Search results
Browse Getty Images' premium collection of high-quality, authentic Lex Luthor stock photos, royalty-free images, and pictures. Lex Luthor stock photos are available in a variety of sizes and formats to fit your needs.
Lex Luthor originally appeared in Action Comics #23 (cover dated: April 1940). He has since endured as the archenemy of the superhero Superman. Lex Luthor was depicted as a narcissistic and egotistical mad scientist from the 1960s to the mid-1980s.
People also ask
How many Lex Luthor photos are there?
Is Lex Luthor a real person?
Who created Lex Luthor?
Who is Lex Luthor in DC Comics?
- Overview
- Biography
- Personality
- Abilities
- Equipment
- Relationships
―Lex Luthor to Superman
Alexander Joseph "Lex" Luthor, Jr. is a multi-billionaire businessman, as well as one of the smartest individuals, if not the smartest, in the world. He is the former CEO of LexCorp Industries.
Lex Luthor also becomes the greatest arch nemesis of Superman, whose potential to cause the Knightmare and whose more or less very existence makes Lex feel extremely threatened, which makes the relentlessly ambitious supergenius go out of his way to expose the godlike alien superhero as a fraud, and to subsequently destroy him, by first putting Superman against Batman in a duel to the death, which ultimately fails as neither Superman or Batman kill the other like Lex hoped by settling their differences, and then his monstrous creation Doomsday, which does manage to kill Superman after a vicious battle.
Lex, however, is ultimately jailed as a supercriminal for his exposed numerous crimes of illegal natures, first in Belle Reve supermax, and then in Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane.
Early life
―Lex Luthor to Superman Alexander Joseph Luthor, Jr. was born in 1984, in Metropolis to Alexander Luthor, Sr., an East German-born billionaire petrochemical and heavy machinery developer, and was subsequently named after his father. While the family's company, LexCorp Industries, was in fact named after Lex's father, the elder Luthor claimed at investor pitches to have named it after his son as well, while Lex himself often mused at how wealthy old women found his father "[writing] checks for Lex" adorable. While publicly popular and affable, Luthor Sr. was a very cruel and despicable man behind closed doors, with Lex later remarking in outrage that no "man in the sky" would ever come to save him from "[his father's] fists and abominations." This induced a traumatized Lex to gain a militantly misotheistic view of God, believing that if He were omnipotent, then it would be logically impossible for Him to be omnibenevolent and vice versa, thereby solidifying his belief that power cannot be innocent (referring to the antithesis of that as the "oldest lie in America"), and that all individuals with great power and popularity must be evil by definition.
CEO of LexCorp Industries
By age 16, the wunderkind Lex was left with the legacy of LexCorp as its only heir shortly after his father passed away unexpectedly, taking control of the business and successfully transformed it from a petrochemical and heavy machinery dinosaur into a cutting-edge Fortune 500 technology giant. In fact, the very considerable business achievements of his father pale in comparison to the astonishingly prolific accomplishments of the younger Luthor. Among other things, Lex also inherited his father's world-famous collection of meteorite crystals, which, as he would later learn, included kryptonite minerals. Lex is known to have at one point encountered Amanda Waller and familiarized himself with her organization, A.R.G.U.S., and also learned of her Task Force X idea, as he subtly refers to all three while conversing with Ron Troupe.
The Red Capes are coming
―Lex Luthor mocking Senator Finch Several days later, Senator Finch is escorted into Lex's study by his right-hand personal assistant Mercy Graves. Lex is initially excited to see her, offers her some whiskey (from her native state of Kentucky), and monologues about how he keeps everything in the study of his father, Alexander Luthor Sr., the same, musing that if he persistently did so, then perhaps his father would return. But Lex then dismisses this, as the "wistful thinking of orphan boys." Finch promptly tells Lex that she's decided not to grant him the import license. Lex is visibly enraged and sneers, beginning to nervously tap his fingers, begins to tell her what he considers to be the "oldest lie in America," but Finch physically stops him, letting Lex know that she sees right through his altruistic façade, telling him that he can "Take a bucket of piss and call it Granny's peach tea, take a weapon of assassination and call it deterrence," but that she wouldn't "drink it." Lex gives her a sinister grin, and states that he has considered turning an old picture of his father's (depicting a battle between Heaven's angels and Hell's demons) upside down (leaving the demons above, seemingly prevailing over the angels), and enigmatically telling her that "the Red Capes are coming." Finch then promptly departs.
