The Greatest Criminal Mind Of Our Time: an all-encompassing LEX LUTHOR discussion

[Punisher007]

And now we come to arguably the greatest (and indisputably my favorite) live-action Lex Luthor of them yet:

Lex Luthor VI - Michael Rosenbaum (SMALLVILLE tv show)







He was Lex Luthor full-time from the first seven seasons of SMALLVILLE and then reappeared 3 seasons later for the final episode. From Fall 2001 - Spring 2008, and then again for the series finale episode in Spring 2011, he put out a much deeper, much more emotional Luthor than had ever been seen before (or since). No one has put in more screentime as Luthor than Rosenbaum.

He's the best live action Lex thus far, BY far imo. The only thing that disappointed me about him was that, because he was in a prequel show, we never got to see him become full-on mastermind Lex with the big rivalry with Superman. We got the beginnings of it in the later seasons, but the show ended before their true comic book rivalry could truly begin.

[llozymandias]

And now we come to arguably the greatest (and indisputably my favorite) live-action Lex Luthor of them yet:

Lex Luthor VI - Michael Rosenbaum (SMALLVILLE tv show)







He was Lex Luthor full-time from the first seven seasons of SMALLVILLE and then reappeared 3 seasons later for the final episode. From Fall 2001 - Spring 2008, and then again for the series finale episode in Spring 2011, he put out a much deeper, much more emotional Luthor than had ever been seen before (or since). No one has put in more screentime as Luthor than Rosenbaum.

I really liked Michael Rosenbaum's Luthor, for the most part. There are two things I really dislike about his Lex. He keeps mispronouncing his own name. He is never shown to be a super-genius (or even just a genius). In the series finale Lionel says that Lex is a genius. Sorry but that is the same as Lex actually being a genius.

[llozymandias]

And now we come to the last man to play a live-action version of the Greatest Criminal Mind of Our Time:

Lex Luthor VII - Kevin Spacey (SUPERMAN RETURNS)







Man, I have conflicting feeling about this Lex. On the one hand, Spacey radiated intelligent malice so much more effortlessly than the last big-time cinematic Luthor (Gene Hackman). On the other hand, Spacey was forced to keep up the stupid land obsession that Hackman portrayed and it completely limits his character's motivation. Spacey had the presence, the gravitas and the credibility (THE USUAL SUSPECTS, SE7EN, AMERICAN BEAUTY) to reach "Greatest Luthor of All Time" status... only director Bryan Singer and his Donner fetish wouldn't let him.

My feelings on Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor in SUPERMAN RETURNS can be summed up in 4 words: Such. A. Wasted. Opportunity.

I first saw Kevin Spacey on Wiseguy. He was playing a character named Mel Profit. With the right script & director he could have done Luthor just about perfect. Also the right director would have said "Kevin your character here is Lex Luthor, not Lex Luther.

[manofsteel1979]

I first saw Kevin Spacey on Wiseguy. He was playing a character named Mel Profit. With the right script & director he could have done Luthor just about perfect. Also the right director would have said "Kevin your character here is Lex Luthor, not Lex Luther.

Spacey was the best thing about RETURNS. He was the perfect Post-Crisis robber baron/evil genius Lex. Pity he was playing Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor.

Hackman was good for the tone of the first two movies and it was entertaining for what it was. As was Shea on Lois and Clark. Yet both were lacking something important. With Hackman,he had the brilliant mind (his choice in sidekicks overlooked) however he was too cartoony...which again worked with the tone of the movies but outside of a few brief flashes in the first movie, he always comes off as someone that shouldn't even be in Supes league. Shea had the ruthlessness and the menace/charm quotient down...but I never got the sense he was all that overly brilliant. It's because of that that Rosenbaum is my favorite hands down. His Lex was a great distilation of what made all the comic incarnations of Lex great and added a layer of tragedy we never got in any live action Lex, yet you didn't feel overly sorry for him. He brilliantly walked that fine line with Lex all the way to the end. His character arc was well executed for the most part (definitely much better than Clark's overall IMO.)

