SMALLVILLE Star Michael Rosenbaum Shares Interest In Lex Luthor Return In James Gunn's DCU

SMALLVILLE Star Michael Rosenbaum Shares Interest In Lex Luthor Return In James Gunn's DCU

Michael Rosenbaum played Lex Luthor for longer than any other actor, and the Smallville star has now expressed interest in reprising his villainous role in James Gunn's DCU. Find more details right here!

By JoshWilding - Dec 19, 2022 05:12 AM EST
Filed Under: Smallville

Michael Rosenbaum played Lex Luthor in 154 episodes of Smallville, and remains one of the most popular actors to have brought the villain to life on screen.

It's now been over a decade since he last played the character, though with his friend, James Gunn, taking charge of DC Studios and the DCU, it seems Rosenbaum is holding out hope to return. We're sure his comments below are tongue-in-cheek, though we're sure many of you would be happy to see him shave his head to play Lex again! 

For those of you who may not recall, Rosenbaum and Gunn have worked together on a number of projects, including PG Porn and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.

The DC Studios co-CEO is currently hard at work writing a new Superman movie but isn't expected to direct (some believe Ben Affleck could end up taking charge of the reboot). That will follow Clark Kent as a cub reporter in Metropolis and is expected to revolve around a Man of Steel who has already been established in this world. 

We don't, however, expect to see any actor play Lex Luthor.

The villain has been in pretty much every single Superman movie, so returning to that well just seems redundant at this stage. Kal-El has many great villains in the comic books who have yet to make their big screen debuts, including Brainiac, Metallo, and Bizarro. 

Lex will probably factor into a future story at some point, so perhaps the Smallville actor will get a call down the line? As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments section. 
 

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TheManWithoutFear
TheManWithoutFear - 12/19/2022, 5:41 AM
Still my favourite Lex Luthor. Close-run with Clancy Brown.
marvel72
marvel72 - 12/19/2022, 2:52 PM
@TheManWithoutFear - I love Clancy Brown's voice.
Conquistador
Conquistador - 12/19/2022, 5:50 AM
He did good on Smallville, really liked the layers they added to him. The show was no where near perfect but it definitly lost more quality when he left.

Saying that, if Gunn is well and truely wiping the slate clean, then there's no room for him playing Lex, if he's already well known for playing that role.

Would be cool if he came back as someone like Barry Allen's dad or somthing in future movies. It would be easier to tie his previous stuff to his animated Flash that his live action Lex if they were trying to go meta.
99OPTIMISTPRIME
99OPTIMISTPRIME - 12/19/2022, 5:50 AM
He's my favorite Lex but...
Spawnnn
Spawnnn - 12/19/2022, 5:51 AM
"You’re the damn #LEXGOAT you could single handedly save the #DCU! You’re our only hope!!"

OmegaBlack13
OmegaBlack13 - 12/19/2022, 5:54 AM
@Spawnnn - Haha, he was so polite about it
hazapez
hazapez - 12/19/2022, 9:41 AM
@Spawnnn - lol Neil deGrasse Tyson is so annoying, too full of himself
JohnnyTBP
JohnnyTBP - 12/19/2022, 5:52 AM
His portrayal as Lex was great
OmegaBlack13
OmegaBlack13 - 12/19/2022, 5:53 AM
He really did kill it for most of Smallville's run. Would've liked to have seen him go more into supergenius territory but it did Lex's ruthlessness so well.

The article mentions not wanting to immediately see Lex, but I think he's got a place in almost any Superman movie. Unlike most villains, Lex is more a member of Superman's supporting cast than just an antagonist. Even if he's not directly working against Superman, I think it always makes sense for him to want to know as much as possible about whatever threat is. Especially if the action takes place in Metropolis, Lex should always take an interest in things that can hurt Superman.
Twenty23Three
Twenty23Three - 12/19/2022, 7:10 AM
@OmegaBlack13 - Lex should be a part of the movies from the start, even if he’s just in the background. I’d like to see him used like Curt Connors in the Raimi Spider-Man’s. He’s there and you know he’s going to be the villian eventually, but isn’t immediately
OmegaBlack13
OmegaBlack13 - 12/19/2022, 10:25 AM
@Twenty23Three - See I want him immediately revealed as a threat. Maybe not the final bad guy, but I want Superman to instantly be aware that he’s not to be trusted and for the tension of Lex angry that he’s no longer untouchable to be established.
ScaryTerry
ScaryTerry - 12/19/2022, 5:54 AM
Watched two episodes. Couldn’t stand this show (watched one where I guess John McCain was Slade Wilson?) Anyway, I enjoyed Rosenbaum’s run as the Flash. Particularly enjoyed the episode where West and Luthor switched bodies.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 12/19/2022, 7:33 AM
@ScaryTerry - only thing I remember from that is Lex's ''I have no idea who this is''. That was pretty funny
ScaryTerry
ScaryTerry - 12/19/2022, 10:55 AM
@bkmeijer1 - LOL… once in a while that crosses my mind and it makes me laugh
OmegaBlack13
OmegaBlack13 - 12/19/2022, 11:31 AM
@ScaryTerry - Lmao in fairness that was a pretty dark era for the show
Demigods
Demigods - 12/19/2022, 6:04 AM
It's funny because the show generates a LOT of hate, now that Live Action superheroes have been taken seriously for the past 12ish years, this show doesn't age well. It deviates too far from the source material, plays too heavily into that CW teen drama, and goes from "freak of the week" episodes to melodramatic caricature villains... BUUUUUUTTTT this show started only a year after the X-men franchise.
Studios didn't really have any faith in superhero franchises, so they made the superhero show without the superhero parts and that's what it took.
Was it good, even with that in mind?? parts of it. It went down hill after season 4 and went WAY downhill after Rosenbaum left, but I enjoyed parts of it because it was the ONLY thing coming out Superman at the time.

