Controversial Superman Opinions

[Marik Swift]

Since we were talking about him anyway ..

Controversial opinion about Lex Luthor:

Lex Luthor, not Bruce Wayne, is the most cunning and dangerous man on Earth. And needs to be treated as such.

Lex should be a whole lot smarter and a whole lot richer than Bruce Wayne. Lexcorp should be able to buy out Wayne Enterprises 10 times over.

Lex, always aggressively and often unethically, pursues power through influence, and influence through wealth, and wealth through innovation, and innovation through inspiration.

And Lex is never not inspired.

All the current qualities of the Batgod that make Superman fans annoyed as hell? Take them from Bruce and give them to Lex. Lex is the one who figures the Leaguers could turn against humanity and arranges contingency plans for all of them. Lex figures out Batman is Bruce Wayne on his lunch hour after thinking about it for 20 minutes.

Lex has only one weakness: he is always at high risk to lose his composure only around Superman. Supes is the only one who can make the otherwise unflappable Lex lose his ****.

Luthor should dress in all-white, like he did in those SMALLVILLE flash-forwards or in the 2007 DOOMSDAY animated movie.

Not all of these are controversial, but I agree with all of this.

[Flash Gordon]

Ah...let me add another Lex opinion...

The back story of Lex from SMALLVILLE is vastly superior to nearly every other version of his history,and should be official canon.Not every single nuance,mind you,but the general idea of Lex,son of Lionel Luthor ( who is basically Byrne's Lex Luthor albeit with hair) and heir to the Luthor dynasty, being rescued from certain death by a young Clark Kent,becoming friends before the darkness in his soul slowly drives a wedge between them. The Lex on that show and his arc is so layered and is the perfect marriage of Elliot Maggin's tragic figure of the Bronze Age and the evil robber baron of the Post Crisis era. To me it's the only Lex that works as the main nemesis of Superman as well as a supporting cast member.

Thusly,id retcon all the Post Crisis Byrne Lex stories as being Lionel,complete with the origin,his connection to Perry, the Jerry White stuff etc.

100% agree.

[Superlad93]

It's hard to buy into that idea when we have Lex doing stuff like strangling a woman because she beat him in a sparring match. Superman seeing any good in him just makes him look naive.

I've never been sure about Lex killing people. Even if Lex does, I'd imagine Clark wants him to pay his debt to society in the only meaningful way he can: with his mind.

[Flash Gordon]

Lex does kill, he is not a heroic man. He is selfish and arogant and likes to think that he is being held back by Superman but he is not. He also has had a lot of people killed, which is the same thing.

He should not just kill willy nilly though, I don't want to see him strangling a woman for beating him at chess or whatever. That's cartoonish.

[Superlad93]

I don't think Lex has to be a "heroic man" to think killing a person is unnecessary. He'd probably kill when it's absolutely required, and even when he does he wouldn't do it as a hand wringing villian.

But to be clear, I don't think Lex is some misunderstood good guy. I think he's a depiction of all of our lesser --not evil--impulses. I also like a slight unintentional comedic tint to him (sometimes).

[Flash Gordon]

I don't think Lex has to be a "heroic man" to think killing a person is unnecessary. He'd probably kill when it's absolutely required, and even when he does he wouldn't do it as a hand wringing villian.

But to be clear, I don't think Lex is some misunderstood good guy. I think he's a depiction of all of our lesser --not evil--impulses. I also like a slight unintentional comedic tint to him (sometimes).

I was just openly stating that, not as a counter to your point.

I don't think Lex Luthor is above killing someone, but I do think it is rare that he'd pull the trigger himself. I also don't think it's something he does often. I think he may have killed his father, but there isn't much proof. In my head cannon, Lionel Luthor's death is his big rise to power. I don't think Lex is interested much in murder and in crimes of passion, but he does have skeletons in his closet.

Michael Rosenbaum nailed "my Lex". That's the best portrayal ever. A man who always wants to be redeemed but doesn't really understand how, and is always self sabotaging that redemption with petty jealousies and an unrelenting thirst for unlimited power.

This is not a man who would lead a bunch of supervillians, nor a man who would even have a vague affiliation with someone like the Joker, but he does hate Superman and everything that Superman stands for.

[Jim Kelly]

Like with world leaders and billionaire executives, I doubt Lex Luthor ever gets his hands dirty. He hardly needs to kill someone himself and why entrap himself like that? He would always have deniability. If he ever did personally murder someone, it would probably be poison--Polonium-210--and not something that required physical contact with his victim.

Perhaps, in scientific trials for the good of humanity, volunteer subjects expired, but they would have signed documents absolving Luthor and Lexcorp of any legal responsibilty for their deaths.

