Lex Luthor is a supervillain in The CW's Arrowverse, based on the character of the same name created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.[1] Adapted for television in 2017 by Glen Winter and Greg Berlanti, he made his first appearance in the episode "Luthors" of Supergirl.[2][3] In the Arrowverse, Luthor is depicted as an independent businessman who runs a company called LuthorCorp, and also as the arch-nemesis of Superman. At some point, he and Superman were friends, but their friendship ended when Superman refused to embrace Lex's violent and chaotic ideology. Lex then developed an obsession with Superman, resulting in his eventual imprisonment. Later, he perceives Supergirl as a threat and shifts his focus towards her, abandoning his plan to target her cousin.
When a Supergirl TV show was announced, speculation arose about whether Lex would appear.[5] The character made an appearance in the episode "Luthors" during Supergirl's second season in 2017, with Aidan Fink portraying a young Lex Luthor.[6] Eventually, Jon Cryer appeared in season 4 as an adult Lex Luthor, in a recurring capacity as the "big bad" of the season.[7] He later returned for season 5 and season 6, as a recurring character and the primary villain in these episodes.[8][9] He also played a crucial role in the Arrowverse crossover event titled "Crisis on Infinite Earths" in 2019 and 2020.[10]
Characterization
Jon Cryer was cast as Lex Luthor in 2017.[11] He was the first and only choice of producers Robert Rovner and Jessica Queller, who admitted to being his biggest fans.[12] When asked about his portrayal, Cryer responded that it was a "lovely" experience, and he wanted to do justice to the character in the show. Cryer had previously portrayed Lenny Luthor, the nephew of Hackman's version of Lex Luthor, in Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987). Cryer stated a reason for accepting the role in Supergirl as wanting to do justice to the Luthor name after the negative response to Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. Producer Jessica Queller expressed her satisfaction with Cryer's casting, stating, "I don't think we could have possibly done better in our casting, and I mean, we're just thrilled."[13]
According to Jon Cryer, Lex Luthor is a sociopath with only one true link to reality, his sister Lena Luthor.[14] He highlighted Lex's intelligence and focus on science while acknowledging that his narcissism causes problems for everyone else. When asked what it is like to play a villain, Cryer said he was still getting used to the role and found it challenging.[15]
Cryer also pointed out that Lex displays manipulative behavior towards others in the series, viewing them as simple inferiors.[16] Regarding his character's development in season 6, where Lex falls in love with the character Nyxlygsptlnz, Cryer admitted he was initially scared about removing Lex's "dark side." He questioned why Lex would fall in love, considering his nature as Lex Luthor.[17] However, he eventually embraced the storyline and enjoyed playing the character.
Cryer had a strong influence in the show's usage of the character. He was a strong advocate for Lex eventually defeating Supergirl, and he pitched this idea numerous times to the show's producers.[18] He also requested that Luthor be a part of "Crisis on Infinite Earths," despite the studio not initially planning to include him. Cryer believed that Luthor's role in Marv Wolfman's and George Pérez's 1985 original comic book storyline was important, and not having him in the event would be "humiliating."[19]
Lex Luthor was born sometime after 1984 in Metropolis to billionaires Lionel and Lillian Luthor. Since early childhood, he has exhibited an extremely high intellect, as well as anti-social behavior. In 1997, the Luthor family adopted Lena, the illegitimate daughter of Lionel and Lex's half-sister, which angered him initially. However, over time, Lex and Lena became close friends.
During his teenage years, Lex showed signs of psychopathy. His father, Lionel distanced himself from him, further fueling Lex's resentment and hatred towards him. After Lionel's death, Lex inherited the family company, LuthorCorp. He also met Superman, and the two initially worked together to stop alien invasions. However, Lex's methods were too brutal for Superman's liking, leading to a falling out between them. Lex began to believe that Superman was responsible for the invasions, and his obsession with the superhero caused a fracture in his relationship with Lena.
Evolution of the Character
Lex Luthor's journey from the pages of Action Comics #23 in 1940 to his prominent role in The CW's Arrowverse reflects a remarkable evolution that goes beyond ink and paper. In the early years, Lex was portrayed as a brilliant yet one-dimensional adversary with an intense hatred for Superman. As the comic landscape evolved, so did Lex, transforming into a multifaceted character with intricate layers.
The live-action adaptations further emphasized Lex's evolution. Actors like Scott James Wells, Sherman Howard, and John Shea contributed to expanding Lex's complexity in various TV shows, showcasing his multifaceted nature. However, it was Jon Cryer's portrayal in the Arrowverse that truly brought a fresh perspective.[20]
After several years of brutal encounters resulting in numerous fatalities, Lex and Superman had a final confrontation in early 2016. Before the confrontation, Lex turned Earth's yellow sun red in an attempt to depower Superman, causing destruction on a global scale. Luthor was found by the police but managed to escape, only to later be captured by Superman.
