Five comics that will likely serve as inspiration for the characterization of Lex Luthor in "Batman vs. Superman"
With as little information we have on "Batman vs. Superman", I list five comics that I think will be the most influential source material when it comes to the characterization of Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor.
Five comics that will likely influence the potrayal of Lex Luthor in "Batman vs. Superman"
He's come a long way since then
While the Superman in “Man of Steel” was not identical to any comic version of the character, there’s no denying that there were elements of past Superman comics that made their way to “Man of Steel”.
From the dystopian Krypton of John Byrne’s “Man of Steel” mini-series, to a wandering Clark Kent trying to find his place in the world from “Superman: Birthright”, David S. Goyer, Christopher Nolan, and Zack Snyder took elements from various Superman comics and made their own composite Superman for “Man of Steel”, that while having elements of past versions of the character, was unlike any specific version of the character that previously existed.
And just as there were many variatons of Superman for the team behind "Man of Steel" to drawn inspiration from, there are just as many versions of Lex Luthor to do the same.
Taking that into account, I present five comic book portrayals of Lex Luthor, which I think will likely be the most influential towards the characterization of Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor in “Batman vs. Superman”, and whatever other movies the character will go on to appear in.
Now, this is all speculation on my part, so of course there’s no guarantee that any of these portrayals of Lex Luthor will play a part in shaping Eisenberg’s Luthor, but I do briefly state why I think the following Luthors will play a part in shaping the cinematic version of the character.
So, let’s get to it.
Superman: Birthright
In 03’, Writer and long-time Superman fan, Mark Waid, was given the opportunity to write an updated version of Superman’s origin. He used this opportunity to reintroduce elements of the Silver Age Superman mythos that had been abandoned, as well as taking cues from “Smallville”.
In the new origin, Superman and Lex Luthor had been high-school friends, much like “Smallville”, which itself had expanded on the idea from the Silver Age. The young Luthor was a highly intelligent smart-ass that was despised by everyone in town, with the exception of his only friend, Clark Kent.
In Birthright, it is Luthor that reveals to the world that Superman is an alien, and stresses this fact, causing people to mistrust the once popular superhero. He even goes as far as to fake a Kryptonian invasion (complete with giant mechanical spiders), to further ostracize Superman.
However, while “Superman: Birthright” features a Luthor that’s clearly amoral and villainous; he’s not portrayed as someone that’s purely evil. Instead, this version of Lex became what he did, due to loneliness,, the frustration of having no intellectual peers, and his own ego. From a young age, he was surrounded by people that didn’t understand his brilliance or even acknowledge, nor his drive to improve the world that surrounded him.
It’s no secret that "Man of Steel" borrowed from Mark Waid’s “Superman: Birthright”, with lines in the movie that were directly lifted from the comic and elements of it showing up in the sequel do seem likely.
In fact, the “People are afraid of what they don’t understand” line of dialogue spoken by Jonathan Kent in "Man of Steel", was actually about in Lex, and spoken by Clark in Birthright.
While the aspect of Clark and Lex having been childhood friends is unlikely to show up in “Batman vs. Superman”, the casting of Jesse Eisenberg does seem to suggest that we’ll see characterization similar to what we saw of a young Luthor in Birthright. Someone’s that’s more condescending than charismatic.
He was still a businessman, but also so much more intellectually. Once again, Lex had the mental capacity to be a convincing threat to Superman.
As for discrediting Superman and damaging his reputation, this new version of Lex will have things a lot easier than his Birthright self, due to a Kryptonian invasion having actually taken place in “Man of Steel”.
Lex Luthor: Man of Steel
While “Superman: Birthright” and “Lex Luthor: Man of Steel” both portray a Luthor that sees himself above humanity, the difference is that in “Lex Luthor: Man of Steel”, Luthor still sees himself as part of humanity, and believes he is acting in the best interest of his species.
The 6-issue limited series by Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo is a character study of Lex Luthor, and is told from his point of view. When Superman appears, we see him not as the heroic and inspiring character that he is, but as something that’s menacing, and unsettling to look at, the same way Luthor sees him.
