Lex Luthor in other media
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
As Superman's most well-known enemy, Lex Luthor has been portrayed in almost every Superman media tie-in and franchise.
Lex Luthor is a major supporting character withing the Superman mythos and has appeared in many of Superman's adaptations into other media.
[edit] Atom Man vs. Superman
Luthor was first portrayed on film in the second Superman serial, Atom Man vs. Superman (1950). He was played by Lyle Talbot.
[edit] Feature films
Actor Gene Hackman played the role of Lex Luthor in the 1978 movie Superman and in two of its three sequels (Superman II and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace).
[edit] Superman
Lex Luthor is the primary villain of the first Superman film. He is mainly motivated by money, as well as a desire to swindle as big a fortune as possible to prove how smart he is. Although he is bald, he usually wears a variety of wigs to conceal it.
In the first film, Luthor's high-tech hideout harkens back to the secret lairs of his "Golden Age" comic counterpart;[1] It is located in an abandoned railway terminal deep beneath the Metropolis streets. Luthor's schemes are offset by a tendency to surround himself with unsatisfactory help; He is burdened by his bumbling henchman Otis, and his conscience-stricken girlfriend Eve Teschmacher. Luthor scheme in this film is to divert a nuclear missile into hitting the San Andreas fault, causing California to sink into the ocean, thereby turning its neighboring states into beach front property owned by Lex Luthor Incorporated.[2] Although he nearly kills Superman using kryptonite, Superman eventually defeats him and sends him to prison.
[edit] Superman II
Luthor's role in Superman II is relegated to a supporting villain, beginning with a jailbreak organized with the help of Miss Teschmacher. After journeying to the Fortress of Solitude, Luthor learns of the existence of General Zod and the other Kryptonian criminals. Hoping to rule his own continent once the evil Kryptonians take over Earth, Luthor allies himself with Zod.
[edit] Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
Luthor reappears in Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, escaping from prison once more, this time with the aid of his nephew Lenny. Once again, Lex allies himself with other villains, in this instance a cadre of war profiteers and arms dealers who are worried about what Superman's efforts toward nuclear disarmament will do to their business. Lex uses his own DNA, combined with strand of Superman's hair that is stolen from a museum, to create a hybrid clone which he dubs "Nuclear Man." The radioactive villain possesses abilities similar to Superman, but receives his power from direct sunlight, whereas Superman can still operate in darkness. Superman exploits this weakness in the end, destroying Nuclear Man and returning Lex to prison.
[edit] Superman Returns
In the 2006 film Superman Returns, Luthor is played by Kevin Spacey. In the film, Luthor has been released from prison bent on revenge against Superman. Luthor funds his criminal operations by seducing a wealthy, elderly benefactor. Luthor's machinations once again concern real estate, as they did in the first two films. He plans to use Kryptonian crystals, like the one Superman used to create the Fortress of Solitude, to form a new continent, owned by Luthor, off the East Coast of the United States, destroying all surrounding landmass in the process and killing untold numbers of people. The landmass also has the added effect of sapping Superman's powers when he is in proximity. However, after putting several layers of earth between himself and New Krypton, Superman hurls the landmass into space. After his scheme fails, Luthor uses a helicopter to escape capture, but it runs out of fuel, stranding him on a deserted island.
Luthor is confirmed to return for the 2009 sequel, with Spacey reprising the role.[3]
[edit] Live-action television
[edit] Superboy
In the syndicated television show Superboy, Luthor first appeared as a rich, scheming college student played by Scott James Wells. In early episodes, Luthor is preoccupied with showing up Superboy, rigging basketball games, and stealing priceless artifacts, among other small-time schemes. At the close of the first season, Superboy accidentally causes Luthor to go bald while saving him from a lab fire in an incident similar to Lex Luthor's classic origin. Convinced that Superboy intentionally caused the accident, Lex becomes deranged. He kills wealthy businessman Warren Eckworth and tries, unsuccessfully, to take his place via plastic surgery.[4] Prematurely aged and bald-headed, Lex is played for the remainder of the series by actor Sherman Howard.