At his trial, Lex killed the judge and all the trial. He was sentenced to thirty-one consecutive life terms and sent to Stryker's Island Penitentiary. While in prison, he hired an assassin, John Corben, to kill his sister Lena, who had taken over LuthorCorp (later renamed L-Corp). His plan failed when Superman and Supergirl intervened.
In 2018, the Minister of Defense of Kaznia informed Lex about the existence of a copy of Supergirl. Lex traveled with the minister to Kazakhstan to meet the duplicate and began her training. After months of training, he took her to National City to familiarize her with Supergirl's life. The Supergirl duplicate developed a sickness, and to save her, Lex entered a radioactive chamber, giving him cancer. Lex was granted a mercy furlough from prison and was transported to his mansion.
Lex then orchestrated a plan in which his assassin and love interest, Eve Teschmacher, would shoot James Olsen and distract Lena. As Lena went to the hospital, Lex cut the electricity, forcing her to inject James with an experimental vaccine to save his life, in the hope that it would also cure Lex's cancer. The vaccine worked, curing Lex and giving him superhuman powers. He battled Supergirl and later went to the White House to meet with the president, using his influence to arrange a Kaznian attack on the United States.
During the attack, Lex manipulated the Supergirl duplicate, known as "Red Daughter," to kill Supergirl's mother. After the attack, Lex seemingly killed Red Daughter and used her energy to power a special cell. He then supplied energy to the houses damaged by the Kaznian bombings, and, with the President's support, he became the Secretary of the United States Department of Alien Affairs, gaining control over America.
Lex's ambitions extended further, and he invaded Argo City, on the home planet of Superman. A team led by Supergirl stopped his attack, and he battled Supergirl, ultimately losing. He went to a cabin where he and Lena had spent vacations, where Lena extracted the serum from his body, resulting in his death.
At the beginning of the Anti-Monitor's invasion of the Multiverse, the Monitor brought Lex back from the dead to assist the heroes. In return, Lex asked him to ensure that Lena maintained her Pre-Crisis memories. The Monitor brought him to the Waverider, where he met a furious Kara Danvers and Kate Kane / Batwoman. He then found the Book of Destiny on the ship and left to kill as many versions of Superman as he could.
His first target was Earth-75's Superman, whom he killed. He then traveled to Earth-167 with the same intentions but learned that Clark Kent had given up his powers. Next, Lex went to Earth-96 and used the Book of Destiny to brainwash Clark Kent / Superman to fight the Superman from Lex's universe. However, Lois Lane from Lex's universe intervened and knocked Lex out, ending his control.
Lex was locked up on the Wave Rider, but he managed to get the Book of Destiny again. He used it to save himself from the anti-matter wave that destroyed the Wave Rider and the whole Multiverse. By doing so, he became known as the Paragon of Truth and transported himself to the Vanishing Point.
At the Vanishing Point, Lex attempted to open a portal to reality with a machine, with the help of Ryan Choi but failed. Barry Allen / The Flash later returned from the Speed Force, unable to find a way out of the point. Oliver Queen / Spectre appeared and helped Barry unlock his full potential, sending Lex, Kara, and Ryan to the past, specifically to the planet Maltus, 10,000 years before the Monitor created the Anti-Monitor. There, Lex tried to betray his team, but he failed to get the monitor to side with him. The team was then transported to the Dawn of Time to fight the Anti-Monitor. Lex and the other Paragons fought the Anti-Monitor's army, and Oliver sacrificed himself to recreate the Multiverse.
In the new Multiverse, Lex's Earth merged with Earth-1 and Jefferson Pierce / Black Lightning's Earth. As a result, Lex was seen by the public as a good guy, which Supergirl doubted. In this new reality, he became the owner of LuthorCorp and the leader of the Department of Extranormal Operations, which was now a subsidiary of his company. Lex also became a Nobel Peace Prize winner.
At some point, Lex Luthor met with his mother, Lillian, who is now the head of the Luthor Foundation, and they started scheming to destroy the Fortress of Solitude. To win Lena over, Lex used a truth-inducing organism on his arm to prove his honesty. At a "Man of Tomorrow" event held by the Luthor family, reporter William Dey privately talked to Kara, voicing his suspicion that the Luthors were involved in the disappearance of Russell Rogers after they bought out his company. Brainiac 5 later visited Lex, expressing concern about Leviathan, and showed him a picture of a possible doppelganger that resembles Winn Schott.
