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 .