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by | Mar 27, 2018 | Calanthe

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Lex Luthor is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. As Superman's archenemy, he has been portrayed in almost every Superman media franchise and adaptation.[1]

Lex Luthor is a major character within the Superman mythos and has appeared in many of Superman's adaptations into other media. The character is originally depicted as a mad scientist and later depicted as a wealthy, power-mad American business magnate running the technology company LexCorp which is based in the city of Metropolis. His portrayal in feature films ranges from being a vain criminal interested in real estate development to that of a genius who heads LexCorp.

Television

Live-action

  • A young Lex Luthor appears in Superboy (1988), portrayed by Scott James Wells in the first season and subsequently by Sherman Howard. This version was raised by an abusive father and neglectful mother before becoming rich after taking out an insurance policy on his parents and killing them. By the time he enters college, he became a minor criminal preoccupied with outdoing Superboy. Additionally, he goes bald while being rescued from a lab fire by Superboy. Vowing revenge, Luthor kills businessman Warren Eckworth and tries unsuccessfully to use Eckworth's "Superboy Gun" project to kill Superboy.[2]
  • Lex Luthor appears in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, portrayed by John Shea. This version is the third-richest person in the world and a philanderer who publicly masquerades as a beloved humanitarian with assistance from Nigel St. John (portrayed by Tony Jay). In the first season finale, amidst his wedding to Lois Lane, his criminal nature is exposed and Luthor commits suicide to avoid prison.[3] In the second season, Luthor's ex-wife Arianna Carlin steals his body from the coroner's office before his personal physician Gretchen Kelly freezes him so she can eventually revive him. While she succeeds, he is rendered temporarily bald until the third season, in which he loses his wealth and is forced to work for Intergang. He later murders Gretchen before Superman sends Luthor to prison to serve a double life sentence. After using a clone of the President to grant himself a pardon, Luthor regains his wealth and attempts to ruin Clark Kent and Lois' wedding, only to die in the destruction of his underground subway hideout.
    • Additionally, his illegitimate children, computer geek billionaire Jaxon Xavier and the deformed Lex Luthor Jr. appear in the episodes "Virtually Destroyed" and "Voice from the Past", portrayed by Andy Berman and Keith Brunsmann, respectively.
  • Lex Luthor appears in Smallville, portrayed by Michael Rosenbaum.
  • Lex Luthor appears in media set in the Arrowverse, portrayed by Jon Cryer as an adult[4][5] and Aidan Fink as a child.[6][7] He primarily appears in the TV series Supergirl and makes an additional appearance in the crossover "Crisis on Infinite Earths".[8]
  • Lex Luthor was meant to appear in Metropolis, in which he and Lois Lane would have worked together to investigate fringe science and expose the eponymous city's secrets. The series was to be developed by Gotham producers John Stephens and Danny Cannon and Warner Bros. Television as of 2018,[9][10] but no further news came of the project's status.
  • Lex Luthor appears in Titans, portrayed by Page Novak as a child and Titus Welliver as an adult.[11] This version is in his late 60s and sports a long beard. Additionally, his father Lionel claims that Lex and Clark Kent used to be good friends.
  • Lex Luthor appears in Superman & Lois, portrayed by Michael Cudlitz.[12]

Animation

Film

Live-action

Animation

Lex Luthor as depicted in Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths

Video games

Lego series

Miscellaneous

  • Lex Luthor appears in Superman: Last Son of Krypton, written by Elliot S. Maggin. This version is a scientific genius and childhood classmate of Clark Kent's from Smallville who unknowingly caused an accident that burnt off his hair, for which he blamed Kent. As an adult, he chooses to stay in prison to work on his scientific theories as he finds manhunts tedious.
  • Lex Luthor appears in Superman: Doomsday & Beyond, voiced by William Hootkins.
  • An alternate timeline variant of Lex Luthor appears in It's Superman!, written by Tom De Haven. This version is the alderman of 1930s New York City and owner of Lexco who, feeling that his life is missing something, becomes inspired by a failed attempt on his life to create Lexbots, which brings him into conflict with Superman.
  • A young Lex Luthor appears in Legion of Super Heroes in the 31st Century #13.[45] This version does not yet show hostility towards Superman.
  • An alternate timeline variant of Lex Luthor appears in Enemies & Allies, written by Kevin J. Anderson. This version is the owner of LuthorCorp from the 1950s. Throughout the novel, he bribes or blackmails Wayne Enterprises' board of directors into helping him steal their company's designs to purchase military contracts. Additionally, he has formed a secret alliance Russian general Ceridov, who discovered Kryptonite in Siberia, in an effort to take over the world together. Ultimately, he is foiled and defeated by Superman and placed on death row.