―Lex Luthor
Being extremely intelligent, eccentric, self-conscious, ambitious, courageous, and charismatic, Lex is actually the ultimate living personification of intellectualism, quite possibly the greatest mind in the world (in many ways considerably intellectually superior to even most geniuses), using this tremendous power as an altruistic humanist, a man of and for the people (with Lex comparing himself to the enlightening gift-giving figure of Prometheus, and supporting it well with his superb demagogic skills). While he would appear an ideal image of human perfection, this nature of his is tainted to a hideous degree by his horrifically unstable ego deriving from his high horse and low morality derived from a cruel and traumatic upbringing, meaning Lex has little inhibition about seeing the world prosper only as he sees fit. the mad genius's ultimate wish, aside from power sought to better humanity according to his own wisdom, is to destroy those that he deems as competition - namely his main nemesis Superman, who he foresees destroying humanity altogether in part due to direct contradiction of his own desire to elevate man to [our] peak, although he also feels (much less) threatened by metahumans in general (specifically Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Flash, and Cyborg of the Justice League) and so puts a lot of effort into keeping close tabs on them. Furthermore, Lex's ruthless attempts to prevent Superman from ever having apocalyptic ramifications imply psychopathy, as the methods he implements are extremely immoral and vehemently ruthless, with the billionaire having little to no real care for the tactics used to achieve his goals, nor their impact upon others, so he is actually the ultimate embodiment of a utilitarian "the ends justify the means" mindset, as he (unlike Bruce Wayne) knows not whether something as extreme as the Knightmare will come to be, but not caring. This is shown when he confesses that he detests not Superman himself, but the theoretical apocalyptic scenario, before citing his mere presence is making bad things happen, meaning simply existing makes the presence of Kal-El sinful in Lex's eyes, an oxymoron. Feeling threatened on a personal level because of what Superman's power means for him, and on an external level because of how Superman's attachment to his mother and girlfriend are his extremely conditional reasons for wanting to keep the world in one piece, Lex is envious and bitter enough to openly describe the former in infernal and diabolical terms, subtly comparing Superman to a werewolf (by referring to kryptonite as a "silver bullet"), a "flying demon" (which he uses to justify his threat of ruthlessly burning Martha Kent alive), and finally, to the biblical Satan himself, who had originated not in "Hell beneath [Lex]," but had come "from the sky" (as a fallen archangel), inducing humanity to admire him. Lex shares similar sentiments towards metahumans in general, though colloquially addressing them as "the basis of [humanities] myths," "exceptional beings" and "gods among men" living on Earth. As he highlighted the notion of planetary security to Senator Finch, Lex also categorized the danger presented in their presence, citing them in the same vein of diabolism as Superman, stating if [the government] forged their silver bullet but didn't use it then "[mankind] won't have to depend on the kindness of monsters."
This immense fear and hatred of powerful individuals with popularity seemingly stems from the great amounts of apprehension and resentment that Lex harbors for his late father, Alexander Luthor Sr., as the latter, while both powerful and popular, was extremely cruel and egregious behind closed doors, physically abusing his young and helpless son with both fists and "abominations." Thus, Lex's experiences of abuse, without any intervention from no "man in the sky," immensely traumatized him, which in turn induces Lex to gain a militantly misotheistic view of God, believing that if God were omnipotent, then his benevolence logically could not be absolute and vice versa (the theological problem of evil), thereby solidifying his belief that power cannot be innocent (referring to the antithesis of that as the "oldest lie in America").
Somewhat ironically, despite his misotheism, Lex has a penchant for constantly implementing allusions to major figures of both pagan and biblical theology, with him notably comparing himself to Prometheus, General Zod to Icarus, and Superman to Zeus, Horus, Apollo, Jehovah, and Satan. He even compares himself to the biblical God in one way, claiming albeit insightfully to hate "the sin, not the sinner," and plays God by creating the monster Doomsday. When making these allusions, however, Lex tends to cast these theologies' supreme gods in a not very discreet negative light (expertly finding the right myths for that, as he did with Zeus' punishment of Prometheus), to the point that Wonder Woman was visibly enraged by Lex's description of Zeus and the Old Gods.
