With the New Lex Luthor, James Gunn’s Superman Unlocks the Trick to Supervillains

Warning: This portion contains spoilers for Superman.

Pull retired your enactment hats, DC fans, due to the fact that James Gunn’s Superman movie is present successful theaters. The archetypal movie installment successful the caller DC Universe franchise is entering its opening play with mostly affirmative reviews, including an 8/10 from IGN’s Tom Jorgensen. After the erstwhile DCEU flamed retired astatine the container bureau and with critics, Gunn’s relaunched DCU is astatine slightest starting connected the close foot. Yet though there’s plentifulness to praise, similar the large cast, optimistic tone, and David Corenswet’s Clark Kent and Rachel Brosnahan’s Lois Lane having existent chemistry, the MVP of the movie is Nicholas Hoult arsenic perennial Superman nemesis Lex Luthor, who is simply a fantastic quality some connected the leafage and successful Hoult’s performance.

Why is helium specified a standout? Because he’s petty arsenic hell. James Gunn and co. recognize that Luthor–as good arsenic astir supervillains, but him especially–should beryllium petty radical driven by affectional impulse alternatively of grandiose ideology. Unlike different caller comic publication movie villains who the movie tries to springiness “a point” to, this Luthor stays existent to the root worldly by being solely motivated by implicit contempt for Superman, arsenic it should be. Let’s instrumentality a look astatine what different comic publication films could larn from Superman’s Lex Luthor.

Drinking the Haterade

If there’s 1 trait of Lex Luthor’s that adjacent your mean idiosyncratic connected the thoroughfare would know, it’s that helium hates Superman with each fibre of his being (and that helium uses his brains to combat him). Even from the trailers, overmuch of the societal media treatment astir Hoult’s Luthor was centered astir however overmuch of a “hater” helium appeared to be. Luthor successful the movie is simply a antheral of immense powerfulness and influence, commanding resources connected a planetary scale. But each of it is funnelled into a azygous goal, which is destroying Superman, some physically and successful the tribunal of nationalist opinion. There is nary greater docket astatine play, nor does Lex effort to conceal his motives with a faux-philosophical schoolhouse of thought. He freely admits to Superman that he’s doing this each retired of jealousy, and his actions backmost up his words.

Nicholas Hoult and David Corenswet look disconnected arsenic Lex Luthor and Superman.

Part of Luthor’s machinations impact shady dealings with the fictional federation of Boravia, providing weapons Boravia volition usage to invade and annex the neighboring state of Jarhanpur. Superman’s consequent defence of Jarhanpur is an off-screen incidental that sets the crippled successful motion. Although Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo) observe that portion of the woody would beryllium Luthor getting fractional of Jarhanpur’s landmass for his ain purposes, helium tells Superman successful the 3rd enactment that this was each a means to an end, with his manipulating the Boravian struggle being a catalyst to getting governmental support to termination Superman. He doesn’t attraction astir further enriching himself oregon consolidating his power. He conscionable wants that Kryptonian gone.

We spot this with however overmuch of his go-for-broke program is spiteful and adjacent somewhat self-defeating. He has an service of literal monkeys posting non-stop slander towards Superman connected societal media, helium takes a monolithic fiscal nonaccomplishment connected the Boravian arms woody truthful agelong arsenic it furthers his “let maine termination Superman” petition to the government, and helium shows nary denotation helium cares that Metropolis, including Luthorcorp headquarters, is destroyed by the dimensional rift caused by 1 of his pouch magnitude portals truthful agelong arsenic the catastrophe draws Superman into the open. Luthor’s hatred for Superman’s alien influence, lacking a motivation oregon ideological justification, registers arsenic pure, unadulterated xenophobia and idiosyncratic anxiousness made manifest successful expansive sci-fi schemes. This makes not conscionable Luthor a amended character, but Superman a amended film.

Bad Guys Should Be Bad

Luthor’s pettiness results successful him being much amusive to ticker arsenic a atrocious guy, but it besides makes him consciousness much quality than helium different would be. A recurring contented with some heroes and villains for the past respective years of comic publication movies is galore of them being driven by abstract ideals alternatively of thing concrete. This inclination near galore of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase 4 heroes struggling to support up with villainous counterparts that are much credibly motivated. If you portion fantastical worldly similar elephantine monsters and pouch dimensions distant from Luthor, radical similar him bash beryllium successful the existent satellite – overly affectional men of powerfulness brimming with rage and devoid of empathy, railing against immigrants for nary crushed beyond their ain idiosyncratic hang-ups. This whitethorn not beryllium relatable to overmuch of the audience, but they’re astir surely recognizable.

Not that the occasional well-intentioned extremist can’t beryllium great. Magneto’s backstory arsenic a Holocaust subsister driving him to convulsive ends to support mutantkind makes him 1 of Marvel's astir fascinating characters. Poison Ivy having an understandable hatred for humanity’s biology demolition gives her femme fatale instauration much nuance. And astatine slightest successful the MCU, Thanos having a philosophical rationale for his crusade helped crook him into 1 of the astir iconic CBM villains of each time.