Here is a Luthor who believes that humanity has limitless potential. That they can aspire to be anything, and that he will guide the way for his people.
Then he sees Superman, and that belief is shattered.
As Luthor sees it, Superman makes humanity obsolete, and if he were to ever act on this belief, then there’d be no stopping him.
So Luthor commits atrocities for what he believes is the betterment of mankind. He will do whatever he has to, to make people reject Superman, and see the alien as he sees him.
“Lex Luthor: Man of Steel” gives us one of the most sympathetic portrayals of Luthor, which makes it a likely influence due to Zack Snyder describing Lex Luthor as someone that “exists beyond the confines of the stereotypical nefarious villain. He’s a complicated and sophisticated character whose intellect, wealth and prominence position him as one of the few mortals able to challenge the incredible might of Superman.”
In the limited series, Lex also makes it a point that Superman isn’t human, that he doesn’t belong on a world that Lex believes belongs to humanity. That he’s an alien, a creature that came from the blackness of space.
As some of you might remember, during the Live Fan Q&A Event for "Man of Steel", Zack Snyder let it slip that that Lex loves calling Superman an alien, suggesting that the Luthor we’ll see will take issue with Superman’s alien nature, much like in “Lex Luthor: Man of Steel”.
Superman: Red Son
The Lex Luthor in “Lex Luthor: Man of Steel” may have wrongfully worried about Superman taking over the world someday and dictating the course of human history, but in “Superman: Red Son”, he saw it almost happen.
In 03’, Mark Millar wrote “Superman: Red Son”, a now classic Elseworlds story about Superman’s ship crashing in the Ukraine instead of Kansas in 1938, and him growing up to eventually become the leader of the communist party.
In this alternate reality; Lex Luthor was a scientist at S.T.A.R. Labs who was recruited by the CIA to bring down the communist threat of Superman. Like most versions of Luthor, he is highly intelligent as we quickly learn within the first page he appears in, where he plays and defeats fourteen chess-masters simultaneously, while reading Niccolò Machiavelli’s Il Principe, and teaching himself Urdu through a portable tape recorder he designed that very morning while in the washroom, all during his coffee break.
Like the younger Lex Luthor that would appear in “Superman: Birthright”, the Luthor in Red Son is not portrayed as charismatic, but as condescending and egotistical.
Throughout the 3-issue mini-series a misguided Superman attempts to turn the world into a paradise, at the cost of personal liberty, and taking over most of it in the process.
Luthor himself eventually becomes the president of the United States, as part of his plan to destroy Superman.
The series ends with Lex actually showing Superman the error of his ways, causing Superman to go into hiding, after saving the world one last time, allowing for humanity to manifest its own destiny.
Then spearheaded by Luthor, humanity eradicates every disease known to man, colonizes the solar system, transcends the need for sleep, and raises the average life expectancy by thousands of years.
And as he lay dying, Luthor cites defeating Superman as his greatest accomplishment.
While it may seem odd to think that an alternate reality story such as “Superman: Red Son” will influence the portrayal of characters in “Batman vs. Superman”, it’s worth noting that back in 2011, Henry Cavill cited Red Son as essential to his character research, saying:
“With “Red Son,” I thought it was interesting as a different perspective. It was out there and I like that. It was essential to my character research, too. When you’ve got two polar opposite viewpoints of the same character, you will see what the authors consider the important baseline trend. I got to see that and see the different ways he would have developed and that was very useful to me.”
Like in the case of “Lex Luthor: Man of Steel”, in Red Son, Lex believes that he’s acting in the best interest of humanity, even if he is ultimately driven by a wounded ego.
This coupled with Zack Snyder listing Luthor’s intellect as one of the reasons he can challenge, and Red Son showing readers just how Luthor’s intellect makes him a worthy adversary for Superman, make it a somewhat unexpected, but likely influence on the upcoming portrayal of Lex Luthor.