Anyway... Rosennbaum's Lex was great. I'd have liked to see more of the Supergenius at play, but man, did he have the ruthless billionaire down.
dragon316
dragon316 - 12/19/2022, 6:45 AM
@Demigods - didn’t they kinda hint his super genius in small ville he returned as clone in final episode think it was
Demigods
Demigods - 12/19/2022, 10:14 AM
@dragon316 - Yeah, he returned as a close more than once throughout actually, but before the finale it was another actor. n
KWilly
KWilly - 12/19/2022, 6:18 AM
Michael Chiklis as Lex. Beer belly Lex is the wave, hop on
GhostDog
GhostDog - 12/19/2022, 6:22 AM
The GOAT but no
IcePyke
IcePyke - 12/19/2022, 6:25 AM
AC1
AC1 - 12/19/2022, 6:40 AM
I loved his take on Lex for the most part but I'd only want to see him return opposite Tom Welling in some kind of continuation of Smallville. A new Superman should probably have a new Lex.
DenvertheDino
DenvertheDino - 12/19/2022, 6:48 AM
Give him whatever amount of money it takes to make this happen! I would love to see this Lex return.
WhatIfRickJames
WhatIfRickJames - 12/19/2022, 6:58 AM
That man has a perfectly shaped head
Twenty23Three
Twenty23Three - 12/19/2022, 7:07 AM
If Spider-Man can bring back JK Simmons then I say why not. His Lex was the best we’ve seen
DCfan84
DCfan84 - 12/19/2022, 7:10 AM
He was one of the best portrayles of Lex, he just needs to bulk up, so he looks like the Lex from Superman: The Animated Series



IcePyke
IcePyke - 12/19/2022, 7:20 AM
@DCfan84 -
But that's not from the TAS. That's from the Public Enemies movie
DCfan84
DCfan84 - 12/19/2022, 7:22 AM
@IcePyke - I know, but he was built similar in the Animated Series. This was just the best GIF I could find to get my point across. If you get what I mean
TheHumanSpider2
TheHumanSpider2 - 12/19/2022, 7:14 AM
Super hot take: give Jon Cryer a chance.
The1st
The1st - 12/19/2022, 8:08 AM
@TheHumanSpider2 - No. You don't say no to the goat, which in typical fashion this thread has done and then go to Cryer. It's like having prime Jordan and going get in there Bron Bron. I think he's the right age and had the right mindset, but Rosenbaum's Luthor was ahead of its time. We should have gotten more of that and less ZuckerLuthor. DC apparently did such a good job of imploding the brand in the wake of the merger that everyone wants to bury everything and start with fresh everything.
TheHumanSpider2
TheHumanSpider2 - 12/20/2022, 12:42 PM
@The1st - That's why I said "super hot take".

I wasnt a fan of Smallville, so I dont get the love Rosenbaum, but I know Superman fans love him.
And he has a good relationship with Gunn, so...maybe?
The1st
The1st - 12/20/2022, 12:50 PM
@TheHumanSpider2 - Yeah, I knew what you meant. No worries. I wasn't wild about Smallville at the time either, in fact I basically stopped watching until Lex returned. Even then, I think the love for that Lex comes from the interactions with Clark, foreshadowing that future dynamic, and his ruthlessness in the way he went about getting what he wanted. You could see the things in Rosenbaum's Lex that showed you how you get to the comic Lex or a Clancy Brown Lex. They did the whole, I'm not trying to be bad thing before he embraced it in the show, but it was something you knew was a plot device at the end of the day. WB, and I never get tired of this, tried to give us Zucker Lex. I guess because to them that's what a modern Luthor looks like, grounded in reality. I don't know why they keep trying to insert "reality" in these properties as much as they do. I think Lex should be older than young supes, Like Bezos, or close in age like a Rosenbaum. Although Rosenbaum isn't really young anymore either, but I think it works. Probably unknowns will ultimately be the right decision. It seems like, here anyway, people are burnt out on known names.
bkmeijer1
bkmeijer1 - 12/19/2022, 7:34 AM
Just have Cavill shave his head and cast him as Lex
CyberNigerian
CyberNigerian - 12/19/2022, 8:17 AM
Hard to track what he really wants.

He spent 7 years on Smallville, rejected offers to return only to accept at the very last minute when they were shooting the finale. And even then, he requested a bald cap.

If this DCU is legit, I doubt he'd really want to commit ten years of his life, fully shaven, standing out in the cold or a stage playing a role he happily retired years ago.
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