But conscionable arsenic often, flimsy attempts astatine that benignant of quality autumn flat, similar Orm from 2018’s Aquaman paying articulator work to water contamination erstwhile it doesn’t truly origin into the plot, Dar-Benn from The Marvels hating Carol Danvers for inadvertently destroying her location satellite of Hala without giving america a crushed to attraction astir her beyond that, oregon adjacent Zod from the past Superman reboot, Man of Steel, seemingly being intended arsenic a tragic villain (because helium was designed to beryllium thing but a warrior successful work of Krypton adjacent aft its destruction), but ne'er generating immoderate pathos due to the fact that of the film’s mediocre storytelling and dour tone.

Gunn and Hoult’s instrumentality connected Luthor besides stands successful stark opposition to erstwhile movie iterations of the character. The Donnerverse Lex, played by Gene Hackman successful the archetypal Christopher Reeve films and Kevin Spacey successful Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns, was much obsessed with bizarre existent property schemes than Superman, who helium hated much for interfering with his plans than connected a visceral gut level. The DCEU’s Lex, played by Jesse Eisenberg, was an incoherent antagonist due to the fact that helium seemed to person 4 oregon 5 antithetic motivations astatine once: a tendency to support metahumans successful cheque (of which Superman was but one), issues with an abusive father, a vague fixation connected God, and his hypocritical tendency to manipulate alien exertion adjacent if helium knows that it besides heralds a coming apocalypse successful Darkseid. Superman’s Lex goes backmost to basics and winds up being the champion movie mentation of the quality for it.

Lex Luthor’s Pettiness successful the Comics

Of course, Luthor being a petty antagonist has besides been 1 of his astir recurring traits successful the comics. Luthor’s Silver Age root story, archetypal depicted successful 1960’s Adventure Comics #271, revealed that Luthor knew Clark Kent erstwhile they were some teenagers surviving successful Smallville. An mishap caused by Luthor’s carelessness during an experimentation results successful his laboratory being acceptable connected fire, destroying not conscionable his probe but besides his hair. Superman (then known arsenic Superboy) saves Luthor’s life, but the second blames him for his losses, opening his lifelong obsession with the Man of Steel. The information that Luthor’s crusade mostly started due to the fact that his ain actions made him bald goes to amusement however irrational his hatred of Superman is. Although the movie doesn’t usage this root story, Gunn sticks to the tone of the root worldly with Luthor’s characterization.

The classical 40 cakes infinitesimal from The Super Dictionary.

There are galore different examples from the comics of conscionable however deranged Luthor’s thought process is. Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s All-Star Superman (which Gunn said was 1 of his biggest inspirations for the film) famously features a leafage wherever Superman pleads with a Luthor connected decease enactment to usage his last days to assistance humanity with his intellect. Luthor responds by spitting successful Superman’s face. In Paul Cornell’s The Black Ring storyline, Luthor becomes all-powerful aft being infused with vigor from the Phantom Zone. He could use that powerfulness to make cosmopolitan bid and happiness, and seems tempted by that idea, until helium learns he’d besides person to springiness up his tendency to termination Superman, resulting successful him losing the powerfulness completely. And 1 of the astir celebrated memes astir Luthor, an representation from the 1978 children’s publication The Super Dictionary that claims helium stole 40 cakes “and that’s terrible,” was really canonized successful Superman #709, with a flashback to Clark and Luthor’s schoolboy days revealing that Lex stole 40 cakes from the schoolhouse cook merchantability due to the fact that his subject just task was rejected.

Gunn pursuing these examples and delivering a classical instrumentality connected Luthor who is quality without being sympathetic helps the movie debar immoderate accidental “both sides” messaging, firmly planting the audience’s sympathies with Superman and his worldview. The Superman vs. Lex dynamic successful some the comics and the movie is axenic id vs. ego, with Lex having nary prime but to clasp his villainous tendencies to counteract Superman’s goodness. Although Lois Lane challenges Superman’s idealistic stance successful the interrogation scene, the movie comes down connected Superman’s broadside by ne'er making it look similar Luthor has a bully crushed for what he’s doing. The sole counterpoint–the uncover that Kal-El’s commencement parents sent him to Earth connected a ngo to regularisation it–is wholly rebuked by Clark’s speech with Pa Kent (Pruitt Taylor Vince), who stresses that Clark’s selfless choices person made him a leader nary substance what his commencement parents intended.

Lex not knowing that, nor that his ain choices are what pb to his ruin by the extremity of the film, makes him not conscionable an perfect mirror-opposite to Superman, but an perfect exemplary for different comic publication movie villains going forward.

Carlos Morales writes novels, articles and Mass Effect essays. You tin travel his fixations connected Twitter.