Alternative versions of Lex Luthor
The fictional character Lex Luthor has appeared in a number of media, always as the archenemy of Superman. Each version of the work typically establishes its own continuity, and sometimes introduces parallel universes, to the point where distinct differences in the portrayal of the character can be identified. In addition, the DC Universe has been rewritten a number of times, establishing additional versions of the character. This article details and lists various versions of Lex Luthor depicted in works including DC Comics Multiverse, Elseworlds, television and film.
Alternative continuity
Superman: Earth One
In the alternative reality Earth One, Dr. Alexandra Luthor is a xenobiologist married to Dr. Alexander Luthor, an inventor with degrees in many fields, specializing in particle physics. The pair refer to themselves as Lex2 Incorporated. They, as in the mainstream universe, are extremely wealthy. They are hired as independent contractors by Major Sandra Lee, a United States Air Force officer tasked with first guarding and studying Superman's ship, and, after it escapes, neutralizing Superman should he pose a threat to national security. Alexandra is the more aggressive of the two, but, initially, neither actively hate Superman, although Alexandra researches ways of killing him as an intellectual exercise. Alexander Luthor is more compassionate and contemplative than the mainstream Luthor and questions the ethical implications of developing anti-Superman weapons, but willingly joins his wife and Major Lee.Alexander ultimately sacrifices himself helping Superman battle Zod; Alexandra, consumed by rage and grief, blames Superman and vows to dedicate her life to destroying him, claiming that the old Alexandra died alongside her husband and demanding to be henceforth called "Lex Luthor".
Superman: Birthright
In Mark Waid's version of Superman's origin in , Lex is shown to be roughly five years older than Clark Kent. His father Lionel is pompous, arrogant, and somewhat distant towards his son. Being an outcast in Smallville, Clark befriends him, but they separate as Lex obsesses with contacting alien civilizations. When Clark feels sick due to the Kryptonite being used in his plan, Lex banishes him from his lab and ends up becoming disfigured in an explosion. All of his hair is burned off, and Lionel is killed in the ensuing fire. Years later, Lex comes into conflict with Superman, as he attempts to recreate the accident that cost him his hair to contact extraterrestrials.Earth-Three
The parallel world of Earth-Three has a heroic counterpart of Luthor, Alexander Luthor, who is a foe of the evil Crime Syndicate of America. Alexander is married to the Lois Lane of Earth-Three.He dies in Crisis on Infinite Earths, but manages to save their son Alexander Luthor Jr.. Alex is sent to the Monitor's space station on Earth-One, where he rapidly ages to adulthood. Along with Kal-L, Lois Lane, and Superboy-Prime, he saves the merged universe before disappearing into a paradise dimension. Alex and Superboy-Prime later return as the antagonists of Infinite Crisis.
In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, Earth-3 is reintroduced as one of the 52 parallel Earths in the Forever Evil series, with Alexander Luthor now Mazahs, the Shazam of Earth-3. Though he claims to be a hero, he is shown as being just as ruthless as the members of the syndicate and is stated to be the father of Superwoman's child. He is slain by the mainstream Lex Luthor, who uses the fact that they have identical voices to depower Alexander prior to killing him. This Lex had the ability to take on the powers of those he killed; how he acquired this ability is unexplained, but it is likely as Shazam of Earth-0 can give powers to others, that Mazahs can take powers.
''JLA: Earth 2''
The 2000 ' graphic novel is an updated version of Earth-Three concept of an evil "mirror universe". Alexander Luthor''' of the anti-matter Earth 2 is a mirror image of Earth 1 counterpart. Lex Luthor is the only known hero of the Antimatter Earth. Most of Luthor’s history has not been revealed, but he has had numerous conflicts with the Crime Syndicate and the worst of their leader Ultraman. It was revealed the Luthor was only allowed to live because Ultraman likes the challenge of hunting Luthor down when the hero makes one of his inevitable escapes from custody. During one such break-out Luthor jumped dimensions, landing on the positive matter Earth. He kidnapped his counterpart Lex Luthor and assumed his identity, then searched for information about superhuman's who might help him fight the Crime Syndicate while diverting considerable Lexcorp funds to charitable causes.Luthor had accidentally brought a passenger plane with him from his home dimension, switching it with its positive matter counterpart, killing everyone onboard. The Justice League intercepted the plane as it was going down and noticed the passengers’ hearts were on the wrong side of their bodies and their one dollar bills have Benedict Arnold's face on them rather than George Washington’s.