References

  1. ^ Lex Luthor Archived 2015-02-16 at the Wayback Machine "Comic Vine"
  2. ^ "The Villains of Superboy". geocities.com. October 27, 2009. Archived from the original on October 27, 2009. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
  3. ^ "Lex Luthor". Community-2.webtv.net. Archived from the original on July 7, 2012. Retrieved July 19, 2007.
  4. ^ Beedle, Tim (October 18, 2018). "Breaking News: Lex Luthor Will Appear on Supergirl". DC Comics. Archived from the original on October 19, 2018. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
  5. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (November 16, 2018). "Jon Cryer Plays Lex Luthor on The CW's 'Supergirl'". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on November 17, 2018. Retrieved November 16, 2018.
  6. ^ Ausiello, Michael (June 8, 2016). "Supergirl Season 2: Lex Luthor's Sister, Lesbian Detective and 'Brash Leading Man' Among 5 New Additions". tvline.com. Archived from the original on August 10, 2016. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  7. ^ "Supergirl Lands Merlin's Katie McGrath as Lex's Sister Lena Luthor". 4 August 2016. Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  8. ^ Agard, Chancellor (July 20, 2019). "Jon Cryer to return as Lex Luthor for Arrowverse crossover". EW.com. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
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  11. ^ Holub, Christian (September 11, 2022). "'Titans' showrunner previews Titus Welliver's arrival as Lex Luthor". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on September 28, 2022. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
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  15. ^ "Rohtul Voice - Batman: The Brave and the Bold (TV Show)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved May 1, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information.
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  21. ^ Connelly, Brendon (June 14, 2013). "David Goyer Tells Me About His Man Of Steel Sequel Plans And Problems". Bleeding Cool. Archived from the original on June 18, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2013.
  22. ^ Lankester, Mark (June 17, 2013). "Man Of Steel: Zack Snyder reveals his 'modern Lex Luthor' (Exclusive)". Yahoo! Movies. Archived from the original on January 13, 2014. Retrieved June 18, 2013.
  23. ^ "Lex Luthor Jr.: Not Just His Father's LexCorp - Fortune". Archived from the original on 2015-10-06.
  24. ^ Sandwell, Ian (May 29, 2016). "Jesse Eisenberg confirms he will be back as Lex Luthor in Justice League". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on May 30, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2016.
  25. ^ Kroll, Justin (20 November 2023). "'Superman: Legacy': Nicholas Hoult Lands Role Of Lex Luthor". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 20 November 2023. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  26. ^ "'Superman: Legacy': Nicholas Hoult in Talks to Play Lex Luthor". Variety. 20 November 2023. Archived from the original on 2023-11-21. Retrieved 2023-11-21.
  27. ^ White, Cindy (2010-07-07). "All-Star Voices Join All-Star Superman - DVD News at IGN". Dvd.ign.com. Archived from the original on 2010-09-23. Retrieved 2010-09-18.
  28. ^ Bernaschina, Michael (February 27, 2020). "Justice League Dark: Apokolips War's Massive Voice Cast Revealed". CBR. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
  29. ^ Vejvoda, Jim (April 30, 2020). "Superman: Man of Tomorrow Movie Voice Cast Revealed". IGN. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
  30. ^ Vejvoda, Jim (December 4, 2023). "Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One: Exclusive Clip and Voice Cast Reveal". IGN. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
  31. ^ Cranswick, Amie (May 8, 2024). "Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part Three trailer teases the end of the Tomorrowverse". Flickering Myth. Retrieved July 5, 2024.
  32. ^ Davis, Brandon (December 18, 2019). "Warner Bros. Announces Superman: Red Son Release Details". DC. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
  33. ^ Melendez, Marcos (13 September 2021). "Marc Maron is Your New Lex Luthor (In 'DC's League of Super-Pets')". Collider. Archived from the original on 14 September 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  34. ^ Luchies, Adam (July 3, 2022). "'Batman and Superman: Battle of the Super Sons' Sets 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray & Digital Release". Collider. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
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  37. ^ Thomas, Joe J. "Joe J. Thomas - Voice Acting Portfolio". Joeactor.com. Archived from the original on August 23, 2010. Retrieved September 13, 2010.
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  39. ^ McElroy, Griffin (March 28, 2013). "Injustice: Gods Among Us demo launching April 2 on Xbox 360 and PS3". Polygon. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
  40. ^ Billings, Kevin James (February 23, 2023). "Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Allies Include Toyman, Gizmo, and More". Game Rant. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
  41. ^ Makuch, Eddie (February 2, 2024). "Who's Who In Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League? Characters And Cast Breakdown". GameSpot. Retrieved March 19, 2024.
  42. ^ Hopkins, Shawn (July 28, 2014). "SDCC2014 LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham Video Reveals Voiceover Cast". Anime Superhero News. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
  43. ^ McWhertor, Michael (May 30, 2018). "New Lego game lets you team up with Joker, Harley Quinn and other DC bad guys". Polygon. Archived from the original on June 12, 2018. Retrieved June 1, 2018.
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