In the Season Four two-parter, 'Know Thine Enemy' Luthor's childhood is explored when Superboy relives his life via the "psychodisk". Similar to his post-Crisis origin, Lex is raised by an abusive father and neglectful mother; Lex becomes rich when he takes out an insurance policy on his parents and then kills them both. His sister, Lena Luthor, holds the distinction of being the sole person Lex cares about.
[edit] Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
In the television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993–1997), Lex Luthor is played by actor John Shea. In the eyes of the public, he appears to be a beloved humanitarian, but Superman knows the truth. During the show's first season Clark Kent/Superman spends a good deal of time trying to prove that Luthor is corrupt, while Luthor tests Superman to find his weakness. He also comes up with dangerous plots to turn the public against Superman. At the end of season one, he manages to acquire a rare piece of kryptonite; he then devises a trap for Superman that almost kills him, but Superman narrowly escapes when Luthor leaves him to his fate. Just as Luthor is about to marry Lois Lane, the truth about his evil nature is exposed and he takes his own life rather than face imprisonment.[5] Ironically, due to exposure to Luthor's kryptonite, Superman's powers are too weak and he cannot save him.
Following the season one finale, Lex's corpse disappears from the coroner's office. Later on, the body resurfaces in a lab where a devoted scientist (played by Denise Crosby) freezes Luthor's remains and labors to bring him back from the dead. She eventually succeeds, but as a side effect of his resurrection, Lex loses his hair (thus bringing him in line with Luthor's usual look).[6] He is quickly disenchanted with the changes that have happened during his absence, particularly the emergence of Intergang, as well as the loss of his personal fortune. Lex hides underground, again seeking kryptonite. But after kidnapping Lois in an attempt to reclaim her, he is traced to his sewer lair by Superman. This time however, Superman prevents Lex from taking his own life again to "cheat justice" and sends him to prison.
Luthor later escapes through an elaborate plot involving clones; first using a clone of the President to grant him a pardon, then kidnapping the real Lois Lane and replacing her with a clone just before her wedding to Clark.[7] Luthor hopes to transfer the minds of himself and the genuine Lois into clone bodies so they may never be found. Although he tricks Lois' clone into divulging Superman's secret identity, he still fails in destroying Superman, and is killed in the destruction of his lab.
Unbeknownst to anyone, Luthor has illegitimate sons, two of whom try to kill Superman over the course of the last two seasons. The first one entrapped Lois and Clark in a VIrtual reality before the two trick him into letting them out. The only way he could get back to the real world however would be to separate his mind from his body. The second one, played by Keith Brunsmann, is facially deformed and disowned by his father, reduced to living in a furnished sewer/transit station beneath Metropolis. Lex Luthor Jr. hires a handsome stand-in (played by Patrick Cassidy) to impersonate him; The impostor poses as Lex Jr.'s public persona as he murders the CEOs of his father's old companies and rebuilds LexCorp.[8] While Lex Jr. and his impostor manage to get their hands on a recording of the elder Luthor (John Shea's voice) revealing Superman's secret identity, both men are later killed in an explosion that levels the crypt. Lois is initially skeptical that Lex could have fathered these adult men, but Clark insists that no one can be sure of Luthor's true age since he was "a master of deception".
[edit] Smallville
The television series Smallville features a younger Lex Luthor, played by Michael Rosenbaum (who also voiced the Flash on the Justice League and Justice League Unlimited animated series.) Although his history echoes previous incarnations, this version of Lex did not begin as a bona fide villain.
Lex's full name is Alexander Luthor, named after Alexander the Great. His father, ruthless business mogul Lionel Luthor, idolizes the legendary general, and applies Alexander's tactics to the world of modern business, believing himself to be the business world's Philip of Macedon. At the age of 9, a frail, asthmatic Lex accompanies his father on a business trip to Smallville, unwittingly getting caught in the meteor shower that brings Kal-El to Earth; he survives, but loses his asthma and his red hair as a result[9] (Superman's indirect involvement in Lex's hair loss resembles the Silver Age comic mythos). Lex later believes that the exposure which left him bald also gave him a "super" immune system and was the reason that he had never been sick even once after the event. Lex is the heir to LuthorCorp, and lives in an ornate mansion (a rebuilt Scottish castle transported stone by stone to America) on the edge of Smallville.
