyazev's phone but is surprised to hear Batman on the other line and realizes that Martha is safe. Superman tells Lex that he has lost, but Lex disagrees and shows Superman that he has been creating a creature that he calls "Doomsday", bred to kill Superman. Stating that "God is as good as dead," he releases the new Doomsday, which attempts to attack Lex, but Superman stops it. Luthor's Doomsday then starts fighting Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, resulting in a battle through the entire city.
Defeat and Imprisonment[]
In the end of the movie (although this is included in the extended cut), Lex is seen screaming in his cell about an upcoming threat. Although it is yet unknown what he means or how he obtained the knowledge, a deleted scene which is set shortly before Lex's arrest by a Metropolis SWAT team shows Lex inside the Kryptonian scout-ship in front of a holographic image of Steppenwolf holding three Mother Boxes in his hands.
Lex kneels in front of Steppenwolf
After Luthor's Doomsday is killed at the cost of Superman's life, Lex is arrested for the terrorist attack on the Capitol and the havoc wrought by it after Lois exposed him for his crimes. His head is shaved before he is imprisoned. In his cell, he seems to have a complete breakdown. Batman arrives and threatens Lex, telling him that he has contacts and is going to make sure Lex is transferred to Arkham Asylum. Lex tells Batman that the whole universe now knows that Superman is dead and that 'he' is hungry and is coming to Earth. Batman agrees before leaving his mark and disappearing. Lex proclaims and shouts that Darkseid is coming and will kill them all before repeatedly dinging.
Escape and Contracting Deathstroke to Take Out Batman[]
Eventually, Luthor escapes from Arkham and leaves a double in his place. Thus, Luthor is long gone when the ruse is finally realized by the Arkham staff. Free again, Luthor boards a super yacht and invites the mercenary Deathstroke, to whom he reveals Batman's secret identity of Bruce Wayne to him so he can contract Slade Wilson to destroy The Bat.
Personality[]
Lex Luthor has a tremendously brilliant mind, by far one of the greatest in the world, though it is hideously corrupted by his cruel and traumatic upbringing, horrifically unstable ego, and low morality. While he puts on a kindly, witty and charming facade that he is an altruistic man of and for the people (with Lex comparing himself to the enlightening gift-giving figure of Prometheus), Lex is actually full of rage, sadism, and ruthless malevolence behind closed doors, truly wishing to obtain ultimate power for himself, to control others, and to destroy those that he deems as his competition - namely his archnemesis Superman, but also metahumans in general (specifically Wonder Woman, Aquaman, the Flash, and Cyborg). Furthermore, Lex's attempts to acquire power are quite immoral and ruthless, as he has little care for the methods he uses, or their impact on others. Lex is even shown to have fits of psychotic frustration and rage when talking to a large group of people and not knowing what to say. Hence, when Lois Lane calls him "psychotic", Lex dismisses that word as merely referring to "any thought too big for little minds."
Lex is extraordinarily brilliant in sciences and business, as well as strategy (to the point that he claims not to know how to lose), and is thereby practically always the smartest man in a room, but his God complex persona makes Lex very envious and bitter towards the godlike alien Superman, even going so far as openly describing the latter in infernal and diabolical terms, subtly comparing Superman to a werewolf (by referring to Kryptonite as a "silver bullet"), a "Flying Demon" (which he uses to justify his threat of burning Martha Kent alive), and finally, to the biblical Devil Lucifer himself, who had originated not in "Hell beneath [Lex]", but had come "from the sky" (as a fallen archangel), inducing humanity to admire him.
This immense hatred of powerful individuals with popularity seemingly stems from the great amounts of hatred and resentment that Lex harbors for his late father, Alexander Luthor Sr., as the latter, while both powerful and popular, was extremely cruel and egregious behind closed doors, physically abusing his young and helpless son with both fists and "abominations." Thus, Lex's experienced abuse, without any intervention from any "man in the sky", immensely traumatizes him, which in turn induces Lex to gain a misotheistic view of God, believing that if God were all-powerful, then He logically could not be all-good and vice versa (the theological problem of evil), thereby solidifying his belief that power cannot be innocent (referring to the antithesis of that as the "oldest lie in America").