I know this flies in the face of continuity, where Lex has been shown to directly kill others. But my own personal head canon tells a different story. The only instance where I could see Lex physically killing someone would be if there was someone he hated so much that he had to see them die by his own hand: Superman.

[Superlad93]

I don't think Lex Luthor is above killing someone, but I do think it is rare that he'd pull the trigger himself. I also don't think it's something he does often. I don't think Lex is interested much in murder and in crimes of passion, but he does have skeletons in his closet.

I can agree with that.

This is not a man who would lead a bunch of supervillians, nor a man who would even have a vague affiliation with someone like the Joker, but he does hate Superman and everything that Superman stands for.

I think he hates rubbing elbows with supervillians but he understands that it's needed for some of his goals. But I do imagine there are some villains that he just will not work with.

[stephens2177]

Sounds fair enough. I think that aspect, then, should be enphasized enough. Like, after Superman's "death" they managed to get a *small* sample of his DNA, but after YEARS of trying to decode it, they just came up with like, 15 % of the whole thing /(at best), so they had to resort to human DNA.

I think emphasizing that he is a human super clone should be the focus.he is not all,but more human which was mutated by kryptonian DNA (that could be deciphered),and additionally mutated by adding a TTK field to him.Imo that's why we always got a Kon who felt more human than alien or weapon,he is humanities creation,they just use the alien to create it.

They figured out enough DNA to create a mid tier superman,but not enough to have the clone able.to push the moon out of orbit.so they found the bio aura,which was already psionic in nature,just always on and at full power,just able.to be pushed even farther,kinda like a calm Hulk,and a raging Hulk.The bio aura was taken and translated into a TK field,course because it was a strictly mental power,it isn't always on,and can be off or on,or less or more effective by kons will.which makes him a unique being,with weakness kryptonians don't have,but also options they don't either.

When they write in the comics that Kon is still the closest thing to a kryptonian they mean it,closests is still not equal,or perfect,which is another reason I like the character.



Kryptonite should hurt kryptonians no matter if they have their powers or not,so even at their lowest (golden age) levels,they still want puke when the stuff is around.

The sun is a catalyst,that starts the inner body process that powers kryptonians.wgich means a powered up superman would start running out of power,like under a red sun,the switch is turned off to create it,it's just not instant by any stretch.

Lex should be the ultimate untouchable guy.no matter what he does,he doesn't get caught or punished for it.it should drive superman crazy for this reason,BUT it should drive.lex crazy that Superman is always there to stop his master plans,so it's a constant cat and mouse,both ways.

Kryptonians should be perfect physical specimens,they are evolved and genetically enhnaced species,so none of them should be out of shape or even flawed imo.superman would follow this same reasoning,BUT also add that he is constantly working out (being a hero),so he would be also pushing himself like a gym rat,so he would look buff as well.being 6'3 230lbs is a nice perfect size,he isn't Thor,but also not Spider-Man.

Superman should be about 2 things- empathy and strength

[SuperCrab]

Here's a hypothetical:

Do you think there are any Lois and Clark shippers who think the "Clark" in the pairing should be the mystery man with the human DNA working at the Daily Planet rather than SuperDad? I'd find that hilarious. They could post pictures of the interactions between "Clark Kent" and Lois Lane at the workplace trying to show their hidden feelings for each other.

[Francisco]

In my mind Lex not killing has nothing to do with morality. He doesn't do it because he is just too smart to ever have to. For him killing is a failure (Got that from the Lois and Clark tv series) a testament that he didn't handle a situation well enough as not to have to kill someone. He is not above destroying someone's life though.

[Flash Gordon]

Like with world leaders and billionaire executives, I doubt Lex Luthor ever gets his hands dirty. He hardly needs to kill someone himself and why entrap himself like that? He would always have deniability. If he ever did personally murder someone, it would probably be poison--Polonium-210--and not something that required physical contact with his victim.

Perhaps, in scientific trials for the good of humanity, volunteer subjects expired, but they would have signed documents absolving Luthor and Lexcorp of any legal responsibilty for their deaths.

I know this flies in the face of continuity, where Lex has been shown to directly kill others. But my own personal head canon tells a different story. The only instance where I could see Lex physically killing someone would be if there was someone he hated so much that he had to see them die by his own hand: Superman.

I'm of the same mind.

I did like that Lex killed Lionel himself, on Smallville. I'm not married to that, but my head cannon tells a similar yarn of Lex Luthor's rise to power/prominence. I don't think that he would ever entrap himself otherwise. I think Clark Kent would work to tie him to that murder, but find it to not really be plausible.

Lex Luthor "removes" people from his path, but doesn't get blood on himself. Random car accidents, posion, etc. Superman is a different story though, he'd want to do him in the old fashion way.