Lex Luthor visits Gamemnae / Gemma Cooper and persuades her to arrange a collaboration between LuthorCorp and Obsidian Tech. After Brainiac 5 becomes the new Director of the D.E.O. following Alex Danvers's resignation, he gives Lex the information he needs from the alternate Winn Schott / Toyman's A.I. hacking. Lex then tracks down Gemma and offers a partnership between LuthorCorp and Obsidian Tech. From the first day of Earth-Prime, Lex had manipulated Eve Teschmacher into being his inside person in Leviathan. He tricks her into killing Jeremiah Danvers. While Supergirl is preventing a Sun-Eater from eating the Sun, Lex goes to the scene where those who were trapped in virtual reality are being held and frees them, killing Margot Morrison. Gemma confronts Lex about his actions, and he states that she should focus her anger on their mutual enemy, Supergirl. Later that night, Lex reveals to Eve that the people who had protected her mother will dispose of her should she go against him. He also has footage of Eve killing Jeremiah. When Eve states that he is worse than Leviathan, Lex disagrees. After a talk with his mother, Lex uses Lena's transportation watch to go to the Fortress of Solitude.
Lex visits Lena at Stryker's Island, noting that her project would fail, causing Lena to see that Kara was right about Lex. After getting a call from Gemma that Rama Khan succeeded in his mission to obtain the Kryptonite from the D.E.O., Lex informs Brainy that they now have access to Leviathan's ship. When he enters the ship, Lex is given a special pin by Gemma to keep him safe from the ship's defenses. The two of them begin their plot involving the Unity Festival. After Brainiac 5 enters the code that leads to the bottling of Rama Khan, Tezumak, and Sela, Gemma briefly shuts down, causing Lex to go after Brainiac 5. He finds a weakened Brainiac 5 on Leviathan's ship and claims the bottle contains Rama Khan, Tezumak, and Sela. After getting away, he gives the bottle to Lillian to begin their next plot.
Lex proceeds with the next phase of his plan, having Lillian copy the powers of the Leviathan members into him, despite her warning of the potential outcome. During the fight at the Fortress of Solitude with Supergirl, Lex manages to use the Phantom Zone Projector to send Supergirl into the Phantom Zone. He is subsequently arrested and put on trial. While incarcerated at National City Prison, Lex is visited by Lillian, who reminds him that she warned him. Lena then arrives and uses the brainwashing machine, Myriad, to erase the memory of Supergirl's identity from their minds. In the trial, Lena testifies against him, revealing that he used brainwashing technology to manipulate the jury. To his shock, the verdict is that he is innocent.
Afterward, Lex and Lena engage in a power struggle for control of LuthorCorp. Lex sends his bodyguard, Otis Graves, to sabotage the new children's wing at the hospital. When Lena confronts him, she tells him that killing him won't change anything, and she decides to leave LuthorCorp.
Lex later visits the future, where he befriends and falls in love with a future version of Nyxlygsptlnz, known as "Nyxly." Together, they combine science and magic, but Nyxly makes a mistake with the Totems, resulting in her death. Lex preserves Nyxly's mind in the form of an A.I. and places it in a Lexosuit, which he sends to the present Nyxly to prevent her death. However, at present Nyxly wants nothing to do with him. Undeterred, Lex tries to win her back with Otis's advice, but Nyxly rejects his assistance. Lex devises a plan to get the Love Totem to her, but Nyxly is not pleased with his involvement, and the Superfriends end up with the totem.
Lex saves Nyxly from being imprisoned, revealing their future romance and his attempts to save her. With the help of the Nyxly A.I., Nyxly obtains the dream totem, and Lex assists in obtaining the remaining Totems. The Superfriends manage to retrieve the other pieces of the Totems, leading to a final battle between Lex, Nyxly, and the Superfriends. Lex and Nyxly create magical constructs resembling their enemies, such as Kara Danvers / Overgirl, Red Tornado, Metallo, and dragons. In the end, they are defeated, and Lex opens a portal to the Phantom Zone, intending to unleash Phantoms on the Superfriends. However, due to their hubris, the Phantoms are instead attracted to Lex and Nyxly, dragging them into the Phantom Zone. This is made possible because Supergirl and her allies rallied the people of National City to have courage, which counteracts the hubris emitted by Lex and Nyxly, making them prime targets for the Phantoms.