Ironically, while the egregious abuse would make Lex immensely despise his father, he would eventually come to share some of his father's traits as an adult, though it could be argued that Lex took all of these traits even further, as he would notably become more intelligent, skilled, relentless, and powerful than his father had ever been. However, this is hard to pin down as little is known about Luthor Sr. at all. Hence, Lex projects his childhood trauma and theological resentment onto the godlike Superman, determined to prove to both himself and to humanity at large that the alien superhero, while being supremely powerful, is actually not supremely good, and is in fact an abominable fraud. However, Lex notably does not have the same hatred towards General Zod, and actually seems to admire him, with Lex tearfully remarking that the latter had "[flown] too close to the sun." This is most likely due the fact that General Zod, unlike Superman, did not contradict Lex's worldview, due to Zod's godlike power being used for the benevolent intent of preserving a race rather than avenging a loved one.
Ultimately however, while Lex does somewhat admire General Zod, he proves himself to be a considerably greater enemy for Superman. Zod, after all, had initially tried to persuade Superman to side with him, and had genuinely cared for his allies (especially his closest and most trusted one, Faora-Ul), all while seeking to protect, save and resurrect what remained of his destroyed beloved world and his race. Lex, by contrast, is far more relentless and ruthless and pragmatic, as he instantly resolves to become enemies with Superman (viewing the latter's very existence as a "sin"), was willing to become a supercriminal, committing unspeakable crimes against peace and humanity, all for the purpose of destroying his nemesis (and what the latter represents) to prevent the end of days, of proving his cynical ideology and points (based in the theological problem of evil), and of reaffirming his deluded, megalomaniacal godly self-image to himself, while ultimately being egregiously egotistical, not caring about anyone other than himself, as even Doomsday (Lex's own Frankensteinian creation, whom Lex thought of as a surrogate son of sorts) was ultimately disposable to him, being but means to an end. He did ensure Mercy Graves (Lex's closest and most trusted ally) wasn't killed, but it was probably nothing but pragmatism, so it is not a redeeming quality, especially since he still took a huge risk just to throw off Senator Finch. Still, their silver gleaming as their fervent and righteous determination to protect and preserve their race, with only their methods of doing so actually making them immoral. Lex even shows himself to enjoy a good fight, since right before Lex is about to ruthlessly have Senator Finch killed, and later when he threatens to ruthlessly burn Martha Kent alive, Lex actually manages to find both situations funny, and cracks several sinister black humor pun jokes, with gleeful sadism. In addition, while all of Superman's other haters and detractors were guilt-ridden following his death and mourned him, with even the exceptionally amoral Amanda Waller posthumously respecting him, while even the brutal and cynical Batman was inspired by him to better himself, Lex was as gleeful as ever, in utter defiance of himself being exposed as a super criminal and incarcerated in Belle Reve supermax.
"You've lost."
"I don't know how to lose."