Lex first meets his future nemesis Clark Kent when he loses control of his Porsche, slamming into Clark and plummeting off a bridge. It is after Clark saves his life that the two bond and become friends. Smallville plays on his relationship with Clark and how that deteriorates into the mutual enmity that they will have in life. Lionel Luthor exhibits many of the same characteristics as Lex's comic-book counterpart, and it is through his dysfunctional relationship with Lex that Smallville attempts to characterize how Lex eventually succumbs to his evil leanings; early seasons focused on Lex's traumatic and love-starved upbringing, a bleak contrast to Clark's idyllic childhood.
In the second episode of Season Five, Lex's friendship with Clark finally ends when he arranges for Clark, his parents, and Lana Lang to be taken hostage, in an effort to prove that Clark is hiding some secret abilities. He nearly manages to record evidence of Clark's superpowers, but Clark's powers were taken away by his father, Jor-El, and Lex's efforts come to nothing. As resentment between the former friends grows, Lex further alienates Clark by becoming romantically involved with Lana.
At the end of season five, Milton Fine/Brainiac manipulates Lex into being possessed by the consciousness of General Zod. After recovery at the beginning of season six, Lex focuses on a secret project called 33.1 based around capturing and studying people who have been infected by kryptonite in order to recreate their abilities, ostensibly to protect the world against further alien threats. This puts him at odds with Clark and his new ally, billionaire vigilante Oliver Queen, aka the Green Arrow with whom he went to boarding school. The animosity between Luthor and Queen's clique is portrayed in flashbacks, in which the young Lex is portrayed by Lucas Grabeel.
At the same time, Lex becomes engaged to Lana after she supposedly becomes pregnant with his child (it turned out that she had been drugged with a synthetic hormone to simulate pregnancy). At the end of season 6, Lex is arrested for the murder of his wife, Lana Lang, who appears to have been caught in an explosion triggered by a car bomb. However, at the beginning of Season 7, Lex is released when somebody paid by Lionel confesses the crime and it's later revealed Lana was alive and left a stand-in clone to forge her death. Lana had also stolen 10 million dollars from Lex, which he later allows her to keep for good as part of a divorce settlement. Since then, Lana's been obsessed with exposing anything bad about him. While searching for the truth about his past, Lex kills Lionel by pushing him out of his office window at LuthorCorp in season 7, saying no one will even remember his name. Lex then drags "Alexander" (a personification of himself as a child who acts as his conscience) to the fireplace and burns him, saying "You make me weak!" Lex later comes into possession of a strange object comprising various metal disks with star graphs on them, which turn to reveal a pair of rectangular slots. This device is somehow a necessity in controlling "The Traveler," Clark Kent. In the season seven finale, Lex learns of the Fortress of Solitude from Brainiac, who is posing as Kara. Lex travels to the Fortress, taking the device with him, under the belief that he is fulfilling his own destiny to save mankind from "The Traveler". After arriving in the Fortress, Lex learns that Clark is "The Traveler". A confrontation between the two ensues and Lex activates the device, causing the Fortress to collapse with Clark and Lex both inside.
[edit] Animation
[edit] The New Adventures of Superman
His first non-comics appearance was in some episodes of Filmation's The New Adventures of Superman as: Luthor's Lethal Laser.
[edit] Super Friends
Luthor was a recurring villain in Hanna-Barbara's Superfriends franchise that ran from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. He was voiced by Stan Jones.
- He makes his Super Friends debut in Challenge of the Superfriends. Luthor, was head of the Legion of Doom, a coalition of villains who plotted the downfall of the titular heroes.[10] Luthor appeared a little slimmer than in his previous animated appearance[citation needed] and sported his pre-Crisis purple jumpsuit. In the episode History Of Doom depicts a portion of Lex Luthor's origin from Adventure Comics #271.