Ironically, while the egregious abuse would make Lex immensely despise his father, he would eventually come to share some of his father's traits as an adult, with Lex's exceptional intelligence, ruthless malevolence, and use of an affable facade all mirroring those of Luthor Sr., though it could be argued that Lex took all of these traits even further, as he would notably become more intelligent, skilled, and powerful than his father had ever been. Hence, Lex projects his childhood trauma and theological resentment onto the godlike Superman, determined to prove to both himself and to humanity at large that the alien superhero, while being supremely powerful, is actually not supremely good, and is in fact an abominable fraud. Hence, while Lex claims to hate "the sin, not the sinner", he specifies that Superman's sin is existing. However, Lex notably does not have the same hatred towards General Zod, and actually seems to admire him, with Lex sadly remarking that the latter had "[flown] too close to the sun." This is most likely due the the fact that General Zod, unlike Superman, did not contradict Lex's worldview, due to Zod's godlike power being used for malevolent purposes.
Somewhat ironically, despite his misotheism, Lex has a penchant for constantly implementing allusions to major figures of both pagan and biblical theology, with him notably comparing himself to Prometheus, General Zod to Icarus, and Superman to Zeus, Horus, Apollo, Satan, and Jehovah. He even compares himself to the biblical God in one way, claiming to hate "the sin, not the sinner".
Another factor of Lex's resentment towards Superman was how, all his adult life, Lex was determined to view himself as a superior, godlike being amongst humans (due to his virtually peerless intellect and great achievements), and his ego was damaged when an actual godlike being induced Lex to question his own deluded self-image. Due to this, Lex, despite his ability to kill Superman himself (with the acquired Kryptonite), instead waits for the opportune moment to manipulate Superman and Batman into a fierce mortal duel, in order to first discredit the Man of Steel, so as to avoid Superman becoming a martyr, and to simultaneously humiliate Superman, by having a being of godlike power killed by an ordinary man (supported by Lex's many biblical allusions when gloatingly describing the heroes' planned mortal duel).
Lex carries out this malevolent plan with cold calculation and ruthless cruelty, being quick to murder anyone who comes in his way, such as Senator Finch and Wallace Keefe, his guilt-ridden hired actress Kahina Ziri. And even his own loyal assistant Mercy Graves is likewise shown to be disposable to Lex, as she is likewise killed off along with them. Lex goes so far as to sadistically threaten to burn the kidnapped Martha Kent alive unless Superman "bows to [his] will" by killing Batman. This meticulous and brilliant plan behind Lex's ultimatum was to expose the theological problem of evil in Superman regardless of the fight's outcome - if Superman were to win and kill Batman (to save his mother's life) he would prove to be supremely powerful yet not supremely good, and if Superman were to lose (due to holding back and his weakness to Kryptonite) to Batman and die, he would prove to be supremely good yet not supremely powerful.
In the meantime, Lex continues to garner as much power as he can get his hands on, being quick to order the Fortress of Solitude to teach him all about the knowledge from 100,000 alien worlds, thereby expanding his already brilliant mind to supergenius level, finally becoming even more godlike in his own eyes. Despite the failure of his initial grand plan, Lex's far more grand and extreme contingency plan of unleashing Doomsday succeeds, with Superman being killed by the bloodthirsty monster. Indeed, Lex appears to be so satisfied with his success (as he claims not to know how to lose) that he cares little about being imprisoned for his crimes shortly thereafter, and gleefully awaits the imminent arrival of impending extraterrestrials.