—Superman and Lex Luthor
•Genius-Level Intellect: Lex Luthor is a supergenius of phenomenally outstanding, wunderkind level intellect (famous for being a polymath and bibliophile with the highest level of mastery over numerous eclectic fields, making numerous eclectic references), quite possibly the most intelligent human being in the world, with his phenomenally eclectic intellect virtually unrivaled, with Lex standing out even among other geniuses (notably intellectually outclassing even a genius polymath like Batman, whom Lex outsmarted with ease, and with Lex referring to even the exceptionally smart and insightful Lois Lane as having a "little mind" compared to his) with his ability to master nearly any situation, usually against staggering odds, which makes the virtually peerless ambitious supergenius a worthy opponent even for Superman himself (despite his lack of metahuman powers), being as intelligent as Superman is powerful and far more intelligent than the latter despite Clark's own prolific intelligence inherited from his father Jor-El, the greatest scientific mind in all of Krypton, making him more than able to gain the upper hand over the superhero and eventually kill him. Hence, Lex was notably not deceived by Batman's inhuman and supernatural façade (being quick to deduce via CCTV that the Dark Knight is actually only a mere man without any metahuman powers) and Flash's momentum negation mirage (still capturing footage of the speedster's powers by accessing the pharmacy's security cameras), and was able to easily outsmart and keep tabs on not only Batman, but also Aquaman, the Flash, Cyborg, and Wonder Woman simultaneously (despite all of those metahumans, as Lex dubs them, attempting to maintain their secret identities with discreet power usage), with only Wonder Woman eventually figuring that out (due to having been tricked before by another deceitful supervillain, Ares), but even she did so too late, and was unable to figure it out fully. In addition, after entering the Fortress of Solitude, Lex orders to be taught the vast amounts of knowledge that the starship's archive had from 100,000 alien worlds, with apparent success. As such, Lex's already phenomenal intelligence became much greater than ever, effectively a supergenius, and he now has obtained tremendous amounts of knowledge regarding extraterrestrial beings, including that of the imminent threat posed by the New God invader Steppenwolf, coming to Earth (due to the Old Gods' and Superman's deaths having left the planet vulnerable), which Lex proclaims to Batman with glee. Lex's tremendously eclectic intellect extends itself to his unparalleled leadership, tactical, strategic, demagogic, deceptive, manipulative, detective, mathematical, scientific, engineering, computer science, computer programming, cryptographic, robotics, hacking, escapology, criminology, genetics, neuroscience, political science, literary, mythological, theological, exploitative networking, and oligarchical business skills, in addition to his phenomenal idiosyncratic wordplay skills with witty puns and malapropisms (allowing Lex to subtly reveal things he is aware of, with people only realizing it when he intends them to).
•Master Tactician: Lex Luthor, as a megalomaniac, is a phenomenally formidable tactical and strategic supergenius, to the point that he claims not to know how to lose. Given his lack of metahuman powers, Lex, much like Batman, often uses cunning and planning to successfully outwit stronger and more powerful foes, gaining leverage over them rather than simply outfighting them, often using any of their exploitable weaknesses (such as kryptonite, Lois Lane, and Martha Kent in the case of Superman and manipulation-inducing tunnel vision in the case of Batman) to his advantage. Indeed, Lex's approach is shown to be even far more effective, intricate, complex and ruthless than Batman's, with Lex always having back-up plans to his back-up plans, accounting for numerous possible scenarios with efficient contingencies, making him extraordinarily versatile and unpredictable to the point that his unparalleled ability to plan, strategize, re-strategize, and break down his opponents grants him power that surpasses even that of Superman and metahumans, since Lex's ability to predict and gather information on his many opponents allows him to easily out-strategize any of them one-on-one, thereby making it almost impossible for them to succeed against Lex, with Lex almost always being flawlessly successful in the long-term (claiming not to know how to lose). Hence, even after his initial plan of having Senator Finch publicly support his kryptonite "silver bullet" deterrent against Superman (which would have forced the godlike alien to be subjugated and forced to answer to the deterrent-wielding government) fails, Lex is unfazed, and sets a grander contingency plan into motion by changing tactics - learning everything about both Batman and Superman. This allows Lex to successfully manipulate not only Superman into killing Batman (by having Cesar Santos murdered in jail, sending Clark photos of Santos' corpse, and finally, by kidnapping Clark's mother), but also to successfully outsmart and manipulate even the extremely experienced tactical genius Batman (with Lex notably even claiming that this was an easy feat for him) into killing Superman (by sending Bruce notes with provoking "red note" messages "from" Wallace Keefe about the death of his employees in the Black Zero Event, allowing Bruce to steal his data on kryptonite and metahumans, and later, to steal the kryptonite itself), without Batman ever suspecting it until after his duel with Superman was over. This meticulous and brilliant plan behind Lex's ultimatum was to expose the theological problem of evil in Superman regardless of the fight's outcome - if Superman were to win and kill Batman (to save his mother's life) he would prove to be supremely powerful yet not supremely good, and if Superman were to lose (due to holding back and his weakness to kryptonite) to Batman and die, he would prove to be supremely good yet not supremely powerful. And even when Lex's grand contingency plan of putting both superheroes against each other ultimately fails (and that being only due to Superman saying Martha's name just in time to stop Batman's killing blow), a once again unfazed Lex reveals his far more grand and extreme second contingency plan (by promptly unleashing the mighty monster Doomsday), a plan that ultimately succeeds in carrying out Lex's goal of killing Superman, leaving Lex victorious. Furthermore, when Batman unexpectedly has Lex transferred from Belle Reve supermax to Arkham Asylum, Lex is yet again mostly unfazed, due to him having adapted a contingency plan for a break-out (and subsequent retreat to a contingency private yacht) at the optimal time. Even after Superman is resurrected from the dead more powerful than before and cements together the Justice League, Lex is as confident as ever in face of this greater challenge, and chooses this as the optimal time to escape Arkham, retreating to the contingency yacht, and meeting up with Deathstroke to discuss moving against the Batman.
