So was Luthor ever President in current continuity?

[Vordan]

I doubt DC or WBD really cares. They wouldn’t have made Tim or Jon bi if they thought that kind of backlash was worth worrying about. Hell Gunn plans to adapt the Authority which has Apollo and Middy, two gay men who are married and key members of the team. That’s not the kind of team you lead with if you’re worried about conservative backlash.

And President Luthor is too good an idea to never use.

[magha_regulus]

Luthor becoming president was one of the most brilliant but poorly executed ideas to ever grace the Superman comics. I loved that idea, but I hated the way it played out and wish it would've lasted longer. I hope Luthor was somehow president in this timeline, or at the very least remembers it due to the multiversal shenanigans he's been part of.

[HsssH]

At this point I'd rather someone else became president.

[JBatmanFan05]

Luthor becoming president was one of the most brilliant but poorly executed ideas to ever grace the Superman comics. I loved that idea, but I hated the way it played out and wish it would've lasted longer.

Yeah, much as I loved the idea and hope it's canon (I'm very confident it is), it was also poorly executed. Lex learning the secret ID briefly in the Oval Office, and the very-fun-but-over-the-top end of the Presidency in Public Enemies are mostly the only memorable portions.

[Ascended]

I doubt DC or WBD really cares. They wouldn’t have made Tim or Jon bi if they thought that kind of backlash was worth worrying about.

Maybe they don't. I'd hope they don't. But writing LBGT characters isn't the same as (what could be seen as) a direct comparison and attack on a public figure. Jon being bi can't be called an attack on an individual, know what I mean?

[Digifiend]

You know Trump was arrested, right?

Yes, but he's not been jailed, unlike Lex.

[JBatmanFan05]

Just realized something...though I doubt it would ever happen since it would offend prior creators. Marvel would be way more willing to do my idea.

I don't want DC to ever wipe out Lex's prior Presidency. And I don't think they ever will. But DC could retell the story in a separate titled book. A mixture of some retcons but also retelling some existing portions and key moments of Lex's time as President. DC probably shouldn't retell or touch Loeb's Public Enemies (the end of Pres. Lex), unless they briefly recap it at the very end, but the stuff before, they could retell that, make it better, more meaningful to Superman comics today.

Just an idea (that I doubt would ever be done...but Marvel, I believe, has done stuff sorta akin to this in recent years, like with Marvels/First Family/Season One/etc). Also, DC could do it in a "take it or leave it" way (you don't have to accept this retelling if you prefer the old one).

[Will Evans]

So since Lex wasn’t married while President, then was Lana considered the First Lady?

[JBatmanFan05]

So since Lex wasn’t married while President, then was Lana considered the First Lady?

Don't think so. Bachelor President James Buchanan's niece was his basically first lady or hostess, so the role doesn't necessarily fall to a VP's spouse only when the President is unmarried. And the sorceress Circe tried to be Lex's first lady and was refused, and Lex failed to assert that Lana was first lady instead. So Lana probably wasn't since no one mentioned that she was IIRC.
https://dcuguide.com/w/President_Luthor_Secret_Files_1

But it might have been a cool idea if DC had done that, tried have Lex make some subtle shady offer to Lana regarding that.

[Ascended]

I don't want DC to ever wipe out Lex's prior Presidency. And I don't think they ever will. But DC could retell the story in a separate titled book.

Never say never man. Waid is doing that Teen Titans flashback mini. His World's Finest is set in the past too. Taylor's doing some one-off origin re-tellings for the Titans to coincide with their new book. We've had a fairly steady diet of Batman Beyond type stuff, and Gotham Future State ran for a while, so stories set in different eras isn't as unheard of in DC as it used to be. I mean, I wouldn't bet on Lex's time as POTUS getting a story like this, but you never know. "Unlikely" is better than "impossible."

[Will Evans]

Don't think so. Bachelor President James Buchanan's niece was his basically first lady or hostess, so the role doesn't necessarily fall to a VP's spouse only when the President is unmarried. And the sorceress Circe tried to be Lex's first lady and was refused, and Lex failed to assert that Lana was first lady instead. So Lana probably wasn't since no one mentioned that she was IIRC.
https://dcuguide.com/w/President_Luthor_Secret_Files_1

But it might have been a cool idea if DC had done that, tried have Lex make some subtle shady offer to Lana regarding that.

I know that meta wise it wasn’t going to happen, but in universe I say This was the second stupidest thing Lex did was reject Circe. Not only would he have had a hot wife who doesn’t age. Sorcery is his weak point and he would have gained a powerful ally. And being a family man with another daughter would have improved his public image.

The only thing I can think of is that the Contessa soured him on marrying another long lived woman who could potentially overthrow him.

[JBatmanFan05]

Never say never man. Waid is doing that Teen Titans flashback mini. His World's Finest is set in the past too. Taylor's doing some one-off origin re-tellings for the Titans to coincide with their new book. We've had a fairly steady diet of Batman Beyond type stuff, and Gotham Future State ran for a while, so stories set in different eras isn't as unheard of in DC as it used to be. I mean, I wouldn't bet on Lex's time as POTUS getting a story like this, but you never know. "Unlikely" is better than "impossible."

Good points indeed. It's one area in Superman lore that I think a) interests readers/fans still (due to perceptions of U.S. politics, Smallville, animated adaptations, etc) and b) was definitely executed noticeably poor first time around, all the interesting things you could do weren't exploited well or memorably enough.

[CosmeticSkull]

Yes, but he's not been jailed, unlike Lex.

He could be tho.

[Vordan]

Never say never man. Waid is doing that Teen Titans flashback mini. His World's Finest is set in the past too. Taylor's doing some one-off origin re-tellings for the Titans to coincide with their new book. We've had a fairly steady diet of Batman Beyond type stuff, and Gotham Future State ran for a while, so stories set in different eras isn't as unheard of in DC as it used to be. I mean, I wouldn't bet on Lex's time as POTUS getting a story like this, but you never know. "Unlikely" is better than "impossible."

That would be my ideal, a retelling of that era that manages to deliver on the potential. Maybe even something like a 52/Avengers: No Surrender style weekly mini with multiple writers working together to handle the workload and explore how Lex becoming President affects every corner of the Super-Mythos. Ideally I’d want Waid, Priest, Spurrier (this is the only kind of Superman book I’d want him on), and Watters writing it since that would be a good mix of writers who can handle politics and writers who can explore Lex’s impact on superheroics.

[JBatmanFan05]

That would be my ideal, a retelling of that era that manages to deliver on the potential. Maybe even something like a 52/Avengers: No Surrender style weekly mini with multiple writers working together to handle the workload and explore how Lex becoming President affects every corner of the Super-Mythos. Ideally I’d want Waid, Priest, Spurrier (this is the only kind of Superman book I’d want him on), and Watters writing it since that would be a good mix of writers who can handle politics and writers who can explore Lex’s impact on superheroics.

Actually a really good idea. A 52/Batman Eternal/etc-esque thing with multiple writers/artists (an idea I had not considered at all to be honest). I definitely think you'd want Waid in the mix since he was from that Superman/DC era when Lex got elected in the first place. But I'd also be cool if Williamson and others got involved too.

I think, from DC's perspective, they should ask themselves: why did Smallville pluck that Pres. Lex thing for their show (and leave out so many other elements)? It's because the writers/showrunners read about that part in the comics or news and really liked it and thought the audience would love that element too. I think that wider mass interest in Lex's time as President continues to this day. DC even released a Trumpesque Lex trade during an election cycle to capitalize on that interest.