The new extensive knowledge that Lex gains from the Fortress seems to have also made him incredibly bold, as he shows no fear (although his sneer momentarily disappeared with him showing signs of dismay when when Batman informed him about his transfer to Arkham Asylum) when ambushed in his Belle Reve jail cell and at the mercy of a furious Batman with a branding ring, with Lex going so far as smugly sneering at Batman's threats, and warning him with gleeful sadism about the imminent coming of a new, mysterious alien invader Steppenwolf, to whom Earth is now vulnerable to, due to Superman's death.
Lex also has a somewhat dry, black, and sadistic sense of humor, and love for both witty puns and visual metaphors, shown when Lex mockingly imitated a Kentucky accent when speaking with Senator Finch; when Lex told the wheelchair-bound Wallace Keefe that he wanted to help the latter "stand" for something; when Lex claims that the shortest road to Superman is "Lois Lane"; when Lex mentions "civilizations of the wane, manors out the window" to Batman (subtly revealing that he knows about Bruce Wayne being the Dark Knight's alter ego); when Lex had a jar of urine placed upon Senator Finch's desk, labelled "Granny's Peach Tea" (illustrating an epithet that she herself had used against him not along ago) before coldly murdering her with a hidden bomb; and when Lex described the upcoming battles between Superman and Batman, and later Superman and Doomsday with dramatic and sadistic glee, mockingly incorporating antique and theological metaphors (such as describing the first battle as the "greatest gladiator match in the history of the world"). In addition, Lex seems to be well-versed in American pop-culture, making quite a few references from it as well, notably "The Midnight Ride", "Lolita" and the "Wizard of Oz."
Abilities[]
- Genius-Level Intelligence: Lex Luthor is a phenomenally intelligent supergenius (known to be a bibliophile, making numerous pop-culture, biblical, and pagan myth references), by far one of the most intelligent humans in the world, with his tremendous intellect nearly unrivaled (Lex notably being one of the extreme few to intellectually surpass even Batman, which allowed him to easily see through Batman's inhuman and supernatural facade and along with deducing via CCTV that the Dark Knight is actually only a normal human, he was able to easily detect and then masterfully use the inner rage and demons of the now dark Batman to make him his pawn to use against Superman, and with him referring to even the exceptionally smart Lois Lane as having a "little mind" compared to his), which makes the virtually peerless malevolent genius a worthy opponent even for Superman himself, as his level of intelligence easily equals Clark's level of power and far exceeds the profilic intelligence he inherited from Jor-El, the so-called most illustrious genius in Krypton, which allowed Lex to easily gain the upper hand over and eventually kill him. In addition, after entering the Fortress of Solitude, Lex orders to be taught the vast amounts of knowledge that the starship's archive had from 100,000 alien worlds, with apparent success. As such, Lex is now more intelligent than ever, effectively a supergenius, and with his newly obtained tremendous amount of knowledge including that of the imminent threat posed by a mysterious alien invader Steppenwolf, coming to Earth (due to Superman's death having left the planet vulnerable), which Lex proclaims to Batman with glee. Lex's tremendous intellect extends itself to his unparalleled tactical, deceptive, scientific, business, and leadership skills.