The Justice League eventually contacted Luthor while investigating the plane’s origins and he took then introduced himself and explain his desperate need for help. The Justice League agreed and traveled back to the other Universe with him. They defeated and imprisoned the Crime Syndicate in their own lunar fortress and began working to restore order and justice to their world.
he Crime Syndicate escaped and the two teams battled but stopped when the both realized that they had been tricked by Brainiac. Brainiac had secretly eased Luthor’s escape and his trip to the matter universe; even the switched passenger planes that initially drew the attention of the teams was all Brainiac's plan. In the resulting confusion, Brainiac was able to subvert the systems of the Flying Fortress and begin the process of merging the matter and anti-matter Earths. The result would be the mutual annihilation of both worlds and Brainiac’s transformation to a being of pure energy.
The team realized they could not win in the Antimatter Universe that good simply could not prevail in that realm the Justice League gave up their attempts to reform the Antimatter Earth and stop Brainiac. Instead, the Justice League realized the only way to win was to do something evil; using the Flying Fortress’s cyclotron, they abandoned the Antimatter Earth. As the Justice League left, the Crime Syndicate was returned to their world. Ultraman stopped Brainiac and began undoing the Justice League’s interference in their world.
Luthor is free and continues to plague Ultraman. Soon after the Crime Syndicate had restored order over their Earth, Luthor had already stole the Ultraman Bank in Centropolis to gather funds for his next plan.
Trinity
In the Trinity series, reality is altered so that Superman does not exist. In this alternative timeline, Dr. Lex Luthor is a member of the underground hero group known as The League.Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew
The 1980s series Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew presented the parallel Earth of "Earth-C," a world populated by funny animal superheroes. Captain Carrot, in his secret identity of Rodney Rabbit, is the creator of the superhero comic Just'a Lotta Animals. Captain Carrot and the Zoo eventually discover the characters in Rodney's comics actually live on "Earth-C-Minus", in yet another alternate universe. Earth-C-Minus is the home of "Lex Lemur," a lemur counterpart of Lex Luthor who battled his nemesis, the heroic Super-Squirrel.Flashpoint
In the alternative timeline of the Flashpoint event, Lex Luthor is alongside his father Lionel Luthor touring Sam Lane's facility of aliens. When they are shown Subject 2 held in captive glass, Subject 2 breaks out and attacks the guards and young Lex. Lionel, in an effort to save his own life, uses Lex as a human shield. He is later killed or seriously injured.Pocket Universe
In a "pocket universe" created by the Time Trapper, a good version of Lex Luthor existed. Years after Superboy died to protect the pocket universe, Lex accidentally releases three Phantom Zone criminals led by General Zod. With no other super-powered beings in his universe to confront them, Lex creates his own Supergirl, an artificial being composed of proto-matter and based upon the image and memories of a recently killed Lana Lang. Because his artificial Supergirl is not strong enough to fight the three Kryptonians, Lex sends her to the mainstream DC universe to enlist Superman's help. During the final battle with the Kryptonian criminals, Lex is killed while piloting a fighter jet. With the last of his strength, he tells Superman where his Earth's last supply of Kryptonite is located. Superman uses it to execute the Kryptonian criminals, as the villains have killed everyone on that version of Earth.Earth-16
In The New 52 Multiversity series, Lex Luthor has parented a daughter named Alexis. Her father is dead and it is implied that he was abusive if she exhibited sub-optimal intelligence. She is involved with that world's Batman, Damian Wayne, but is using him to hack into the artificial intelligence that controls that world's Superman robots, which leads to a rampage across that world as they malfunctionEarth-17
On Earth-17, "Luthex" works with Darkseid against the Atomic Knights of Justice. This Earth experienced a devastating nuclear war in 1963.Earth 23
The Lex Luthor of Earth 23 is largely similar to his classic incarnation. He is the archrival of U.S. President Calvin Ellis, the Superman of that world and after being defeated, angrily declares that he is not a racist.Earth-30
In the miniseries , Kal-L's vessel lands in the Ukraine in 1938, not in Kansas. After Josef Stalin dies in 1953, Superman becomes Premier of the Soviet Union. In the United States, Lex Luthor is a respected scientific prodigy, and married to Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane-Luthor. He becomes Superman's nemesis and, eventually, US President. When Luthor convinces Superman that his presence is halting human progress, Superman apparently leaves Earth (in reality, he adopts his Clark Kent identity and remains hidden. Luthor become the leader of a unified world and ushers in a golden age of "Luthorism". Millennia later when the Sun has expanded into a red giant, it is revealed that he is a distant ancestor to Superman, who had been sent back in time, not through space.Earth-38