Superman: Secret Origin
Due to reality altering shenanigans occurring in the DC Comics event “Infinite Crisis”, the modern era Superman was up for another origin story, and was given one in 09’, courtesy of Geoff Johns and Gary Frank, the team behind the fan-favourite “Brainiac” story.
In this origin, Lex came from a broken home, growing up with an abusive father. His unrestrained ambition would eventually lead to him orchestrating his father’s death, and using the insurance money to start his business empire.
Despite briefly meeting during their childhood, Lex and Clark did not share a friendship in this origin.
He hates Superman, because the people gave Superman what Luthor always wanted, their reverence, their awe, their respect, all without having to manipulate them, or pretend to be something he’s not.
This is a Lex that greets Metropolis every day, as a messianic figure, looking down its people. He promises to change the life of one person, and then watches as the citizens of Metropolis desperately cloy for his blessing, as he relishes the fact.
All of that is taken away from him, when Superman establishes himself as a hero. As someone that doesn't ask for respect, but gets it anyway.
Why will it likely be an influence?
Elements of both “Superman: Birthright” and “Superman: Secret Origin”, made their way to “Man of Steel”, making “Superman: Secret Origin” yet another likely influence on “Batman vs. Superman”.
While the military played a part in both Birthright and Secret Origin, there was a much more prominent military presence in Secret Origin, as well as Luthor’s dealings with the military.
As with the case of the other Luthors listed so far, the Lex Luthor in Secret Origin has the intellect, wealth, and social standing to act as an effective foil against Superman.
He can’t stress enough that Superman isn’t human, even referring to him as “super-extraterrestrial” rather than Superman, when speaking to General Lane. And we know that the new Luthor is going to hone in on the fact that Superman is an alien, due to comments made by Zack Snyder.
Then there’s the matter of “Superman: Secret Origin” writer Geoff Johns, severing as an executive producer on “Batman vs. Superman”.
All in all, Secret Origin seems like a very likely influence on the portrayal of the new Lex Luthor.
How Luthor Met Superboy
When Luthor was created, he was a one-dimensional villain that wanted to conquer the world. He didn’t run a business empire, and he didn’t present himself as a benevolent individual to the public, or delude himself with the notion that he was defending humanity from an alien threat.
This isn’t to say that he was a poorly written character, but he lacked the depth that subsequent portrayals of Luthor would possess.
In Adventure Comics #271, Jerry Siegel, the co-creator of both Superman and Luthor, gave the Silver Age Luthor an origin story, in which Lex had been a resident of Smallville, and a friend of Superboy’s, going so far as to create an antidote to kryptonite poisoning.
Many people mistakenly believe that this story establishes Luthor’s motivation for hating Superman, as holding the hero responsible for making him bald, but in truth, that was but an afterthought.
Lex’s anger towards Superman stems from believing that Superboy, his friend and hero, deliberately destroyed his experiment out of jealousy. Luthor had told Superboy that his invention would make him the most famous boy in the world, and when Superboy accidently destroys it, Luthor accuses him of not wanting Luthor to surpass him in any way.
Luthor could have been Superman’s greatest ally, his greatest friend, but instead ends up as his most notorious enemy.
Why will it likely be an influence?
The team behind “Batman vs. Superman” going all the way back to a comic in the 60s isn’t as unlikely as you might think.
Prior to the release of Man of Steel, screenwriter David S. Goyer mentioned that he had gone back to the earliest Superman stories for inspiration, and said that some stories pencilled by the great Curt Swan were also an influence on Man of Steel.
It stands to reason that the first ever Lex Luthor origin story, written by Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel will also be looked at for inspiration.
While we shouldn’t expect any revelations about a Clark/Lex friendship, or Clark acting recklessly leading to Lex’s loss of hair, “How Luthor Met Superboy” is the first story to make Lex more than just a purely evil villain.
It was the first story to give him any depth, and when Snyder’s described Lex as “complicated and sophisticated”, you can bet that the story that first gave Lex any dimension, to be an influence on the new Lex Luthor.
So there you have it, five comics that I think will be the biggest influence on the development and characterization of Lex Luthor in “Batman vs. Superman”.
Now let's hear from the rest of you.
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