- "I was innocent! 17 years of my life, gone! And you think I want words?! My daughter, she was 14. Now she won't talk to me. Do you think your words can fix that?!"
- —Lex Luthor to Lois Lane[src]
Alexander "Lex" Luthor[1] is the CEO of Luthor Corp and the archnemesis of Superman. After being wrongfully imprisoned for the last 17 years for a crime that he didn't commit, Lex was eventually released, now looking for revenge against the individuals who had wronged him.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Lex was a billionaire, chief executive officer of Luthor Corp and the leader of a criminal syndicate that; controlled most organized crime in Metropolis, often coming into conflict with the first leader of Intergang, Boss Moxie over territory, such as Hob's Bay.[2][3] Lex made a reputation in Metropolis worse than Morgan Edge to the general public, including reporters such as Lois Lane. He also developed an adversarial relationship with Superman.[4] Additonally, Lex bought technology and weapons from decorated army veteran John Henry Irons.[5]
In 1991, Lex had a daughter.[1]
Imprisonment[]
Wrongly convicted[]
Lex Luthor is taken to prison.
In 2005, Lex was convicted and arrested for killing Boss Moxie after Moxie's lieutenant, Peia, posed as Luthor by mimicking his voice on a phone line monitored by police, confessing about killing his rival. Luthor's arrest would lead to Bruno Mannheim taking over as the new leader of Intergang.[6][3]
After being found guilty of this crime, Judge Tara Reagan sentenced Lex to seven life sentences with no chance of parole. Lex was imprisoned in Stryker's Prison, exchanging one brief look with Lois Lane before entering. Immediately after arriving in prison, Lex tried to negotiate with Otis Grisham in order to obtain his razor, but his offers were ignored as Otis and other inmates beat him up after Lex threatened them.[1]
Taking over Prison[]
During a meeting with Warden William Ellis, Lex made him an ominous offer, telling him to call a number and that what happens next was up to him. The number turned out to be William's home number, with the following call revealing that Lex contacted some of his men on the outside to kidnap the warden's wife and hold his son hostage for five minutes before killing him. Making clear that he had the power on the outside, Lex managed to get the warden to bow to all his demands, seizing control of Stryker Prison.
Luthor takes over Stryker's Prison.
Later that night, Lex had the warden make the prison guards take Otis and his men out of their cells to beat them up the same way they did to him, only for a longer period of time after the warden gave Lex the razor he previously wanted.[1]
Years later, when Chrissy Beppo was investigating the Stranger, she had also investigated the Luthor family, but found no connection between the two.[4][7]
Luthor's revenge[]
Released from prison[]
Seventeen years after Lex's imprisonment, Lois Lane and Clark Kent eventually realized that Lex had been framed after looking back through evidence that Lois collected through the years while investigating Bruno Mannheim.[8] After Lois decided to publish the evidence that proved Lex's innocence, his lawyers successfully had him released from prison, although Lex deliberately made sure to delay the information of his release to the public until much later.
Lex confronts Lois and Clark at the Kent Farm.
After Lex retrieving some of his belonging as a free man, he walked the streets by himself for hours until he arrived at the Kent Farm on Smallville. He confronted Lois in the middle of the night, demanding her to retire for the wasting so many years of his life which included losing his relationship with his daughter. After threatening Lois, he left when his driver Otis arrived, saying that Superman would be next.[1]
Mutating Bizarro[]
Lex Luthor captures Bizarro.
Lex also had Otis find Dr. Hook and kill him, but not before confirming the experiments that Bruno Mannheim was conducting in secret, going to the destroyed underground lab underneath the Hobbs Bay medical facility to find a zombified version of Superman that was eating rats on what remained of the lab. After the Bizarro Superman looked at the two of them, Lex allowed the creature to jump on Otis, eating out his ear.[1] Luthor then took Otis' weapon and shot Bizarro, killing him, but the two quickly realized that the zombified Kryptonian could not only resurrect himself every time he was killed by one of Luthor's shots, but he returned stronger, being able to better endure what previously killed him.