- Master Tactician: Lex Luthor is a phenomenally brilliant, supergenius tactician, to the point that he claims not to know how to lose. Given his lack of superpowers, he, much like Batman, often uses cunning and planning to successfully outwit stronger and more powerful foes, rather than simply out-fighting them, often using any of their exploitable weaknesses (such as Kryptonite, Lois Lane, and Martha Kent in the case of Superman and manipulation-inducing tunnel vision in the case of Batman) to his advantage, though his approach is far more ruthless than Batman's and even more effective, having multiple contingency plans always in store. And Lex is constantly successful in doing so (claiming not to know how to lose), as even after his initial plan of having Senator Finch publicly support his Kryptonite "silver bullet" deterrent against Superman (which would have forced the godlike alien to be subjugated and forced to answer to the deterrent-wielding government) fails, Lex is unfazed, and sets a grander contingency plan into motion by changing tactics - learning everything about both Batman and Superman. This allows Lex to successfully manipulate not only Superman into killing Batman (by having Cesar Santos murdered in jail, sending Clark photos of Santos' corpse, and finally, by kidnapping Clark's mother), but also to successfully outsmart and manipulate even the extremely intelligent and experienced Batman into killing Superman (by sending Bruce notes with provoking messages "from" Wallace Keefe about the death of his employees in the Black Zero Event, allowing Bruce to steal his data on Kryptonite and metahumans, and later, to steal the Kryptonite itself), without Batman ever suspecting it until after his duel with Superman was over. This meticulous and brilliant plan behind Lex's ultimatum was to expose the theological problem of evil in Superman regardless of the fight's outcome - if Superman were to win and kill Batman (to save his mother's life) he would prove to be supremely powerful yet not supremely good, and if Superman were to lose (due to holding back and his weakness to Kryptonite) to Batman and die, he would prove to be supremely good yet not supremely powerful. And even when Lex's grand contingency plan of pitting both superheroes against each other ultimately fails (and that being only due to Superman saying Martha's name just in time to stop Batman's killing blow), a once again unfazed Lex reveals his far more grand and extreme second contingency plan (by promptly unleashing the mighty monster Doomsday), a plan that ultimately succeeds in carrying out Lex's goal of killing Superman.
- Master Deceiver and Manipulator: Lex Luthor is extraordinarily skillful in the art of deception and manipulation, being an even better liar than Batman himself, as he was notably able to successfully hide his internal ruthless malevolence under a kindly and altruistic facade, which was convincing enough to initially fool Senator Barrows, June Finch, Superman, and even the extremely intelligent and experienced Batman. In addition, Lex deceived Amajagh and the entire CIA (by having Anatoli Knyazev and his men discreetly infiltrate the Nairomian warlord's ranks and incriminate Superman in the resulting bloodshed), provided his manipulatee Kahina Ziri with such a memorized deceitful script that he was able to use her to deceive the entire US Senate and general public, effortlessly deceived Wallace Keefe into testifying against Superman by claiming falsely he was a useful asset and bribing him, deceived near entirely the extremely brilliant reporter Lois, with the only reason she found out he was the main super-criminal culprit behind Superman's framing was because of the assistance of Jenet Klyburn and Secretary of Defense Swanwick, and even then she could not figure out any other plans he had. His greatest feat of manipulation and deception was how easily he was able to masterfully deceive Superman into perceiving Batman as a threat and into angrily confronting the latter by having Cesar Santos murdered in jail, and anonymously sending Clark photos of Santos' corpse and even the extremely experienced Batman himself, albeit Batman at that point had became dark enough for him to do so, was completely deceived into becoming his champion against Superman (by sending Bruce notes with provoking "red note" messages with "from" Wallace Keefe about the death of his employees in the Black Zero Event, by allowing Bruce to steal his data on Kryptonite and metahumans, and later, by allowing him to steal the Kryptonite itself, thereby convincing him that he genuinely, of his own accord, wished to kill Superman, while in fact he was a mere discreetly manipulated pawn). Along with that, even his personal assistant Mercy Graves, who knew him best, was completely fooled into getting killed (by having her attend Superman's hearing and convincing her that she is his right-hand woman and confidant, privy to all of his master plans, while in fact even she was a mere disposable liability) and even after he was revealed to be a super-criminal, Lex was able to effectively feign insanity to make him unfit to stand trial.