This DC Multiverse alternate Earth is based on the graphic novel , in which Superman and Batman begin their heroic careers in the 1930s. Luthor is one of the henchman of the evil scientist the Ultra-Humanite. The two men are mortally injured in a fight with Superman and Batman at 1939 New York World's Fair. The Ultra-Humanite, his body permanently damaged, secretly has his brain transplanted into the brain dead body of Luthor. Over the decades, Luthor/Humanite plots against Superman by turning Joel Kent, the powerless son of Superman and Lois Lane, against his family, claiming that they deliberately exposed Joel to gold kryptonite to prevent him surpassing his father, Luthor creating a serum that restores Joel's powers long enough for him to kill his sister Kara on her wedding day before his body collapses as Luthor reveals the truth. In 1989, Superman catches up with Luthor/Ultra-Humanite and, while trying to escape a trap, inadvertently kills Luthor. In the sequel Generations 2, in 2008, the Ultra-Humanite's remaining minions are revealed to still have Luthor's brain in cold storage, transplanting it into a robot body after it has gradually healed over the course of its time in stasis, but he is defeated by the assembled new generation of heroes, including Superman's grandson Knightwing/Clark Wayne.Earth-50
An alternate Lex Luthor exists on Earth-50, an alternate Earth on which he becomes US President and murders The Flash. Provoked beyond recall, Superman then incinerates Luthor with his heat vision and declares martial law with the assistance of the Justice League of America, corrupted into the Justice Lords on this dark alternate world.Elseworlds
- ' had Superman adopted by Thomas and Martha Wayne and growing up to become Batman. Without Superman to oppose him in Metropolis, Luthor easily takes over. He relocates to Gotham City for a new challenge, but he has an accident that gives him pale skin and permanent smile, similar to the Joker.
- ' features an upper-class Victorian Lex Luthor who is a bigoted, opportunistic gentleman explorer, contemptuous of women and non-Europeans. He has an entire African village slaughtered to obtain a unique meteoric crystal ; upon discovering its effect on the Indian jungle Superman, Luthor takes him prisoner and tries to force him into assassinating Queen Victoria, clearing the way for Luthor to seize power. This Luthor is killed by Sir Richard Francis Burton, whom he had betrayed and left for dead in India.
- In ', Luthor appears in 1939 as Ell, a henchman to the Ultra-Humanite, wearing a red wig. After the Humanite's rocket explodes, Luthor's brain is destroyed but his body is intact. Ultra has his brain placed in Luthor's body, and spends the next several decades plotting against Superman. Forty years Luthor/Ultra kills Lois Lane and arranges for Superman's powerless son to kill his empowered sister, via the use of an unstable serum which kills the boy soon after. Superman spends a decade looking for "Luthor", during which time Luthor arranges the death of Superman's other loved ones. When he finally finds him, Ultra reveals his true identity. Having removed Superman's power with gold Kryptonite, the Ultra-Humanite prepares to transplant his brain into the Man of Steel. Superman accidentally electrocutes the Ultra-Humanite when trying to pin his arm down with a metal shard. In the sequel Superman & Batman: Generations III, a cloned version of Luthor's brain is transferred into a robot in the early 21st century. With his brain enhanced by cybernetics, Luthor takes on the name Metallo and proceeds to destroy civilization. Luthor is finally defeated in the 26th century by a superpowered Batman and Superman's great-granddaughter, Supergirl-Blue.
- In JLA: Created Equal, Luthor is one of the last two men alive on Earth after a mysterious energy cloud killed every other man on the planet; apart from Luthor- who sealed himself away before he could be infected- the only other male survivor on Earth is Superman. Refusing to live in a world where the human race has 'ended' from his perspective, Luthor devises a self-repairing suit of armour that protects him from outside contaminants before revealing that Superman is still a carrier of the disease that killed the other men as his body has absorbed the energy, forcing Superman to go into self-imposed exile to avoid killing his own children. Luthor spends the next couple of decades subtly influencing Superman's male children- raised in seclusion on Paradise Island so that their uncontrolled strength doesn't cause them to accidentally kill others- to turn on the remaining female heroes so that he can rebuild the human race in his own image, convincing them that the women are 'depriving' them of a true view of man's role in the world. However, when Superman returns with a cure to the disease, Luthor unwittingly saves his enemy when he attacks him with kryptonite; Superman's cure had no effect on Superman himself as his immune system couldn't be affected by it, but the kryptonite weakened Superman enough for the cure to take effect. Restored to full health, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Adam Kent- Superman's child with Lois Lane- defeat Luthor, who suffers a massive heart attack that leaves him paralyzed but conscious, allowing the female heroes and Superman to set about raising the genetically engineered infants Luthor had intended to raise to 'replace' Superman's children.
