Villains Unveiled: The Villain of the Story
A super nemesis
Revealing the histories of fiction’s greatest villains, one evil scheme at a time.
Welcome to every dark alley, evil lair, and ominous crypt - this is Villains Unveiled, a nonfiction history series about fiction's greatest villains. Learn their dark secrets and uncover the real life inspirations behind these bad guys and wicked women.
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From Captain Hook to Hannibal Lecter, devious villains capture our imaginations - and invade our nightmares. Explore the origins of the fictional scoundrels you only think you know in this episodic history series. Discover the truth about the notorious crimes, the dark legacies, and the real life inspirations based on these fiendish foes - and find out who is the baddest of them all. Just keep telling yourself it’s all make believe… Isn’t it?
The Villain of the Story: Lex Luthor
(Spoilers ahead. Don’t be evil and give anything away for people who may not know - though it’s been nearly a century since this particular supervillain came onto the scene, but still.)
Imagine being a genius - a super genius, the smartest person in any room. Envision yourself as exceedingly wealthy, not to mention a famous industrialist and CEO of your own company. Baldness being the least of your problems, with these skills and resources, you could accomplish anything. Now make believe you have all these extraordinary gifts, pushing the limit of what a mortal man can do, but despite it all, one thing - one man - prevents you from reaching your full potential. Lex Luthor’s obsession with a certain alien has, in numerous versions of his fictional existence, kept him from everything he’s ever wanted. And what does Alexander Joseph “Lex” Luthor desire? Simply put, to be the best. To be super.
That, and world domination, of course.
Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Lex originally debuted in Action Comics #23 in 1940 (as the issue’s cover states). In the several decades he has appeared in the multiverse of DC Comics, the printed version of Lex has undergone many styles and changes: a mad scientist tinkering away in a lab (with or without fiery red hair), a suave and cunning businessman, and an over the top bad guy in a robotic suit of armor. Different continuities present Lex in various forms of villainy, whether he is building giant weapons that fire green (pre-Kryptonite) lasers, or more modern ploys that manipulate the politosphere. Most canonical interpretations share the fact that Lex is the archnemesis of the Man of Steel. His early crimes served as more pulp-driven allegorical atrocities that echoed subconscious fears of nuclear warfare.
In April 1940, the fateful issue of Action Comics hit the newsstands, altering our timeline forever. A red-haired Luthor (no first name quite yet) was introduced as a diabolical madman residing in a floating dirigible above Metropolis. Dirigibles were pretty popular back in the day. A strategist from the get-go, Luthor plots to instigate a war between two European nations. Luthor took big swings right out of the gate. The intrepid reporter Lois Lane gets - what else? - kidnapped by some of the L-Man’s thugs. Interestingly, the ginger, fully-haired Luthor employed a few bald goons. Superman, of course, intervenes, and in violent fashion. The O.G. Supes was kind of a psychopath, threatening to dash the brains of a lowly henchman all over a cave wall - and that’s only when the Last Son of Krypton wasn’t waging war on the automobile industry. Luthor’s battle-baiting had the ulterior motive of weakening a continent so he could assume control with his (cult-like) army.
The origins of the Man of Tomorrow’s greatest enemy can be traced even further back to a time when Lex Luthor wasn’t even Lex Luthor yet. 1933’s Reign of the Super-Man, also created by Siegel and Shuster, showcased a chemist named Ernest Smalley who performs an experiment on a vagrant - a scientific procedure that transforms the derelict into a telepathically powered super-man. This proto-Lex meets his doom at the hands of his own creation. Smalley bore a resemblance to the classic appearance of Lex, setting the stage for many confrontations ahead for Lex and the Big Blue Boy Scout. While not officially referred to as Luthor or Superman, the artist/writer creative duo behind them kept these archetypes in mind when the first incarnation of Lex was unleashed upon our world.
The genesis of Lex Luthor could possibly also be linked to another mad scientist, the Ultra-Humanite. Comics fans are used to seeing this terrorizing villain in his more famous white gorilla body, but in June 1939, a bald (or balding, depending on the panel) evil genius referring to himself as the Ultra-Humanite made his first appearance in Action Comics #13. Donning a classic white lab coat and bent on dominating the world, this brainy bad guy bears distinct similarities to another bald (most of the time) menace. Since Ultra was also created by Siegel and Shuster, any similarity to Lex could simply be coincidental, but it is possible that the Luthor concept was stomping within their minds, influencing them while he waited to break out and wreak havoc on comic book pages.
Tycoon, terrorist, and a would-be tyrant, Lex has taken on a multitude of roles while making various attempts to thwart Big Blue. He has also been known to attack many others in the pantheon of DC superheroes. Lex hasn’t limited his crimes to just Metropolis - on occasion, he’ll cast his emerald eyes on Gotham City. The conclusion of the Cataclysm/Aftershock story, centering on Batman and other Gothamite crime fighters (and even a certain Blüdhaven defender), led to No Man’s Land: on top of a citywide spread of diseases, a devastating earthquake plunged Gotham into a wasteland that the government declared so unsafe that it was to be cut off from society. The eventual rebuilding of the Dark Knight’s city was launched by LexCorp, to the shock of the citizens. Billionaire Bruce Wayne’s Capitol Hill lobbying had little success but Lex seized the real estate opportunity to construct Camp Lex.