[daBronzeBomma]

Our journey through the Lineage of the Lex Luthor Live-Actors finally concludes with

Lex Luthor VIII - Jesse Eisenberg (BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE)

Current look


Possible eventual look



So far, he's been a controversial choice. It kinda seems like roughly half the fan reaction was "Why Not Bryan Cranston?!" and the other half has been "Remember When Heath Ledger First Got Cast!" I'm quietly in the second category. This seems like the sort of left-field selection that will look a LOT better in hindsight come 2016 than it does right now.

I've only seen Eisenberg in THE SOCIAL NETWORK (that I can recall offhand) and thought his portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg was definitely Oscar-worthy. He can exude intelligence and craftiness as well as be memorably unlikeable. Anyone seen his other movies to add context to this very rough pre-evaluation?

[Rahul]

From what I've read, DC seems to be building up Lex Luthor as much as a nemesis to Batman as he is to Supermanspoilers:

like finding out his identity

end of spoilers. What does everyone think of that?

[gsnake007]

I hope Eisenberg works on his voice as well because he doesnt sound like Lex at all

[Punisher007]

Considering that Lex has sounded quite different depending on who has played him, I don't see that as a problem. Plus this is a new continuity and a new take on Lex, so different rules apply.

[Punisher007]

Our journey through the Lineage of the Lex Luthor Live-Actors finally concludes with

Lex Luthor VIII - Jesse Eisenberg (BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE)

Current look


Possible eventual look



So far, he's been a controversial choice. It kinda seems like roughly half the fan reaction was "Why Not Bryan Cranston?!" and the other half has been "Remember When Heath Ledger First Got Cast!" I'm quietly in the second category. This seems like the sort of left-field selection that will look a LOT better in hindsight come 2016 than it does right now.

I've only seen Eisenberg in THE SOCIAL NETWORK (that I can recall offhand) and thought his portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg was definitely Oscar-worthy. He can exude intelligence and craftiness as well as be memorably unlikeable. Anyone seen his other movies to add context to this very rough pre-evaluation?

He also played a "cocky arrogant genius" type of character in Now You See Me.

[daBronzeBomma]

From what I've read, DC seems to be building up Lex Luthor as much as a nemesis to Batman as he is to Supermanspoilers:

like finding out his identity

end of spoilers. What does everyone think of that?

One, this recent JUSTICE LEAGUE cover automatically rockets up to make my All-Time Top 10 Lex Luthor comic-book covers:



Two, I read it differently. It seems to me that DC is building up Lex Luthor to be as formidable across as much of the the entire DCU as possible, while keeping him tied to the Superverse. It's a good strategy, IMHO.

I've always maintained that Lex Luthor, at his best/"worst", is the DCU counterpart to the Marvel Universe's Dr. Doom as it's premiere non-cosmic all-around super-villain. They are both super-genius mortal men with pathological flaws (Doom and his bombastic rage, Luthor and his pride-fueled hate) having ridiculous resources and over-powered-battle-suits to swing with the heroic big boys.

The main difference is their primary foils: Victor long outgrew both Reed Richards as an individual rivalry and the Fantastic Four as a team obstacle and now works kinda like a enemy for the entire Marvel Universe. Luthor will never outgrow Superman. In fact, this recent version is by far the most capable I've seen in a long time. But even though he'll always be tied to Kal-El, he can experience some of that universal adaptability that Doom has. Luthor can also mix it up with Bruce Wayne, Ted Kord, Niles Caulder, just to name a few.

If Lex Luthor ever decided to fully investigate sorcery, he'd go up yet another level in terms of being formidable.

[daBronzeBomma]

Did anyone watch the 2011 film LIMITLESS with Bradley Cooper and Robert DeNiro?



The movie was pretty good, and at one point it struck me that the way Cooper's character was on the drug (before it started screwing up) is the way Lex Luthor should naturally be all the time. Also, that Kanye West song "Power" that plays toward the end of the trailer (1:40 mark onward) should double as Luthor's theme song, since it sums up Lex's existence in one sentence: "No One Man Should Have All That Power".

