Lex Luthor Is Superman's Greatest Foe – But Is He Actually Evil?

Lex Luthor has made a name for himself as the greatest foe of Superman, but it's worth exploring whether he rises to the definition of true evil.

Writing compelling villains is one of the most important parts of crafting superhero stories. As the world's first superhero, Superman has one of the best rogues galleries in comics, and it is headed up by none other than Lex Luthor. Since his Golden Age introduction, Luthor has become synonymous with the very idea of comic book villainy and the arch-nemesis. But is he actually evil beneath the surface?

Lex Luthor has undergone much change over the eight decades of his existence. Beginning as an eccentric "mad scientist" foe, the villain has been written as a brilliant yet conniving businessman, a genius rival to Superman, and even an antihero. Each of these new directions has added depth to both Luthor's motivations and his psychology. While some stories do hold true to his unabashedly pro-Doom philosophy, others instead take a more nuanced approach, painting him as a visionary who sees Superman as a future threat that must be eliminated. As much as some may see this as a villainous motivation, it was actually the driving force behind Batman's quest to kill the hero in DC Studios' Batman vs Superman. The fear of a god-like alien walking among humanity is understandable, but Luthor has taken this apprehension to villainous extremes.

Lex Luthor's History of Good and Evil

For all intents and purposes, Lex Luthor is the Doctor Doom of DC Comics, in both his resources, ambitions and self-perception. However, he didn't start that way. Luthor's early days in DC imagined him as more of a classic, Golden Age "mad scientist" villain, whose motives were at one time chalked up to being angry at Superman for causing his hair loss. Many stories followed him hatching schemes that could best be defined as simply inconveniencing Superman. This is a far cry from the modern Luthor of today, a man who, on some level, believes his villainy is all for the greater good of the human race. Of course, this works out even better if he can increase his profit margin along the way.

Although even '80s Lex Luthor was an opportunistic, albeit megalomaniacal businessman, 21st century stories have closely examined his philosophy. However, Luthor's history has typically been some combination of trying to save the world and dooming it, oftentimes in the same story. Much of Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuiness' "Public Enemies" arc was dedicated to following a President Lex Luthor, who took on the task of saving the world from an approaching asteroid and later transforming himself into a Kryptonite-infused monster.

Lex Luthor is Almost an Anti-Villain

In the mind of Lex Luthor, he isn't an enemy of humanity at all, but rather its rightful savior and leader. The New 52 and early Rebirth remains perhaps the single most canonically heroic version of Luthor, even if it wasn't entirely motivated by a sense of altruism. This era saw the villain actually join the Justice League, concluding that this course of action was the best vehicle for him to save the world. Along the way, he was inspired by Superman so much so that he designed a super suit based on the hero's costume. After the apparent death of his old foe, Luthor stepped up as the new Man of Steel, leading to a great team-up between him and pre-Flashpoint Superman.

The interpretation of Lex and his motivations ultimately depends on who's writing him. Writers like Scott Snyder often envision a more classically evil, chaotic villain, who is set on bringing doom to humanity. Other writers, like Geoff Johns and Grant Morrison, ebb and flow between a confident, criminal Luthor and a more anxious one, who believes he alone can save Earth from an inevitable, Superman-led destruction. A recent story by Joshua Williamson depicted a younger Lex Luthor as a heroic vigilante who used gadgets and science to fight crime. However, Luthor has never been able to set aside his personal ambitions and greed long enough to truly become the hero he could be.

Luthor's status as an anti-villain is arguably his best portrayal. Anti-villains are characterized as characters who are motivated by what they see as heroic goals but who seek to achieve them through evil means. For Luthor, this means attempting to rid the world of Kryptonians and other aliens no matter the cost of doing so. However, as a mostly pragmatic character, Luthor is capable of seeing the bigger picture, especially when faced with greater threats like Darkseid or the zombie apocalypse. It's in these moments that Luthor can become a genuine hero, even if he's mostly out to save himself.

Lex Luthor Proves Villains Can Have Depth

Rather than his Golden Age counterpart, Lex Luthor has gradually been given more compelling motivations, even to the point where he was able to convincingly become a Justice Leaguer. Interestingly, one of his best character studies came from a short story on Calvin Ellis' world. There, Ellis speculated that Luthor was driven to hate him because of prejudice. However, the villain insisted his issue was with everything but the hero's race. Thanks to the events of Prime Earth this is most certainly the case, and it seems Lex is almost destined to be at odds with Superman no matter where he is in the multiverse. Lex certainly respects his nemesis, but he simply doesn't like what he represents.

In the Golden Age, there was actually a villain much like Luthor who has already taken a more classically evil path in comics: The Ultra-Humanite. Originally, this villain was essentially the same as Luthor, embodying the same evil genius archetype and later placing his brain into the body of a giant albino gorilla. Having a distinction between the two, with Luthor becoming a more suave, interesting villain with fleshed out motivations made for a good contrast with the Ultra-Humanite. Superman has other villains who take on a less nuanced approach to evil in his world, and maintaining the morally grey nature of Luthor is vital to keeping him interesting.

Lex Luthor Has One of the Biggest Egos in the DC Universe

Whether Lex is evil or not, the one constant factor in the character's story is his immense ego. Countless stories have shown that when Luthor's ego is shattered, he drives deeper into base villainy. This was the case in Red Son (by Mark Millar, Kilian Plunkett, Dave Johnson, Andrew Robinson & Walden Wong), where his failed efforts to defeat the USSR's Superman caused him to murder his own research team. This was a solid interpretation of how he seems stable and even heroic when he's in control, but he quickly turns to evil upon losing that control.

It should be noted that, as interesting as this semi-heroic aspect to Luthor may be, he actually works better as a villain than he does a hero. An unpredictable Lex, who inevitably takes the side of whatever is in his best interests, is what makes the modern portrayal of the villain so entertaining. Lex Luthor's means are certainly evil, but like some of the most interesting villains, he can be reasonable and pragmatic in pursuit of what he sees as a better tomorrow.