- Superman: Last Family of Krypton depicts a world in which Jor-El and Lara came to Earth with Kal-El, Jor-El subsequently starting a vast corporation while Lara set up a self-help group based on the principle of 'Raology' and Kal-El was adopted out to the Kents to give him a chance at a normal life. As JorCorp expands, Lex Luthor is invited to work at the company, but comes to resent the perception that he will always be trapped in Jor-El's shadow, feeling that he is being dismissed as the only idea Jor-El has publicly credited him with is an accidentally-created formula for hair restoration. To this end, Luthor manipulates Jor-El and Lara's younger son Bru-El- Bru-El and Valora lacking all of Kal-El's superhuman potential due to them having been born on Earth- into allowing Luthor to carry out various experiments that allow Bru-El to absorb and generate power from kryptonite, simultaneously working to upgrade B, Jor-El's A.I. assistant, so that B will act as his 'spy' onto Jor-El's activities by mapping his own brain engrams onto the A.I. He attempts to create a disaster that would threaten Earth's core so that he can save the world and prove himself Jor-El's superior, but his 'upgrade' to B causes the A.I. to sabotage the plan out of resentment at Luthor calling it a slave. Fortunately, Kal-El- who has chosen to act as Superman in this world- convinces B to sacrifice himself to thwart Luthor's plan because otherwise the A.I. would just be remembered as Luthor's slave and accomplice.
- Kingdom Come presents a possible apocalyptic future. An elderly Lex Luthor brings a cadre of supervillains and brash young generation of superheroes together to form the Mankind Liberation Front, a group allegedly devoted to protecting mankind from the superpowered population. In reality, the goal of the MLF is to provoke a war between the U.N and the superhumans, allowing Luthor to seize control once both sides wipe each other out, unaware his goal would lead to Armageddon. Luthor also brainwashes Captain Marvel, who has grown to hate those with superpowers, and has renounced his hero identity. The MLF runs counter to the reformed Justice League, led by Superman, who comes out of retirement. His plans come to an end when Batman betrays him, revealing his plan was to discover his hold over Marvel. He attempts to escape but is captured by the Batknights. He is later put to work caring for the injured in Batman's hospital, an inhibitor collar keeping him from escaping. Post-Infinite Crisis, this has become Earth-22.
- ' envisions a United States run by Lex Luthor and Brainiac, who use a hologram named Rick Rickard, which the people think is the real President, as a figurehead. He controls the more powerful heroes like Superman, Captain Marvel and Flash by holding their loved ones hostage, until Batman's underground movement manages to rescue them. When Luthor attempts to trigger a nuclear war after Batman's revolution to reduce humanity to a more controllable number, Batman arranges for the returned Hal Jordan to shut down Earth's entire satellite defense network, subsequently allowing Luthor to be killed by the son of Hawkman and Hawkgirl.
- In ', Lex Luthor is the primary benefactor of the Justice Society, having revolutionized life in Metropolis after developing a state-of-the-art solar battery, overseeing the design and construction the JSA headquarters, as well as acting as a father figure/potential love interest to Supergirl. He seeks to open a new battery-making factory in Gotham, but in the course of his time there, it is revealed that his 'solar battery' is based around analysis of the corpse of the infant Kal-El, who was found by Luthor and killed in case he posed a threat, Luthor's relationship with Supergirl being based around a desire to make sure she was controlled as well. It is also revealed that he attempted to have the Waynes killed for unspecified reasons.
- Superman: Kal featured a world where Kal-El's rocket landed on Earth in the Middle Ages, Kal being raised as a farmer before becoming a blacksmith's apprentice in an area ruled by Baron Luthor, who sought to force Lady Loisse to marry him after her father's death. Wearing a green gemstone that fell from the sky years ago, Luthor's presence weakens Kal, but he nevertheless secretly wins Loisse's heart. When Luthor discovers the rocket that brought Kal to Earth, he forces Kal's master to forge it into a suit of armour for him, the resulting armour being virtually impregnable. Although Kal requests Loisse's hand in marriage, Luthor invokes an old law that allows the lord of the land to take any new bride to his bed on her wedding night to claim her instead, subsequently beating Loisse to death when she tries to resist him. When Kal leads an uprising against Luthor the following day after learning of his love's death, his powers and Luthor's armour appear evenly matched until Luthor realizes that his gemstone can hurt Kal. However, just as Luthor leaps onto Kal to stab him with the gemstone, Kal's sword - forged from the same metal that Luthor's armour was made from - stabs Luthor through the chest, killing him instantly, although Kal is left to die slowly from his wounds.
