Lex Luthor (Superman Movies)

Character
Name:	Lex Luthor
Occupation:	Fraudster, murderer
Relationships:	Clark Kent (enemy), Lois Lane (enemy), Otis (Henchman), Eve Teschmacher (Girlfriend - Superman and Superman II), Lenny Luthor (Nephew, henchman - Superman IV), Kitty Kowalski (Girlfriend - Superman Returns)
Fandom:	Superman Movies
Other:
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If you were looking for another version of this character check the Lex Luthor disambiguation page.

Lex Luthor (played by Gene Hackman in Superman, Superman II and Superman IV, Kevin Spacey in Superman Returns) is a ruthless con man and occasional scientist with a mania for land grabs. He seems to have no other goals in life apart from luxurious living. He is usually aided by various sidekicks (most notably henchman Otis in Superman and girlfriend Eve Teschmacher in Superman and Superman II, and various thugs plus girlfriend Kitty Kowalski in Superman Returns. He likes opera and a hedonistic lifestyle; in Superman he has a palatial base under Metropolis, in Superman Returns he lives on a yacht he has obtained by marrying then murdering a rich old lady. He has a tendency to boast, often when he would do better to remain silent.

Canon

In Superman he plans to steal and fire nuclear missiles to trigger an earthquake which will sink the US West Coast, to create a new coastline made up of land he owns. As he is planning this Superman goes public, and Luthor realises that he is a threat. Somehow Luthor uses newspaper information about Superman to deduce the existence of Kryptonite, and uses it to poison Superman. He makes the mistake of saying that one of the missiles will be fired at Eve Tesmucher's mother's home town; she frees Superman who is able to thwart the plan and eventually captures Luthor and Otis.

Tesmucher isn't captured and in Superman II breaks Luthor out of prison. While he is in prison he has developed an "alpha wave tracker" which leads him to Superman's Arctic "Fortress of Solitude" where he learns about Superman's Kryptonian past. This coincides with the arrival of General Zod and other Kryptonian criminals from the Phantom Zone. Lex guesses that Zod will reward him for the information that Superman (who is currently de-powered for various reasons and living as Clark Kent) is the son of Jor-El, Zod's enemy, and that Lois Lane can be used as bait to trap him. This turns out to go badly for Lex and the Kryptonian criminals, with Superman capturing them and restoring the status quo.

In Superman IV: The Quest for Peace Luthor's nephew helps him to escape and they take advantage of Superman's attempts to end the threat of nuclear war to create a "Nuclear Man" combining atomic power and Superman's DNA. Superman outwits and destroys it and returns Lex to prison and Lenny to a boy's home.

In Superman Returns it is revealed that Superman left Earth, apparently shortly after the events of Superman II. Lex uses his absence to con his way out of prison, marries an elderly heiress with an estate worth millions, and with the help of Kitty Kowalski and his henchmen plans another land grab. He knows the location of the Fortress of Solitude and returns there to steal Kryptonian technology. Learning that they used crystals to build vast structures he hits on the idea of using them to create new land masses which he will own, while destroying most of the existing continents. As he is planning this Superman returns to Earth, going public when Lex's trial run of this technology creates a magnetic pulse which endangers Lois Lane, who now lives with Perry White's nephew, Richard White, and has a young son, Jason. While investigating this Lois and her son are captured by Lex and taken out to sea in his yacht. Along the way Lex realises that Jason reacts oddly to Kryptonite and suspects he is Superman's son, but does nothing about it. Naturally Lex has planned for Superman's arrival and the continent he starts to build is contaminated with Kryptonite. When Superman arrives Lex stabs him with a Kryptonite knife then throws him into the sea. Again things don't go entirely to Lex's plan; Lois and Richard rescue Superman and he throws Luthor's continent into space. Luthor escapes with Kitty, but their helicopter runs out of fuel, leaving them stranded on a tiny island.

Fanon

Fanon for these films often treats Superman, Superman II and Superman Returns as a continuing narrative (ignoring the different casts and the gap of 26 years between the second and third films), and largely ignores Superman III and Superman IV. If the Reeves films are looked at in isolation stories usually concentrate on the Lois/Clark relationship; with Superman Returns the triangle of Lois, Clark, and Richard is important. In both cases Lex is mostly seen as an occasional threat to the eventual happiness of the main characters. Lex is rarely seen in other roles or presented more sympathetically.

Fanworks

Fanfic

• Superman Returns/Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman: The Planes by Dandello (2006-7) - "When Superman and Lois are thrown into a world where Clark Kent is EnC of the Daily Planet and married for ten years to Lois Lane, things get more than a little strange for both sets of Lois and Clark." (2006-7) - Lex is important in the second story of the series.
• Family Reunion by Mr Beeto (2008) - "AU Twist on Donner/Singer Movieverse: Tie the three films together into a cohesive whole, and provide a more credible and interesting reason for Superman to have returned to Krypton, and of course, more complications when he gets back." - Combines Superman, Superman II, and Superman Returns and adds a version of Supergirl. Long.
• Home is Where The Heart Is by Mr Beeto (2006) - "Immediately follows the events of Superman Returns. One does not discover that they are a parent without a bit of reflection and reevaluation of their priorities. What will that reflection mean for Clark, Lois and Jason?" Long.
• Superman Returns II: Men of Steel by Laurence Ireland (2007) - "A sequel to the Bryan Singer movie. Six months on. Clark Kent finally decides to emerge from the shadow of his alterego, Lex Luthor resurfaces, a new supervillain is born, and there's still the question of Jason's upbringing to be resolved..." - script format.
• Little Secrets by Kala Lane Kent (2006) - "Set after the events of SII, Lois Lane's memories return, leaving her to struggle alone with events now revealed, as well as two little secrets she never imagined. Her life moves on. But when Superman reappears on Earth, can they repair what they've lost?" - First story of this series

Archives & Fannish Links

• The Big Apricot is a fan site for the movies, combining a fanfic archive, discussion boards, and resources such as scripts for most of the Superman films.