Lex after Bizarro starts to mutate.
Lex had his assistants chain Bizarro at the underground lab, where Luthor intended to kill the zombified Kryptonian multiple times so that he could be resurrected stronger every time. After Bizarro agreed to be killed by Luthor, him and his assistants proceeded to use a variety of powerful weapons and methods to murder the zombified Kryptonian, with him returning stronger every time. As the experiments continued, the Kryptonian started to mutate, growing in size and many spikes started to come out of his body. With this initial phase finished, Lex decided to go further.[9]
Confronting Superman[]
- "You're a fool with a cape, a lapdog in tights."
"Where is General Lane?"
"You ever think about dying, Superman? Because you're about to." - —Lex Luthor to Superman[src]
Lex confronts Superman after 17 years.
After 33 days of experimentation while remaining in hiding, Lex had Judge Reagan killed and left her body near the Daily Planet to send a message to both Lois Lane and Superman. He also had his assistant, Gretchen, briefly date Sam Lane, so that they could kidnap him to use as a bait later, a plan that was successful. Ready to enact the next phase of his revenge plot, Lex drove to the Kent Farm in hopes of luring Superman in the middle of the meteor shower on Smallville. He was successful, as the Kryptonian landed on the farm in hopes of protecting Lois and her family from Luthor.
Lex walks away as the creature beats Superman.
Lex used this time to talk to Superman about how he was innocent but Lois didn't listen because she had someone like Superman and Sam Lane protecting her, claiming Superman was not a hero but a lapdog. Lex asked Superman if he ever thought about dying, as he activated the ELT he stole from Sam Lane to talk to the creature he created out of Bizarro, who landed on the Kent barn, destroying it. As the creature revealed itself to Superman, who recognized him as the Kal-El of the Inverse World, Lex explained that he was there to kill him. While Superman started to get brutally stomped by the creature, Luthor told his creation to bring him Superman's heart after he was done.[9]
Personality[]
- "Lex Luthor was a monster before he went to prison. Can you imagine what he's become since?"
- —Peia Mannheim[src]
According to Peia Mannheim, Lex is a dangerous and terrifying individual, as she described Lex as being the devil, with Lex being the only individual that Peia had ever feared.[10] However, Lex does care about his daughter and was heartbroken when she had refused to speak with him after he was put in prison for a crime that he did not commit. This amplified Lex's rage even more.
Despite Lex's ruthless nature, he is willing to give other individuals the chance to resolve things in a peaceful manner if they give into his demands and avoid his wrath. He is also someone who can actually back up his threats, as seen when he had made the warden order his men to beat Otis Grisham and the other two inmates he had threatened and make sure that the things he said would happen them if they didn't give into his demands were carried out.
Even when Lex was dealing with Lois Lane, the individual he blames the most for him being incarcerated for almost two decades, he gave a chance to retire peacefully and avoid anymore retribution. It was only after she had refused that he had set his plans into motion. Interestingly' when confronting Clark Kent (under the persona of Superman) he doesn't give the superhero an offer he would give others and just sets out to kill him, due to the fact that he knows full-well that the Kryptonian would never accept any offer he gives him and the shared animosity that he and Clark have for each other.
Lex is a calm and reserved individual. The only time sthat he lost his composure was when he confronted Clark and Lois and when he was trying to convince Bizzaro to allow him to kill him and again.
Although Lex is a cruel and sadistic individual, he still appears to have some standards to how he does things. While he shrugged off the fact that Bizarro had tore off Otis's ear, he rushed to save his associate from Bizarro with one of the X-K weapons that Bruno Mannheim had left around and calmly told Otis to apply pressure to slow the bleeding. Instead of having Lois killed for her indirect role in in his life being ruining and his unjustified incarceration, Lex sends her a message by killing Tara Reagan, and instead goes after Superman, with Bizarro as another warning, although he did take great pleasure in killing the Kryptonian to mold him into a beat.