- In the series The World's Greatest Super Friends season the second episode 'Lex Luthor Strikes Back' features Luthor escaping from jail and challenging the Super Friends.
- He also appears in the series Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show season, in the opening and the episodes No Honor Among Super Thieves -in which acquires his power suit from the comics of then-, Case of the Shrinking Super Friends and The Mask of Mystery.
- In the series The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians season, appears in some episodes as The Seeds of Doom.
[edit] Ruby-Spears animated series
In the short-lived 1988 animated series produced by Ruby-Spears Enterprises, Luthor was shown as an evil businessman for the first time in other media. He is voiced by Michael Bell.
[edit] Superman: The Animated Series
In the 1990s cartoon Superman: The Animated Series and the subsequent Justice League animated series Luthor was voiced by actor Clancy Brown of Highlander and Buckaroo Banzai fame (Brown originally auditioned for the role of Superman/Clark Kent, but that part ultimately went to Tim Daly). The Animated Series' Luthor is a corrupt businessman like his comic book counterpart, and again his jealously and hatred of Superman ultimately brings down his empire.
According to the DVD commentaries and interviews by the show's creators, the Animated Series Luthor was inspired by Telly Savalas' portrayal of James Bond villain Ernst Stavro Blofeld in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.[11]
[edit] Justice League
It is revealed early in the series that Luthor is suffering from a rare blood cancer caused by long-term exposure to the Kryptonite Shard he carries. While in prison, he bribes the Ultra-Humanite to free him, and the two band together and ultimately form the Injustice Gang. Ultra-Humanite's technology allows Lex to wear an armored suit that will decrease the speed his cancer, as well as give him a fighting chance against Superman. However, Humanite betrays him when approached with an offer by Batman. After being exposed as a criminal and losing his business empire, Luthor's characterization turns more toward the original conception of a criminal genius obsessed with destroying Superman. He is eventually pardoned from his crimes after assisting the Justice League in defeating their alternate evil counterparts from a parallel universe, the Justice Lords. Afterwards, Luthor is interviewed by the press and implies that he is thinking of going into politics.
[edit] Justice League Unlimited
In the first season of Justice League Unlimited, Luthor announces he is running for President of the United States; This is later revealed to be a ruse to enrage Superman. In reality, Luthor is financially backing Project Cadmus, a shadow government organization dedicated to eradicating the League if they ever turn on Earth's population. Luthor ultimately betrays them, hijacking the League's space-based laser to take out Cadmus leaving the impression the League had attacked the United States government. While attempting to place his mind in a duplicate of A.M.A.Z.O., he is thwarted by Amanda Waller of Cadmus. At this point, it was revealed that Brainiac had downloaded himself into Luthor long ago in the Superman: The Animated Series episode "Ghost in the Machine", secretly manipulating his actions. After the two merge into a more complete being using alien nanotechnology, Luthor/Brainiac attempts to destroy the world, but they are halted by The Flash.
Luthor returns later to join the Secret Society. Ironically this new Secret Society is based on the Legion of Doom and Luthor is not as their leader; that position is occupied by Gorilla Grodd. Luthor agreed to join in order to obtain the last remaining piece of Brainiac, which Grodd has in his possession. Luthor is obsessed with rebuilding Brainiac, as what is left of him is inhabiting Luthor's mind, giving him a sort of multiple personality disorder.[12] Later, using the failure of Gorilla Grodd's silly master plan to turn all humans into apes as pretext, Lex shoots and imprisons him, then assumes Grodd's place as leader.
After taking over as leader of the Secret Society, Luthor returns to trying to resurrect Brainiac. Using the power of the Secret Society headquarters, Luthor spends tireless hours trying to bring a fragment of Brainiac back online. With the help of Tala, Luthor tracks down Brainiac's base (seen in the Justice League episode "Twilight") and reconfigures the Secret Society headquarters into a starship with which to seek out the remnants Brainiac's base. During the journey, Tala frees Gorilla Grodd, who mounts an insurrection against Luthor with his fellow Secret Society members. Just as Grodd moves to use his telepathic power on Luthor, Luthor uses his belt to take over Grodd's mind. Afterward, Luthor forces Grodd into an airlock and jettisons him into space.
