The Many Faces Of Lex Luthor

The Many Faces Of Lex Luthor

Over the decades we have seen alot of Lex Luthors , from Gene Hackman to Kevin Spacey and Michael Rosenbaum , each of them portrayed him in a unique style ...

By lxks96 - Jan 19, 2011 01:01 PM EST
Filed Under: Superman

Lex Luthor the arch enemy of Clark Kent , appeared in many comics , and is the only mortal who can challenge Superman .

In The Superman Classics in the 70's & 80's , Gene Hackman portayed Lex Luthor , in a comic way , he showed off he's intelligence and was arrogant .



In Superman 1 , he alone discovers that Superman's only weakness is Kryptonite radioactive peaces of his home planet Krypton .
At The Fortress Of Solitude scene in Superman II , Superman asked Lex for help against Zod , Lex knew Kal-El had no chance against a Triple Kryptonian Threat , he put mankind at stake and thought of his self only .
When General Zod was taken down , Lex tried to make Superman understand that he stood with him all along , but Clark didn't fall for his ruse .

When he was locked his prison , and had the oppurtunity to escape , he didn't save his assistant , instead he ran away selfishly...

So , There you have Gene Hackman a comic and also evil Lex Luthor !

The biggest failure was Kevin Spacey's portrayal of Lex Luthor he tried imitating Gene Hackman with his funny sense of humor , and spice it up with some evil thoughts .
Not much is known of this version's Lex Luthor's past , but we saw a breif scene of him inhereting Gertrude's belongings and money , taking his wig off after she died , revealing that his bald .




The Most succesful portrayal of Superman's ultimate foe , is Michael Rosenbaum's in the decade long TV Series SMALLVILLE

He started out as Clark Kent's best friend , he was raised in his father's shadow . Lionel ( his father ) challenged him , put him threw tests , and Lex was certain fate had bigger plans for him . Clark & Luthor's friendship broke off in season 5 after earning Lana Lang's love , after that he became jelous of Clark's perfect life and wanted everything he ever had , that led to the end of their relationship .
In Season 6 Clark realises there might still be good in Lex after all , after he saved the fallen Blur from a kryptonite room underground , just episodes after that Clark tried to help Lex lead a better life . Obviously , things didn't go so well after Lex married Lana .

In Season 7 Lex finally gets rid of the good inside him by murdering his father Lionel to retreive the information that helps him control the traveler ( which was Clark ) . All those years , He had suspicions that Clark wadn't human , that was one of many reasons why their relationship ended in failure and tragedy .

In their last meeting at the Arctic Circle in the Fortress Of Solitude , L.L discovers Clark's secret , everything ended in a disastrous way , ultimately Lex had a choice between controlling Clark or leaving it all behind and live a good life , he claimed that he was saving the world , but he was doing it for his self , he had nobody who trusted him in the world , he was left alone , it was all what's left for him .

Smallville's Lex Luthor is a dark , curious one unlike other portrayals .


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ComicBookGoth
ComicBookGoth - 1/19/2011, 1:32 PM
TheGreatone0207
TheGreatone0207 - 1/19/2011, 1:34 PM
I love Rosenbaum's Lex. The best by far. But I dont think Keven Spacey did such a bad job. The script was horrible. Even if your a great actor, you cant save a horrible movie.
subzero1077
subzero1077 - 1/19/2011, 1:36 PM
Rosenbaum is definitely the best Luthor on this list. I expected a bit more from Kevin Spacey in SR.

BTW, where's John Shea on this list, not that I'm a fan of his Lex but I think he at least deserves a mention.
marvel72
marvel72 - 1/19/2011, 1:39 PM
gene hackman is the best lex luthor ever.
Angelus
Angelus - 1/19/2011, 1:43 PM
Spacey did a good Hackman. Hackman is the absolute best Luthor this far. His portrayal is like Jack Nicholsons Joker. I dont know if Rosenbaum is any good but he aint anywhere near Spacey, or Hackman.

BMP!
write33
write33 - 1/19/2011, 1:44 PM
@subzero1077

yep agreed. or Sherman Howard from the Superboy TV show? or heck to be completest, Lyle Talbot played the role in the 1950 serial. hunh, weird to have a lot of omissions, this is just a small sample list for the sake of a list?
Malfunk1
Malfunk1 - 1/19/2011, 1:47 PM
They were all great luthors but still, i dont want to
see lex return for the sup reboot. We've had enough lex,
lets have someone that can take a super punch.
InSpace
InSpace - 1/19/2011, 1:56 PM
Clancy Brown is the best Lex !
JaySchluffy
JaySchluffy - 1/19/2011, 2:39 PM
Lol 3 faces. Wow. Why not mentioned the animated luthors?
Checkmate
Checkmate - 1/19/2011, 2:48 PM
Rosenbaum is the definitive Lex Luthor.
shiftysharp
shiftysharp - 1/19/2011, 3:06 PM
you forgot John Shea! :p
shiftysharp
shiftysharp - 1/19/2011, 3:07 PM
oh snap!
punishermax12
punishermax12 - 1/19/2011, 3:11 PM
um are you kidding? rosenbaum is horrible. i loved spacey as luthor. but everyone knows:

CLANCY BROWN IS THE BEST DAMN LUTHOR THERE HAS BEEN. CLANCY BROWN IS LEX LUTHOR! DUMBASS
Rodimus9
Rodimus9 - 1/19/2011, 3:16 PM
Great speling in yer artucle. I had fun red it. I aggre ther have only ben three luthors and rosenbaum was goodest. Although spacey and hakman were the only ones to go up against superman. Smallville is a origins tv show and rosenbaum isn't "lex" yet, just like welling is the blur and not superman yet.


