Lex Luthor (DC Extended Universe)



Alexander Joseph Luthor, Jr., otherwise known as Lex Luthor, is the main antagonist of the 2016 superhero film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the second installment of the DC Extended Universe and the sequel to 2013's Man of Steel, and a minor antagonist in 2017's Justice League.

Why He Sucks

 * 1) Lex Luthor looks like a college student, rather than a bald adult like in the comics.
 * 2) This is because director Zack Snyder wanted to modernized Lex into a corrupted billionaire and is meant to be the son of the "real" Lex as Alexander Sr..
 * 3) He's a spoiled daddy's boy who inherited his father's Lexcorp company rather than a genius billionaire, rarely acts like himself, and very obviously went through a lot of rewrites.
 * 4) Jessie Eisenberg did a terrible job portraying him with his hammy overacting.
 * 5) The psychotic and upbeat persona of this Lex Luthor seems more appropriate for the Joker of The Dark Knight Trilogy, with some going as far to accuse Jesse Eisenberg of playing Luthor as if he was playing the Joker-like Heath Ledger did in mh:greatestmovies:The Dark Knight.
 * 6) The scene with him holding the Jolly Rancher to a Lexcorp scientist to eat it and licks his own finger.
 * 7) His plan is also confusing, nonsensical, and often self-contradicting. His motivation also constantly changes between hating Kryptonians, hating god, daddy issues, and knowing that invaders are coming in the future.
 * 8) Several times in which he speaks or utters a phrase towards Superman, he keeps throwing a tantrum or behaving more like “Prankster” (A villain and enemy of Superman from the comics, considered by many to be a pathetic character in the history of man of steel).
 * 9) In much of the movie (Mainly in the climax of the battle between Superman and Batman) he does not feel or represent as a real threat to the heroes.
 * 10) He seems less like an evil criminal mastermind, and more like some wacky cartoon villain. Gene Hackman also did a comical performance as Luthor, but he was still intelligent and dangerous. This one doesn't really fit in even if he does manage to be one of the darkest villains in the franchise by a mile.
 * 11) Due to his melodramatic attitude and the complete waste of a great anti-hero in the history of comics, this Lex Luthor has become one of the most controversial characters and one of the most hated belonging to a superhero movie like the cinema in general (Even some called it worse than Jar Jar Binks or almost equal to Dolores Umbridge).
 * 12) *In fact, this Lex Luthor was placed in 2020 as the worst villain of the 2010s, as the most pathetic character in a movie and as one of the most hated characters in a movie (With second place).
 * 13) *At the same time, Jesse Eisenberg's performance was compared to what Heath Ledger did to the Joker from "The Dark Knight Trilogy", but negatively stating that he makes fun of what Ledger had done.

Redeeming Qualities

 * 1) Upon being arrested, Lex does end up with his head shaved, resembling more closely his comic book counterpart.
 * 2) He was slightly redeemed in the Synder Cut of Justice League, but not a whole lot.

Trivia

 * Jesse Eisenberg stated in July 2019 that he is done playing Lex, so this Luthor will be likely recast or never appear again.
 * Bryan Cranston was to play Lex Luthor before.