Revisions of Lex have seen him become godlike with immense power, as well as even the President of the United States. Lex is used to being in a position of power as he is often portrayed as the leader of the evildoer supergroup the Legion of Doom (or even the Injustice Gang). Perhaps the most notable aspect of Lex’s notorious nature is his cruelty.
From a backup story in Superman #9, written and drawn by John Byrne and released on May 19, 1987, a disturbing tale exposes a truly diabolical version of Lex. Funnily enough, the issue’s main story focuses on the Caped Crusader’s longtime nemesis, the Joker, but Lex manages to steal the show in this comic book. The infamous Lex Luthor happens to be eating breakfast in an unassuming side of the road diner. Lex chats up his waitress, Jenny, and boasts of his financial power - and mentions his eight ex-wives - and requests that she spend a month with him in Metropolis. Despite being offered a million dollars for her time, Jenny refuses Lex’s offer. Lex waits in his limo while allowing the server to contemplate the potentially life-changing choice. In a span of minutes, Jenny is tormented with the decision to abandon her husband and her small town - the only town
she’s ever known. Before Jenny can tell Lex what she’s decided, the bald billionaire is gone. Lex and his driver laugh about the fact that he had toyed with the emotions of yet another rural yokel. No costumed champion was ever mentioned - this was Lex screwing with people just to satisfy his own devious thrills.
Animation has presented Lex as just as dangerous as his 2-D counterpart. Many voice performers have played Lex to friendish perfection, including such greats as Clancy Brown, Zachary Quinto, Diedrich Bader, Rainn Wilson, Giancarlo Esposito, Darin De Paul, Marc Maron, Charles Halford, James Woods, John DiMaggio, James Marsters, Jason Isaacs, and so, so many others. If you are lucky enough to find them, the Graphic Audio company released full cast audio productions of popular and original stories taking place within the DC Universe, where, of course, Lex Luthor was featured.
Live action adaptations of Mr. Luthor have become something similar to a Shakespearean role. Fans have debated who has given the ultimate performance, but each actor has brought a unique twist to the maniacal myth of Lex Luthor: Gene Hackman, Michael Rosenbaum, Kevin Spacey, Jon Cryer, Michael Cudlitz, Sherman Howard, Jesse Eisenberg, Lyle Talbot, Scott James Wells, John Shea, Titus Welliver, and there’s no sign of stopping there. Nicholas Hoult is slated to play the villain in the forthcoming Superman Legacy film directed by James Gunn. There is no doubt that the role of Lex Luthor will be acted out by different performers for years to come as his character has attracted legions of fans all over the world.
Real life has seen its share of supervillains, from dictators to mass murderers and every insidious criminal in between. One of the more Luthor-esque IRL bad guys is Wisconsin-born Joseph Konopka, or as he dubbed himself, Dr. Ch@os. Typically referred to as simply “Dr. Chaos” in the media, Konopka was a computer genius who even rounded up fellow all-too-real villains and henchmen to form what he called the Realm of Ch@os. Konopka’s intellect and technical knowledge spawned nasty schemes such as power failures, disrupting television and radio broadcasts, and even meddled with air traffic control programming. The so-called Dr. Chaos also added arson and vandalism to his litany of crimes. By the time of his arrest in 2002, he had been hoarding cyanide in subterranean tunnels underneath Chicago. An intelligent hacker, Konopka had managed to form an evil gang, threaten the lives of dozens of citizens, and even dwelled underground to enact dastardly deeds. A real life supervillain who thankfully served time behind bars.
In a lot of stories, some considered to be at least canonical at the time or in a fantastical offshoot timeline, Lex has been a childhood friend of Clark Kent. Of course, in some cases, they never met until Clark had already donned the S-shield. Regardless of how they meet, the pairing of the Superman and the “everyman” has represented a balance of not only good and evil, but nature in a never-ending battle against nurture. In the Smallville television series, Lex is often shown to be curious about Clark and even suspicious. Toward the beginning of the saga of young Kal-El, Lex, who wasn’t that much older, would make genuine efforts to prove that his friendship was the real deal. Jonathan Kent, like in other versions, was highly reluctant to accept anything from anyone with the last name of Luthor due the wealthy family’s cutthroat reputation. Lex’s father Lionel pushed Lex to extremes that escalated from corporate sabotage to physical confrontations. Michael Rosenbaum’s performance added a twinge of sympathy to the lonely rich man, lurking in his castle that looked over the simple farm folk of Smallville. Outlandish as the teen drama could get, the story of Lex is ultimately a tragic tale of a man that could’ve been good in a different world.
As is the case with Lex in the majority of Earths we’ve seen him in, it is his fate to be forever evil.
Villain Ranking: MASTERMIND
Lex Luthor has routinely displayed how his lust for control can lead him to commit unspeakable acts and even sacrifice his humanity. Though a brilliant tactician, Lex would score higher on the Villain Ranking if it weren’t for the fact that deep down, underneath all the scheming, there is a man - a human man that can, potentially, be reasoned with. Ever the businessman, if Lex is presented with a deal or an offer even he can’t refuse, then it is likely he’d put away his Kryptonite ring… Until the next opportunity to stop Superman arises, that is.
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