The Secret Society, back under Luthor's power, returns to their task of resurrecting Brainiac. Luthor hooks Tala up to a machine, reminiscent of Brainiac's machine used against Superman, to transmutate remnants of Brainiac's base back into a working body of Brainiac. Before Luthor begins the process, Metron stops time and appears to him warning that he may be unleashing something that will affect the past, present and future. Luthor, still obsessed with becoming a god, ignores him, and the process begins.
Although the process is seemingly successful, Luthor actually ends up resurrecting Darkseid, who attempts to destroy the super villains in the episode "Alive". Luthor's loses his link to Brainiac, perhaps permanently. The remnants of the Secret Society, under Luthor, go to the Justice League Watchtower to warn the superheroes of the threat and insist on a temporary alliance in the defense of the planet in the episode "Destroyer". With the aid of the New God Metron, Luthor manages to acquire the Anti-Life Equation long sought by Darkseid, and uses it on the lord of Apokolips, (apparently) sacrificing his own life in the process. Batman, however, suspects that either one or both of them survived and will likely return to challenge the League again.
[edit] Superman: Brainiac Attacks
Lex Luthor was also featured in the direct-to-video animated movie Superman: Brainiac Attacks. Lex's character designs from Superman: The Animated Series, his job as a criminal businessman and his bodyguard Mercy Graves were used for this movie, but this version of Luthor acted similar to Gene Hackman's Luthor from Superman: The Movie. He constantly spouted one-liners and at one point threw a Tiki Torch Luau to celebrate Superman's presumed death. Lex Luthor was voiced by Powers Boothe in this movie.
Luthor's role in this movie had him forming an alliance with Brainiac (this is also treated as the first meeting between the two). He placed Brainiac in a new robot body and sent him to destroy Superman. Afterwards Brainiac would pretend to be defeated by Luthor and then leave Earth to conquer a different planet, while Luthor would appear as a hero to a people and then continue his quest to rule Earth. Naturally this plan failed, Luthor was beaten by Brainiac in battle, and the plan ended with a usual "Luthor under investigation" ending.
[edit] Superman: Doomsday
Lex Luthor is featured in the direct-to-video animated movie Superman: Doomsday. Lex's character design is similar to those seen in Superman: The Animated Series, albeit with a much slimmer profile and a white suit, and is voiced by James Marsters; Marsters also portrayed villain Milton Fine (Brainiac) in the fifth and seventh season of Smallville. Here he's shown as highly intelligent (able to cure such diseases as Muscular Dystrophy), but extremely amoral (has his scientists find ways to draw out such cures to make a higher profit).
In the film, Luthor is indirectly responsible for the release of the creature Doomsday. Upon discovering that the latent radiation from the Earth's core can be harnessed for energy purposes, LexCorp has been illegally drilling into the earth. When Luthor's miners stumble upon Doomsday's alien spacecraft while digging, they accidentally damage it and awaken Doomsaday from his long slumber. After the creature slaughters the mining team, Luthor orders his personal assistant, Mercy Graves, to cover up his involvement.
Following Superman and Doomsday's epic battle, Superman lies dead, and Luthor is free of all culpability. Rather than be pleased, Luthor is incensed that the evidence crediting him to Superman's death has been destroyed; he lashes out by killing Mercy with a handgun, despite the fact she was only following his orders. Luthor then robs Superman's body from his grave with the intention of creating genetic clones of him. The cloned Superman is more violent than the original, killing crooks, threatening civilians, and generally behaving like a public menace. Meanwhile, the real Superman's corpse disappears from LexCorp during an electrical blackout.