FYM ;-)
MaskAgent
MaskAgent - 1/19/2011, 4:26 PM
I liked this column better a few years ago when I read it on KryptonSite:

http://www.kryptonsite.com/manyfaceslex.htm
vermillion
vermillion - 1/19/2011, 4:32 PM
Rosenbaum all the way easily. Gene Hackman's Luthor was terrible, IMO.
skidz
skidz - 1/19/2011, 5:11 PM
I guess the animated portrayal's don't count?
MrZoolittle
MrZoolittle - 1/19/2011, 5:46 PM
Rosebaum is the best lex yet!
Kryptonman87
Kryptonman87 - 1/19/2011, 5:47 PM
uuummmm..........what about John Shea from Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and Clancy Brown, the man who voiced Lex Luthor in Superman The Animated Series, Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, and Superman/Batman: Public Enemies?
HarrisonBergeron
HarrisonBergeron - 1/19/2011, 6:14 PM
Rosenbaum and Brown are the only contenders in this fight.

[/discussion]
Knightstalker
Knightstalker - 1/19/2011, 6:43 PM
Sorry all you John Shea fans. As much as I liked L&C I never could wrap my brain around Shea's portrayal of Lex Luthor. The guy refused to go bald (absolutely necessary for Lex) and while he had his high points, he'll always be a pretender to me.
LP4
LP4 - 1/19/2011, 7:13 PM
@Knightstalker- Shea was one of the best live-action Luthor's (in my opinion) he played Lex to being a suave, sophisticated evil socialite- JUST WHAT LEX SHOULD HAVE BEEN. I mean even the way he spoke, his voice sounded so evil yet smart.

@@Angelus- GENE HACKMAN was the best luthor??? 0_o

In my opinion, Hackman was a terrible and idiotic Luthor, too goofy to be taken seriously. But he IS a classic on screen Luthor considering the time period it was. I would say THE WORST Luthor would be- Kevin Spacey without a doubt. He tried to immitate Hackman and it still failed. Hell, I hated Hackman's Lex but i would even go so far as to say that his Lex was BETTER than Spacey's Lex. Spacey's Lex- "I will just throw a crystal in the water and watch it grow...oooooh" LAME. Hackman's Lex- "I will use twin missiles to sink the California coastline, I will team up with an intergalactic general and rule Australia and lastly I will CLONE a strand of Superman's hair to create a super-powerful opponent to KILL him"

Hackman was a BETTER Lex than Spacey could ever dream to be. But I still hated both with a passion.

For me the best live-action Luthors will always be- Rosenbaum and Shea.

They played...SMART Lex Luthors.
Superman4
Superman4 - 1/19/2011, 7:14 PM
I got one you all forgot! Lyle Talbot played Lex in Atom man vs Superman. Talbot was also the first actor to portray Luthor ever!

Superman4
Superman4 - 1/19/2011, 7:16 PM
Kevin Spacey is my favorite Luthor (not counting Clancy Brown)
LP4
LP4 - 1/19/2011, 7:19 PM
I still also loved the scene when Dean Cain's Supes confronted Shea's Luthor at his office/penthouse...

Lex: "I hold a certain position in this city"

Supes: "Yes...and there is nothing that would please me more than to see you DETHRONED and behind bars like any common criminal and that day will come"

Lex: "Well, I trust not. But as they say- Let the games begin"

Just an awesome confrontation and I loved how when before he threw himself off the balcony he said to the cops "Lex Luthor will not live in a cage"

He was an awesome Lex :)

dbatman
dbatman - 1/19/2011, 8:38 PM
I love Spacey as Lex. But the movie's version of Lex, I don't like
PlaidRocker
PlaidRocker - 1/19/2011, 9:09 PM
Michael Rosenbaum was brilliant as Lex Luthor. Even though there's really no hope, I'm still praying he'll make one last appearance on Smallville. But I couldn't disagree more with the statement about Kevin Spacey. LOVED him as Luthor. I prefer him over Gene Hackman, by far.
Grimm
Grimm - 1/19/2011, 10:33 PM
Wow...if they could only find someone else for Superman to battle... I guess that's just a pipe dream though, I mean really... Hasn't he just been fighting luthor over and over and over for like 50 years already?
satanors
satanors - 1/19/2011, 11:10 PM
a poll, perhaps.
rosenbaum is best-est
Jolt17
Jolt17 - 1/20/2011, 1:56 AM
Rosenbaum is BRILLIANT, I can say, and also the BEST thing in Smallville!

Now that he's out, we can see the show's falling down too!
ComicBookGoth
ComicBookGoth - 1/21/2011, 7:16 AM
^indeed^


Clancy Brown FTW!

in animation & in our fancasts.

RED SON CLANCY BROWN LEX LUTHER Pictures, Images and Photos


LEEE777
knows what im talking about.
kong
kong - 1/22/2011, 5:41 AM
Rosenbaum is an awesome Luthor. In Smallville when he died i was like why would they do that they already messed up the time line but then i saw the episode in season 10 where you figured out that that boy was turning into lex i was like awesome
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