- Son of Superman depicts a grim future where Superman disappeared fifteen years ago, and Lex Luthor is now the official financial backer of the Justice League. In the course of the narrative, it is revealed that Luthor discovered the Fortress of Solitude and made a deal with the government to take Superman out of the picture so that he could distribute the stolen Kryptonian technology in exchange for discreet control over future political decisions. Fifteen years later, Superman is rescued by his son Jon, and the two work with Batman to determine that Luthor was working with the Martian Manhunter to keep Superman trapped while Luthor analysed his genetic code, using the research to find a means of giving himself Kryptonian powers. After Luthor attempts to frame Superman as a terrorist, Superman, Batman, Jon and Wonder Woman defeat the rest of the Justice League and Jon confronts and defeats Luthor, the novel ending with Luthor under arrest while Bruce Wayne retires as Batman to run for president on a policy of re-establishing democracy now that Luthor has lost his former position of power.
- ' features a world where Kal-El's rocket was never found by the Kents and Luthor became mayor of Metropolis in Superman's absence, essentially turning Metropolis into a police state by exploiting its lack of a superpowered defender to deal with metahuman threats, creating technologically-advanced peacekeeping forces. He is also a key speaker in the anti-metahuman campaign, to the point that he actively claims all metahumans are alien invaders seeking to take control of Earth. Towards the end of the novel, it is revealed that his team discovered Kal-El's abandoned rocket and analyzed the DNA samples within it, with these DNA samples allowing Luthor to create a superhuman army of mindless clones possessing nearly god-like powers, while presenting them to the public as the peacekeeping 'Liberator' robots to act against the 'metahuman threat'. Luthor also attempted procedures that would allow him to graft the Kryptonian DNA onto a human being, but this experiment only succeeds on Luthor's aide, Jimmy Olsen, which results in Jimmy turning into a Kryptonian who is determined to remake Krypton on Earth. When Luthor is found in a catatonic state by Lois Lane prior to the final battle, Jimmy reveals that he had Luthor under some form of mental control to act as the public face of his anti-metahuman campaign in order to deprive mankind of its traditional heroes, but it is left unclear exactly when Luthor fell under Jimmy's control or if Jimmy simply took advantage of Luthor's existing policies to further his own agenda.
- Nightwing: The New Order features a world where Nightwing ends an ongoing feud between superpowered beings by activating a device that depowers ninety percent of the super powered population. This builds to a future where super powers are outlawed and any super powered being must take inhibitor medications or be contained and studied should the medications not work on them. Years after the battle of Metropolis, Lex has now become Superman's ally who helps the depowered Kryptonian defend the streets of Metropolis with his technological knowledge. His left arm is severed and replaced with robotics.
Injustice: Gods Among Us tie-in
In the sequel Injustice 2 after his death at the hands of Superman in front of the public during his suicide attempt to stop his fallen friend, a prison was built in honor of Luthor himself. It is revealed before his suicide mission where he died by Superman's hand, Lex had Lucius Fox, one of Batman's most loyal allies, send his final message to Batman that once Superman is defeated, to restore the Earth not as Batman, but as Bruce Wayne. It is also revealed that Lex transferred his fortunes to Batman.
Film and television
- Superman and its sequels presented Lex Luthor as a criminal mastermind and egomaniac. He is obsessed with real estate and his plans usually involve him stealing large amounts of property and land because it is a commodity that will always be in demand. He causes an earthquake on the West Coast in the first movie, negotiates with General Zod for Australia in Superman II, and in Superman Returns, he tries to create a new continent.
- ' presents the CEO version of Lex Luthor from The Man of Steel in live media for the first time.
- ' was created by picking and choosing various aspects of Superman's many incarnations. The Machiavellian Luthor is also used as the main antagonist for Superman. He also appears in Justice League and Justice League Unlimited.
- Smallville begins with a teen Clark Kent saving Lex Luthor. His father Lionel Luthor has most of the personality and ruthlessness of Lex in the comics as an analog of what Lex will become. In the series, exposure to kryptonite can give humans superpowers. During the kryptonite meteor shower that brought Clark to Earth, Lex lost his hair, but gained a super-immune system. Clark and Lex start out as friends, but as the series sees Clark ascend to the hero he appears destined to become, it also shows Lex's descent to the villain he will become, driving him to commit various questionable actions in the belief that he is protecting the world.
- Lex Luthor reappears in an episode of The Batman, voiced again by Clancy Brown. This version of Luthor is very similar to the one appearing on . The episode The Batman/Superman Story is filled with numerous homage to the DC Animated Universe as Lex Luthor, Lois Lane and Superman are voiced by the same actors who voiced them on Justice League.