For as long as Superman has been around, Lex Luthor has been there to act as the fly in his ointment. The bald genius has gone to great lengths to take the man of steel out for good. He’s spent company money building himself a mechanical battle suit, he’s allied himself with a nefarious alien artificial intelligence, and carries a small piece of Kryptonite around wherever he goes. It’s obvious that the man has a serious dislike of the man. What’s not so clear is why? The comics have given various motivations for the character depending on how they write him. I’m going to take you on a brief run through of the various reasons why Lex has spent years plaguing the iconic hero and man of tomorrow.
You stole my hair!: You see, back in the day, Superboy and Lex Luthor were actually friends. One day, Lex was working on an experiment and accidently set his lab on fire. Superboy came to the rescue and promptly blew out the flames. Only, the wind allowed Lex’s hair to catch fire and burnt it until nothing was left but the trademark chrome dome everyone associates with Lex Luthor. I hate hate hate hate this motivation. I despise and loathe it. Trite fiddle faddle like this is the reason why no one respects comics. It’s a stupid two-dimensional characterization that fits in with the so called “golden age” of comics. Fortunately, it gets better.
Superman can’t be controlled: This has been used a lot, especially since more and more writers have portrayed Luthor as a corrupt corporate businessman. With his vast wealth and resources, Lex pretty much owns Metropolis. In some continuities, his funds allowed the city to be built. Lexcorp provides most of the citizens with jobs and Lex has the best lawyers money can buy on staff. Unfortunately, Superman doesn’t make deals with crooks. Unlike every other human on the planet, Superman doesn’t have a price. He won’t turn his back and look the other way and he can’t be blackmailed. For a megalomaniac like Lex, who’s so used to being in control. The idea that there is someone who can’t be bought must be maddening.
Superman was born great: When writers started to flesh out Lex’s backstory, they stated that Lex actually grew up poor. Unlike the Lex Luthor of Smallville, Lex is a self made man who didn’t have a silver spoon in his mouth. Lex spent his whole life building his empire only to be shown up by Superman, who didn’t have to do a thing as his greatness is genetic. Because Superman has powers bestowed upon him by the sun, he was able to (albeit inadvertently) upstage Lex and steal the limelight from him. Jealousy and a sense of entitlement would combine to create a legendary hatred for Superman that would justify going to such great lengths to wipe the hero out.
Superman represents the end of human aspiration: Some writers have recently started to paint Lex in a more positive light, saying that his hatred of Superman stems from the idea that humans need to solve their own problems. With Superman (and other metahumans) around, everyone will come to rely on them for help and will never push themselves to new heights. While I can see this working in conjunction with the jealousy aspect of Lex’s animosity, I think this idea would’ve worked better with Lex II (a character from the 90’s he was Lex’s supposed long lost son, had the thick red beard, turned out to be a clone..long story). In the early issues after his debut, they played up the idea that Lex II was trying to atone for his father’s sins. He seemed like a decent enough guy who really did want to help people. This humanitarian spirit could be twisted to provide a unique twist on the human/Superman dynamic.
The various reasons for Lex’s hatred is one of the reasons why he works so well as a villain. There are layers upon layers that betray the lame thin reasoning used in the character’s early years. It’s true, Lex may not be able to give Superman a good fight when it comes to a physical confrontation, but there is a reason why he is and always will be Superman’s biggest and deadliest foe.