- Master Polymath: Lex Luthor, being such a supergenius, has mastered all forms of eclectic fields to the highest level. He has displayed outstanding abilities in mathematics, theology, and literaterian (known for being a famous bibliophile), with his mathematical abilities being able to effortlessly verbally extemporize computer code to a level equal to Davis improvising trumpet solo, make even something as casual as sports scores sound like algebraic integers, and casually tie mathematical references into conversations while remaining relevant, such as with Euclid's triangle inequality in relation to Lois Lane and Superman, while his knowledge of both pagan (particularly Egyptian and Greco-Roman) and biblical creeds, myths, and theology allowing him to easily understand how metahumans are the basis of many pagan myths (with Enchantress and Incubus notably inspiring the pagan myths of the ancient Pre-Columbian Maya and Incas), and skillfully implement allusions to major figures of those theologies, comparing himself to Prometheus, General Zod to Icarus, and Superman to Zeus, Horus, Apollo, Jehovah, and Satan and even at one point comparing himself to the biblical God in one way, claiming to hate "the sin, not the sinner", and plays God by creating the monster Doomsday, along with being able to expertly find myths to cast these theologies' supreme gods in a not very discreet negative light, as he did with Zeus' punishment of Prometheus), to the point that Wonder Woman was visibly enraged by Lex's description of Zeus and the Old Gods and finally his knowledge of literary works could easily make multiple numerous layered references to various books. His primary ability is his supergenius scientific abilities, phenomenally skilled and knowledgeable in a vast array of scientific fields (including physics, chemistry, biology, genetics, neuroscience, computer science, psychology, and many others), even more so after absorbing new knowledge from the Fortress of Solitude's Kryptonian archives (of 100,000 alien worlds), which allowed him to correctly postulate the "Metahuman Thesis" (coining the scientific term personally), to discover and re-purpose Kryptonite (coining this scientific term as well), to understand the extremely powerful and futuristic Mother Boxes' function without actually observing them enough to make many detailed coded notes about them and the Unity, which even Batman and Alfred had trouble deciphering), and to reverse-engineer an extremely futuristic and advanced Kryptonian Genesis Chamber from the one in the Fortress to create the monstrous Doomsday based on Bertron's notes.
- Master Businessman: Lex Luthor is an extraordinary brilliant wunderkind businessman, managing to successfully transform his father's company, LexCorp Industries, from a petrochemical and heavy machinery dinosaur into a cutting edge technology giant, helping the company grow to massive levels and get many business partners, earning him a tremendous, oligarchical levels of power in the business world and great respect, with his wealth and amount of military contacts as well as R&D Budget easily surpassing even the highly esteemed Wayne Enterpreseries, STAGG, Kord Industries, Queen Industries and Geschäft-Krieg. In fact, the business achievements of his father Alexander Luthor Sr. (which were very considerable in their own right) pale in comparison to the astonishingly prolific accomplishments of the younger Luthor, who became the youngest person ever to be named Fortune's Businessperson of the Year. As a result, Lex is extremely well-respected in the business world. Unlike Bruce Wayne however, Lex is not above secretly using ruthless cutthroat tactics, unethical practices and illegal operations to maintain the success of his business empire.
- Master Leader: Lex Luthor is an extremely skilled and prodigious leader, becoming the youngest person ever to be included in Fortune's list of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders, with his leadership of LexCorp Industries turning it into perhaps the best company in the world. Along with that, he is fully confident he can assemble a league of supervillains to lead against the tremendous might of the Justice League.
Weaknesses[]
- Human Vulnerabilities: Lex Luthor's greatest weakness is that he is a human with no enhanced strength, speed, durability, or metahuman powers, therefore making him quite vulnerable to the physical attacks of stronger and more powerful opponents. Lex, however, usually compensates for this quite well with his tremendous supergenius intellect, since when he first directly faced Superman, while the latter was easily capable of "taking [Lex] in without breaking [him]", and of destroying Lex with his heat vision, Lex's tactical brilliance had accounted for this in advance, and rendered Superman unable to do so, since if Superman were to injure or kill Lex, Superman's mother Martha Kent would be brutally killed by Lex's loyalist Knyazev. This, in turn, empowered Lex to issue his ultimatum to the Man of Steel. When faced by Superman for the second time, Lex again avoided defeat by unleashing his monstrous creation, Luthor's Doomsday, against the alien hero, just in time.