Luthor is visited in his office by Lois Lane, who says she feels distant from her relationship with Superman (not knowing that he is a clone). Luthor tries to seduce her and they kiss, but Lois uses a tranquilizer on Luthor and knocks him unconscious; Lois believes he is the one behind Superman's strange behavior. Lois and Jimmy Olsen uncover Luthor's cloning project, but Luthor reappears and tries to shoot them. Fortunately, the cloned Superman has freed himself from Luthor's control and steps in to rescue Lois and Jimmy. Luthor escapes to a room with red sun beams, similar to Krypton's Red Sun, which will neutalize Superman's powers; he also dons kryptonite gloves, with the intention of beating the insolent clone to death. Instead, the clone traps Luthor in the vault, rips its foundation out of the building, and throws the vault across Metropolis. At the end of movie, it is revealed that Luthor survived, but with severe injuries.
[edit] Legion of Super Heroes animated series
In the Legion of Super Heroes episode "Legacy", the young Superman meets Alexis, the "richest girl in the galaxy" in the 30th century, who also has a knack with machinery and access to powerful technology. A redhead who wears a purple jumpsuit (echoing Lex Luthor's original hair color and classic costume), Alexis starts out as a friend of Superman, but is scorned when he refuses to neglect his duties with the Legion in favor of spending time with her.
To get rid of the "competition" for Superman's time, Alexis equips enemies of the Legion with cutting-edge weaponry and, after luring Superman away with a fake distress call, personally dons a suit of robotic armor and leads an attack on the remaining Legion members. Superman returns in time to aid his friends and makes it clear to Alexis in no uncertain terms that he wants her out of his life. Alexis resolves to kill Superman, her reasoning being that if he won't be her friend, he won't be anybody else's either. In the struggle, the barrel of Alexis' gun overloads and her suit blows up. Superman pulls her free in time to save her life, but in addition to the injuries she sustained from the blast, all of her hair is seared off.
Instead of showing gratitude, Alexis is incensed. In the final scene, she has recovered and appears to be regrowing her hair while in prison. Her prison uniform displays the name "Luthor" written in the Interlac alphabet. While rebuilding her butler/bodyguard, the sinister Alexis states that she is actually grateful to the Legion, since they helped her realize her potential as a supervillainess. Alexis is voiced by Tara Strong. She is seen again in the season one finale where the Legion break out the Fatal Five. When Alexis spots Superman again, she sticks her tongue out at him.
[edit] Krypto the Superdog
In the animated series, Krypto the Superdog, a rather cartoonish version of the DCAU Luthor (who is also portrayed as a rich businessman in the series, played by Brian Dobson, though he is only rarely seen) has a pet iguana named Ignatius. Like Luthor, Ignatius is intelligent, vain, and morally ambivalent. Ignatius is voiced by Scott McNeil.
[edit] The Batman
Luthor appeared in the fifth season of The Batman. Clancy Brown voices Luthor in this series. Clancy also voiced Luthor in the DC animated universe. Luthor hires Metallo and equips him with his only piece of Kryptonite he has to defeat Superman, but is defeated by Batman. Luthor hires Black Mask, Bane, Mr. Freeze, andClayface (Basil Karlo) to kidnap Lois Lane while he leaves for Gotham with his right-hand assistant Mercy Graves. While Superman, Batman, and Robin fight Black Mask and his henchmen, Luthor captures Poison Ivy and mixes her mind controlling spores with the Kryptonite powder he already had . He uses it in Superman to become his personal slave. It is revealed also that Luthor had previously confiscated technology from the remains of the Joining, (considerably Brainiac's descendents), to create an army of robots to take over the world. However, after Batman frees Superman from his control, both of them subdue Mercy Graves, destroys Luthor's robots, overpower Luthor and defeat him.
[edit] Justice League: The New Frontier
Lex Luthor appears briefly in the animated film Justice League: The New Frontier. He is shown in LexCorp, (referred to as LexCo, possibly supposed to be an earlier name for LexCorp) during the scene in which John F. Kennedy made his famous speech.