Appearances
Arrowverse
The character first appeared in the episode "Luthors" of Supergirlseason 2, portrayed by Aidan Fink as a young Lex Luthor, in 2017.[21]
An alternate version was mentioned in two episodes of Superman & Lois in 2021. The John Henry Irons of an alternate Earth stole an exosuit from his reality's Lex Luthor, which he used in the fight against his world's Superman and Tal-Rho. The A.I. Hedy originally referred to John as "Captain Luthor.". Superman and Lois of their Earth thought that he was a relative of Lex Luthor until the fingerprints on the box he had proved otherwise.
Lex Luthor appears in season 3, portrayed by Michael Cudlitz.[24] This version sports a long goatee. The episode "Too Close to Home" had Bruno Mannheim mentioning to John Henry Irons that Lex Luthor was responsible for killing Boss Moxie. However, it is later revealed that Luthor's confession to the crime was falsified, and it was Mannheim's wife, Peia, who confessed while disguising her voice as Luthor's, leading Clark and Lois to realize that Luthor is innocent.
In flashbacks seen in the episode "Injustice", Lex Luthor was sentenced to life at Stryker's Prison by Judge Tara Reagan, where his family life has been strained. When he finds Otis Grisham working on an inmate's hair with an electric razor, Lex asks to borrow it so that he can do his hair. Otis punches Lex as he tries to win over the other inmates, resulting in Otis and the nearby inmates beating him up. When meeting with Warden William Ellis, Lex has him call a specific number that turns out to be Warden Ellis' home number. Upon answering it, he finds that Lex's associates on the outside have threatened his family, and Lex blackmails him into allowing him to run the prison population. Warden Ellis complies with his demands. Lex starts by having the guards beat up Otis and those who beat up Lex. Warden Ellis later procures Lex a razor, which he uses to shave his head. Once the shaving is done, Lex has an inmate recuperating in a wheelchair sweep up the hair. One inmate with missing teeth takes down his meal order, and another inmate serves as his chair.
Following Peia's death, Lex is released from prison upon the truth being made known. He orders Warden Ellis to delay the news of his release and has him call up Otis to see where he should meet him. Lex walks down the street until he arrives at the Kent family farm. While noting how he knows about what happened to Bruno Mannheim, Lois's cancer treatment, and how she and Clark have two sons, Lex states that he does not want their forgiveness. As Otis shows up to pick up Lex, he enters the car, advising Lois to retire and to tell Superman that he'll be coming for him. While being driven around, Lex is given Dr. Aleister Hook's bloody glasses as he takes Lex to the location where Otis got out of Dr. Hook. Upon arrival, they find Bizarro feeding off some rats. Lex then watches as Bizarro attacks Otis enough to rip off his ear. Lex then shoots Bizarro with a laser and finds that he can come back to life. With help from Otis and some hired help, Lex performs different fatal experiments on Bizarro using X-kryptonite enough to cause him to further mutate. After arranging for Judge Reagan to be killed offscreen, Lex dispatches Otis and his female minion, Gretchen Kelley, to abduct Sam Lane. Lex then confronts Superman at the Kent family farm as he summons the monstrous Bizarro. While leaving, Lex orders the monstrous Bizarro to bring him Superman's heart when he is done with him.
Reception
Cryer was cast to portray Lex Luthor on November 16, 2018, in a recurring role on the CW show Supergirl.[25] Many fans started pointing out comparisons and differences between his version and Jesse Eisenberg's version, with many suggesting that Cryer's portrayal is at the right age, better at manipulation, and intends to be more comic accurate, which was an important factor according to the fans. However, some critics mentioned that his version lacked clear direction.[26] In the book "Adapting Superman: Essays on the Transmedia Man of Steel," there is a chapter titled "Forging Kryptonite: Lex Luthor's Xenophobia as Societal Fracturing, from Batman v Superman to Supergirl," which analyzes both versions of Lex Luthor as part of a representation exploring the cultural effects of encroaching xenophobia from society to the family in the years around the 2016 United States presidential election.[27]
Comparisons were also made with Michael Rosenbaum's version, this time citing that Cryer's dynamic with Superman is never shown and he is not as relatable as expected.[28] In an interview with the website CBR.com, Jon Cryer claimed that the ending of Supergirl's season 6 was intentionally left open for a potential return of his character in another Arrowverse or another DC show in the future, due to the overwhelming support from the fans.[29]IGN supported the idea that Cryer's version was the definitive one and praised his performance, noting that it had a significant impact on the "Crisis on Infinite Earths" crossover event and Supergirl'sseason 5.[30]
The character appears in the Crisis on Infinite Earths tie-in comic book one-shot, titled "Crisis on Infinite Earths Giant #1.". During the latter one, Lex joins other universes' Lexes, and together they form the Council of Luthors, with the common goal of killing all Supermen and defeating the Council of Supermen. However, his Council fails in its mission.