- Arrogance: Lex Luthor's other main weakness is his overconfidence and arrogance, with him even going so far as to claim that he doesn't know how to lose. Hence, Lex was somewhat caught off-guard when Senator Finch refused to grant him an import license for the Indian Ocean Kryptonite, and when a guilt-ridden Kahina Ziri confessed her lies to Finch, as Lex had, in his arrogance, not predicted such a turn of events in either instance. However, this weakness is not very significant, as Lex's tremendous intellect allows him to very effectively compensate for this at almost all times, as he is swift to come up with an effective contingency plan after Finch's refusal, smuggling the Kryptonite in himself, and swiftly getting Finch out of his way by having her killed in the US Capitol bombing, and later having Knyazev murder Kahina Ziri.
Equipment[]
As the CEO of LexCorp Industries, Lex Luthor has earned himself an immense fortune (considerably expanding upon that which he has inherited from his father, Alexander Luthor Sr.), making himself one of the wealthiest people in the world, rivaled only by extreme few (like his business rival Bruce Wayne), with Perry White fearing that if threatened by Lois, Lex could sue the Daily Planet "out of existence" with his tremendous funds. Also, his inheritance and wealth allows Lex access to some of the most sophisticated technology in the world (such as the innovative alloy bullets used by Knyazev in Naioromi, and the recently developed Lex/Os), as well as some other useful equipment, some of it innovative, such as a Kryptonite-bladed scalpel. Hence, Lex easily gets Wallace Keefe to testify against Superman by bribing him with a high-tech wheelchair.
- CCTVs: Many video cameras that Lex has a penchant for setting up in locations of interest, in order to watch events unfold from within his private room in the LexCorp facility. He has thus successfully spied on Batman, Professor Garcia's footage of Superman, research on the corpse of General Zod, as well as the Fortress of Solitude. He is later revealed to have also successfully spied on the Amazon Diana Prince, the Atlantean Arthur Curry, the speedster Barry Allen, and the cybernetically enhanced Victor Stone, with Lex dubbing them "metahumans".
- Kryptonite: A glowing green radioactive xenomineral from the planet of Krypton, discovered in the the Indian Ocean, a side effect of the World Engine's attack. As Kryptonite is the greatest weakness of all Kryptonians, Lex effectively wields it against them, with him using it to peel off the fingerprints from General Zod's corpse. It is later stolen and weaponized by Batman, just as Lex had intended.
Quotes[]
| “ | You know, Dad was born in East Germany. He grew up...eating stale crackers. And every other Saturday, he had to march in a parade and waved flowers at tyrants. So I think it was providence that his son, me, would end up with this. One of my rebuild Metropolis crews found it. A little souvenir from the Kryptonian World Engine.[...] Homeland security? No, ma'am. Planetary security. | „ |
| ~ Luthor, explaining his company's history. |
| “ | As a deterrent. A silver bullet to keep in reserve to use against the Kryptonians. So, the day doesn't come, madam, when your children are waiving daisies at a reviewing stand. | „ |
| ~ Luthor, explaining to Senator Finch why the mineral needs to be weaponized. |
| “ | Yes, Superman. Yeah, but, there are...there are more of them.[...]Yes the Meta Human thesis. More likely than not. These exceptional beings live among us. The bases of our myths. Gods among men upon our...our little blue planet here. You don't have to use the silver bullet, but if you forge one...Well, then...we don't have to depend upon the kindness of monsters. | „ |
| ~ Luthor, mentioning the meta-human thesis. |
| “ | That should be upside down. We know better now, don't we? Devils don't come from Hell beneath us. No, they come from the sky. | „ |
| ~ Lex, observing a painting in his study. |
| “ | You should not pick a fight with this person! | „ |
| ~ Lex, to Bruce after shaking Clark's hand. |
| “ | You flew too close to the sun. Now look at you. | „ |
| ~ Lex, while studying Zod's corpse. |