[edit] Video games
Lex Luthor has appeared in every electronic game featuring Superman since the first Superman game released for the Atari 2600 with the exception of The Death and Return of Superman. He also appears as the main antagonist of the video gamen Justice League: Injustice for All. Most recently, he has appeared in the Superman Returns video game, but is only seen in cut scenes.
[edit] Novels
[edit] Last Son of Krypton
Luthor plays a major role in the Elliot S! Maggin novel Last Son of Krypton.
Lex is a childhood classmate of Clark Kent in Smallville, a scientific genius who blames the then-Superboy for ruining his greatest experiment-- the creation of artificial life (in fact it is Lex, celebrating his achievement with a smoke, who starts the fire in his lab). It is at this time that his hair is also burned off. Lex is never again able to replicate his results and holds a lifelong grudge against Superman as a result.
Lex as an adult spends much of his time in prison, but in this story it is described as largely by choice; Lex has the capacity to escape nearly at his leisure, but finds that solitude gives him time to work on his scientific theories and finds dodging manhunts tedious. He learns of a secret document written by his idol Albert Einstein, and breaks out for the express purpose of stealing it, using a hologram of himself as a distraction; however, when he cannot translate it (it is actually written in Kryptonese), turns to an expert linguist who turns out to be a disguised alien who also wishes to steal the documents. Luthor then forms a reluctant alliance with his archenemy Superman to chase the alien to a distant world, using Lex's one-man faster than light starship which he has kept hidden for years in plain sight as a modern art sculpture. When the mysterious alien's greater plans are revealed, Lex must work with, and even save the life of, Superman in order to protect the entire galaxy from the would-be warlord.
Lex in this story combines aspects of the Silver Age, Bronze Age and film versions. During his robbery of the Einstein papers he uses a hologram of himself dressed in his purple bandoliered jumpsuit with jet-boots (the same Silver Age costume is also used on Superfriends), while he uses a disguise and wig to steal the document; he also holds property and front companies under various names and identities. Luthor is also seen in jail wearing the classic grey prison jumpsuit, and uses a museum hideout similar to the "Luthor's Lair" of the Silver Age comics, though he employs several scientists as underlings, as opposed to the solitary mad scientist of the comics. The novel delves into Lex's personality and viewpoint nearly as much as that of the Man of Steel.
[edit] It's Superman!
Lex Luthor also appears in another novel titled It's Superman!, by Tom DeHaven.
In the novel, Lex Luthor is alderman of 1930s New York City—used in place of Metropolis—and has a company called Lexco. Despite this, he still feels like something is missing. When he visits his dead mother's grave, he is attacked by hitmen. After he kills them, he feels excitement for the first time. Later in the story, much death and destrucation is caused by his robotic "Lexbots". The fiasco leads to his first confrontation with Superman, and Lex believes the void he felt has been filled. By the end of the story, he becomes a wanted criminal, and even he says that he has never been more excited than he is at that moment.
[edit] References
- ^ Supermanica - Luthor's Lair. Retrieved on 2007-7-18.
- ^ Movie Villains - The Best and Worst Villains of All Time: Lex Luthor (2004). Retrieved on 2007-7-18.
- ^ Spacey set for 'Superman' sequel - Entertainment News, Film News, Media - Variety
- ^ DMWC's Superboy: The Series Website - The Villains of Superboy. Retrieved on 2007-7-19.
- ^ Superman: A Who's Who of the Man of Steel - Lex Luthor. Retrieved on 2007-7-19.
- ^ Lois & Clark - Second Season Episode Guide. Retrieved on 2007-7-20.
- ^ Lois & Clark - Third Season Episode Guide. Retrieved on 2007-7-20.
- ^ Lois & Clark - Fourth Season Episode Guide. Retrieved on 2007-7-20.
- ^ Superman TV - Lex Luthor Origins. Retrieved on 2008-1-14.
- ^ Seanbaby's Super Friends Page - Lex Luthor. Retrieved on 2007-7-20.
- ^ imbd.com - FAQs for Superman. Retrieved on 2007-7-29.
- ^ Superman Super Site - Brainiac. Retrieved on 2007-7-19.