Luthor should demonstrate his World's Smartest Man title often. He should be an effortless polyglot on a world-record scale, for starters. The world record for multi-linguists is being able to converse in between 40 and 60 languages.

So, Lex Luthor should be perfectly fluent (understanding, speaking, reading, writing) in all dialects of the following 30 major languages:

01. English (USA, UK, Australia, NZ, Ireland, Commonwealth of Nations)
02. Mandarin (China, Taiwan, Singapore)
03. Spanish (Spain, Mexico, parts of USA, all of Central America, and most of South America)
04. Hindi (India, Nepal)
05. Arabic (Arab World: North Africa, West Asia)
06. Portuguese (Brazil, Portugal)
07. Bengali (Bangladesh, parts of India)
08. Russian (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Commonwealth of Independent States)
09. Japanese (Japan)
10. Punjabi (parts of India, parts of Pakistan, parts of UK)
11. German (Germany, Austria, Belgium)
12. Javanese (Indonesia, SouthEast Asia, Polynesia)
13. Wu (parts of China)
14. Malay/Indonesian (Indonesia, Malayesia, Singapore)
15. Korean (South Korea, North Korea)
16. Vietnamese (Vietnam)
17. French (France, parts of Canada, numerous Caribbean states)
18. Urdu (Pakistan, parts of India)
19. Cantonese/Yue (Hong Kong, Macau, parts of China)
20. Turkish (Turkey)
21. Italian (Italy)
22. Persian (Iran, Afghanistan)
23. Thai (Thailand)
24. Ukrainian (Ukraine)
25. Tagalog (Philippines)
26. Hausa (Nigeria)
27. Hebrew (Israel)
28. Swahili (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda)
29. Greek (Greece)
30. Latin (old science)

Luthor would be able to speak/understand more languages than this, but these would be his primaries.

Luthor should be showing off this underrated human talent in almost every single comic book he's in.

[exile001]

Just started re-reading H'el on Earth (this time in TPB) and had forgotten that Lex had a scar across half of his face. That must be one of his quickest ever reversals to a new status quo for Lex.

[Kid A]

Spacey was the best thing about RETURNS. He was the perfect Post-Crisis robber baron/evil genius Lex. Pity he was playing Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor.

Spacey plays the amoral a**hole so well in House of Cards, it really is a shame that Singer wasted such good casting.

[daBronzeBomma]

Lex will always be known for his bleeding-edge intelligence and cunning. Luthor as Thinker, as Dreamer, as Schemer is always given his proper due.

What about: Luthor as Fighter? One of the things I always hear/read is that if Lex Luthor and Victor von Doom ever went after each other, it's be even from afar until Victor got within punching range of Lex, and then Doom would stomp Luthor, b/c apparently Luthor doesn't know how to throw a punch. I disagree with this notion that Luthor must be a physical wimp in order to both better contrast with Superman and emphasize his own intellect. Luthor works best as a narcissistic bald twin of Bruce Wayne.

I submit the following:

Lex Luthor is a BAMF.

[The Overlord]

Well it's not real life it's a comic book movie so comparing real life ideas to what a comic book is just doesn't make sense. You are looking to much into a movie that was meant to be lighthearted set in a comic book world, especially a Superman comic book world where everything and anything could and should be possible.

This nothing to do with realism and everything to do with compelling characterization. Lex should be smart and he should have plans within plans, he should never rely on one plan and hope it works, that leaves to chance, something a real ingenious character would not allow. Lex just assuming Zod would be his ally and not have any fail safes if that wasn't the case, makes Lex look foolish, not ingenious. Really Lex just doesn't seem that smart, either as a scientist or a strategist. I still like first two old movies, but Movie Lex was always the weak link in those films.

I always allow for over top content in comic book, if the writing is good. Thor the Dark World was an okay film, but Malekith was a lame villain that film, just because the film is based on a comic book, doesn't the villains have to be buffonish or uninteresting, demanding compelling villains isn't about realism, its about demanding good writing.