Lex is petty. He's not dumb, but his pettiness and jealousy will always trump his intelligence.

[Kuwagaton]

Eh. For all the "Superman needs a backbone" complaints, being delicate or compassionate with Lex tops my list. Sure it fits the context of them being friends previously, but if they weren't I don't like it. I'm not often crazy about Lex as a character and usually find him boring compared to Brainiac. "He looks right when things aren't in context" isn't a personality, it's a story beat to justify his space on the page. But I dig straight evil renditions: Alexei and Post Crisis... who died to me when he gave away Lena. Unlike Alexei that betrayed his character (and then Superman gave her back? lame).

I like, sometimes love, Lex in general as a ruthless genius who utterly despises compromise and who is a cool manipulator until he's faced with any disrespect, where he loses his mind. All-Star, Superman #15, Coming of the Supermen, and Villains Month showed this best as far as recent comics go. This guy could do great things but won't, and Superman is better than wringing his hands "if only." The rehabilitation thing was always for the other Clark (Doc Savage) and although plenty of good stories deal with a possible turn around, I'd hate to see it go any further since anti heroes and tragic villains are dreadfully played out. Let's let one villain be a villain.

[Superlad93]

This might sound contradictory, but I also think Lex intentionally plays up his role as the bad guy more than he has to. The idea that he has a hideout full of dictators and despots of the past came off as very try hard of Lex. He wants you to believe that he's a born dictator in order to hide his insecurity. Lex doesn't want to take responsibility for his potential, because that would mean acknowledging it, reaching it, and possibly seeing it's endpoint. He can't stand the thought of not being the main character of the universe (this is unfortunately one of the drawbacks to being self aware).

Lex is the same reason humans create fictional characters that look just like them yet have the ability to master the cosmos. He's the same reason why we thought the Earth was the center of the universe. The inability to see past one's immediate perceptions. We don't want to imagine that there's an endpoint to what we can do as individuals for better or worse. Lex is the naked expression of that, and I won't fully demonize him as evil for just doing what all humans do. So it probably really sucks for him to see this guy who is just straight up more capable. However, the funny thing is Superman has a very very modest view on how important he is and what he's able to accomplish. Superman is about the collective/others around him, but Lex is about the individual above the group.

If anyone reads or watches My Hero Academia, then Superman is One For All, and Lex is All For One.

So with that in mind, I think he'd be able to justify his killing some of the time (probably passing it off a necessary means to an end or the "necessary sacrifice" of all for the one (Lex)) and that's why I don't think he can justify it all of the time without shedding that very relatable human aspect of himself. You or I can't wake up and REALLY become the Joker, but if someone cuts us off in traffic we can become Lex for the next 5 minutes or so. That's why he's so enduring. That's why I think he's such a great foil for Superman. It's Superman vs the sh!tty (not evil) parts of being a normal human. Ultimately Lex is just a bald ********* who could probably use a hug and a timeout.

[Francisco]

This might sound contradictory, but I also think Lex intentionally plays up his role as the bad guy more than he has to. The idea that he has a hideout full of dictators and despots of the past came off as very try hard of Lex. He wants you to believe that he's a born dictator in order to hide his insecurity. Lex doesn't want to take responsibility for his potential, because that would mean acknowledging it, reaching it, and possibly seeing it's endpoint. He can't stand the thought of not being the main character of the universe (this is unfortunately one of the drawbacks to being self aware).

Lex is the same reason humans create fictional characters that look just like them yet have the ability to master the cosmos. He's the same reason why we thought the Earth was the center of the universe. The inability to see past one's immediate perceptions. We don't want to imagine that there's an endpoint to what we can do as individuals for better or worse. Lex is the naked expression of that, and I won't fully demonize him as evil for just doing what all humans do. So it probably really sucks for him to see this guy who is just straight up more capable. However, the funny thing is Superman has a very very modest view on how important he is and what he's able to accomplish. Superman is about the collective/others around him, but Lex is about the individual above the group.

If anyone reads or watches My Hero Academia, then Superman is One For All, and Lex is All For One.

So with that in mind, I think he'd be able to justify his killing some of the time (probably passing it off a necessary means to an end or the "necessary sacrifice" of all for the one (Lex)) and that's why I don't think he can justify it all of the time without shedding that very relatable human aspect of himself. You or I can't wake up and REALLY become the Joker, but if someone cuts us off in traffic we can become Lex for the next 5 minutes or so. That's why he's so enduring. That's why I think he's such a great foil for Superman. It's Superman vs the sh!tty (not evil) parts of being a normal human. Ultimately Lex is just a bald ********* who could probably use a hug and a timeout.

He just need 3 little orphan girls knocking at his door..