| “ | Boy, do we have problems up here! The problem of... of evil in the world. The problem of absolute virtue. [...] The problem of you on top of everything else. You above all. Ah, 'cause that's what God is. Horus. Apollo. Jehovah. Kal-El. Clark Joseph Kent. See, what we call God depends upon our tribe, Clark Joe. Because God is tribal. God takes sides. No man in the sky intervened when I was a boy to deliver me from Daddy's fists and abominations. Mmnnn. I figured out way back that if God is all-powerful, he cannot be all-good. And if he's all-good, then he cannot be all powerful. And neither can you be. They need to see the fraud you are. With their eyes. The blood on your hands. [...] And tonight, they will. Yes. Because you, my friend, have a date! Across the bay. Ripe fruit, his hate; two years growing, but it did not take much to push him over, actually. Little red notes, big bang--"You let your family die!" And now, you will fly to him, and you will battle him... to the death. Black and blue. Fight night. The greatest gladiator match in the history of the world. God versus man; day versus night; Son of Krypton versus Bat of Gotham! | „ |
| ~ Lex revealing his beliefs and plan to Superman. |
| “ | Mmm, yes, I do. I think you will fight, fight, fight for that special lady in your life. | „ |
| ~ Lex, to Superman. |
| “ | Close, but I am not talking about Lois. No. Every boy's special lady...is his mother. [...] Martha, Martha, Martha. But the mother of a flying demon must be a witch. The punishment for witches, what is that? That's right. Death by fire. | „ |
| ~ Lex, revealing Martha is being held captive. |
| “ | I DON'T KNOW! I would not let them tell me! Now, ah, if you kill me, Martha dies. And if you fly away, mmm, Martha also dies. But if you kill the Bat...Martha lives. | „ |
| ~ Lex, to Superman. |
| “ | I don't know how to lose. | „ |
| ~ Lex, to Superman, from the Ultimate Edition. |
| “ | I cannot let you win. I gave the Bat a fighting chance to do it, but he's not strong enough. So, if man won't kill God...the Devil will do it! [...] Ancient Kryptonian deformity. Blood of my blood...born to destroy you! Your doomsday. [...] Now God...is good...as dead. | „ |
| ~ Lex to Superman, revealing Doomsday. |
| “ | But the bell's already been rung. And they've heard it. Out in the dark, among the stars...ding dong, the god is dead. [...] But a bell cannot be un-rung! He's hungry. He's found us. And he's coming! | „ |
| ~ Lex's last words in the film while in his cell. |
| “ | Shouldn't we have a league of our own? | „ |
| ~ Lex to Deathstroke, planning to form their own "Injustice" League. |
Relationships[]
Family[]
Allies[]
Unknown[] |
Enemies[]
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Trivia[]
- This version of Lex Luthor is inspired by the Lex of Adventure Comics #271 and real life Silicon Valley CEOs.
- Lex is the youngest person ever to be both named Fortune's Businessperson of the Year and included on the magazine's list of the World's 50 Greatest Leaders.
- Lex is 31 in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, 4 years younger than Superman (who is 35 years old), when in most forms of media, he is either slightly or much older than Superman (in human years, at least).
- This version of Lex Luthor has a mixed reception among fans. Some enjoyed his more upbeat persona and the fact that he wasn't after real estate while others considered him annoying.
- The follow up live action Lex Luthor would also have a similar persona to this version, but instead being influenced by religious nuttiness, the reason that Lex hated Superman in the Arrowverse was because the Kryptonian simply more beloved and more powerful than him; it drove Lex insane that he couldn't receive the same adoration or match his strength with technology. During Crisis on Infinite Earths, Lex was disgusted the Smallville Superman gave up his godlike powers for a simple family life.
- Unlike his film counterpart, Lex Luthor in the comics is far more known for being sadistic, more sane, arrogant, and primarily seeks to destroy Superman, seeing him as a threat to mankind, and become the world's savior. His baldness also steamed differently throughout comic history.
External Links[]
- Lex Luthor on the DC Extended Universe Wiki
- Lex Luthor on the Wikipedia