Abilities[]
- Peak of human physical condition: Lex is in top physical condition for a man of his age. Despite not consistently working out throughout his life, he got to be in fairly decent shape and stature thanks to his time behind bars. He regularly did push-ups in his cell everyday and when he got released, he walked all the way from Stryker's Prison to the Kent Farm without stopping or even getting tired. Lex is also built in well enough condition that he could repeatedly drown Bizarro by holding his head underwater, though the feral Kryptonian consented to this, he still struggled due to his reflexes.[9]
- "I'd watch people like Lex Luthor and Morgan Edge become billionaires while my community was choked."
- —Bruno Mannheim[src]
- Genius-level intelligence/Master businessman: As the CEO of Luthor Corp, Lex is a highly intelligent individual and an exceptional businessman. Even while he was in prison, he was still making profits.[8]
- Skilled hand-to-hand combatant: Lex is a skilled hand-to-hand combatant. While he was initially beaten by Otis and his men in prison, after taking control Lex gained a certain amount of skill in unarmed combat, allowing him to survive in prison and also earning the other prisoners' fear.[1]
- Skilled marksman: Lex is proficient in the use of firearms, as seen when he had delivered several killshots to Bizarro and later when he had turned him into a monster by killing him several times with several different types of guns.[9]
- High-tolerance for pain: Lex has a high tolerance for pain. When he first arrived in prison, one of the prisoners repeatedly hit Lex in the face with an electric razor and he barely felt a thing.
- "Have you ever been in a room alone with Lex Luthor? He has this aura. It's terrifying, like you're in the presence of the devil himself. To this day, that man is the only person in the world who scares me."
- —Peia Mannheim to Lois Lane[src]
- Intimidation: Lex is a terrifying individual who can strike fear into anyone's hearts including criminals like Peia Mannheim.[10] He is ruthless, vicious and is not afraid to take drastic measures to get what he wants. He even threatened to kill the warden's son if he didn't meet his demands.
Appearances[]
Superman & Lois[]
Season 1
Season 3
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Trivia[]
- Unlike Lex's Earth-Prime counterpart, he is brutish and wrathful.
- This is the third live-action version of Lex to have a beard, the first being his Earth-Prime counterpart and the second being his Titans counterpart.
- This version of Lex did not shave his head until he went to prison, a trait he shares with his DCEU counterpart.
- Interestingly Lex is one of the few Lexes in either the DC comics or other media that voluntarily chose to be bald.
- Like Lex's DCEU counterpart he is responsible for the creation of Doomsday.
- Like Lex's Earth-Prime counterpart, he does not [yet] know that Clark Kent and Superman are one and the same.
- Unlike Lex's Earth-Prime counterpart he didn't have the same resources, being indefinitely stuck in prison with no way to orchestrate leaving nor learning about and manipulating events.
- This version of Lex is the first known version to be a fan of heavy metal music.
- This is the fourth live-action version Lex who is married.
- This is also the second live-action version of Lex to have a child and the first to have a daughter.
- Michael Cudlitz is the first natural red head to play the character. This is significant as Lex in the DC comics has red hair.
Behind the scenes[]
- When Michael Cudlitz was announced to portray Lex Luthor, Jon Cryer who also played Lex in Supergirl was among those who praised him for getting the role.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 "Injustice"
- ↑ "Uncontrollable Forces"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Forever and Always"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "The Best of Smallville"
- ↑ "Closer"
- ↑ "Too Close to Home"
- ↑ "Man of Steel"
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner"
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 "What Kills You Only Makes You Stronger"
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Collision Course"
| Other versions of Lex Luthor (Earth-TUD25) | ||||
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| To see other versions of this character, click the Earth name below for that Earth's counterpart of Lex Luthor. | ||||
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| Earth: Prime • TUD25 • Inverse World | ||||
| Original multiverse | ||||
| Earth: 38 • 75 • 96 • 167 • 1938 • TUD22 • TUD16 | ||||
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