•Master Deceiver:
As the CEO of LexCorp Industries, which under his leadership has become the world's largest tech conglomerate, Lex Luthor has earned himself a phenomenally large fortune (considerably expanding upon that which he has inherited from his father, Alexander Luthor Sr.), his wealth being that of $2 billion, vastly surpassing even the wealth of the other five tech conglomerates on the list of the six highest tech conglomerates in the world, such as his business rival Bruce Wayne and the Queen Industries CEO, with Lex renting the opulent Royal Penthouse Suite at the Park Metropolis Downtown (with 11 lavish bedrooms, each with its own floor-to-ceiling Italian marble bath, a 100-seat cinema/lecture hall, a four-lane bowling alley, twin helipads and its own private Caffè Bene) just for his 15-minute interview with Ron Troupe, greatly financially contributing to the post-Black Zero Event rebuilding of Metropolis (naming the new Lexor Hotel after himself in the process), and with Perry White fearing that if threatened by Lois Lane through the press, Lex could sue the Daily Planet "out of existence" with his tremendous funds. Also, his inheritance and wealth allows Lex access to the most sophisticated technology in the world and many innovative and futuristic useful equipment, one of which included a high-tech wheelchair that he easily bribed Wallace Keefe with. These resources, along with his immensely formidable hacking (enough to discreetly learn classified secrets from the CIA, FBI, NSA, DARPA, A.R.G.U.S., and S.T.A.R. Labs databases) and exploitative networking skills (enough to influence prominent politicians, other powerful companies, intelligence agencies, and criminal underworlds), allow Lex to be extremely well-informed in regards to individuals (be they human, metahuman, or otherworldly) who could potentially pose a threat to him (allowing Lex to keep discreet tabs on all of the future Justice League members, among others), along with Lex's knowledge of many, classified, global security secrets. Hence, Lex is one of the extreme few to know the secret identities of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg, and the Flash, being one of the extreme few to know of Amanda Waller's Suicide Squad idea before it's implementation, and also being the first known human on Earth to learn the Fortress of Solitude's knowledge of 100,000 alien worlds (thus learning of Doomsday, of Steppenwolf's imminent invasion, and of the Unity). Despite having not yet regained control of LexCorp Industries following his escape from Arkham Asylum, Lex has apparently put some money in off-shore accounts beforehand, enough to comfortably retreat to a private yacht, with a group of female bodyguards.
•Yacht: An opulent private yacht, equipped with a swimming pool and a group of female bodyguards. Lex boards it after escaping from Arkham Asylum, and meets with Deathstroke in it.
•Kryptonite:
A glowing green radioactive xenomineral from the planet of Krypton, discovered in the Indian Ocean, a side effect of the World Engine's attack. As kryptonite is the greatest weakness of all Kryptonians, Lex effectively wields it against them, with him using it to peel off the fingerprints from General Zod's corpse. It is later stolen and weaponized by Batman (turned into the Kryptonite Spear), just as Lex had intended.
•Kryptonite scalpel:
An innovative extremely sharp bladed instrument, with a blade of kryptonite xenomineral, capable of cutting right through Kryptonians, with Lex using it to peel off the fingerprints from General Zod's corpse, so as the enter the Fortress of Solitude.
Family
•Alexander Luthor Sr. † - father, mentor, and abuser •Mother
Allies
•LexCorp Industries •Mercy Graves † - personal assistant, confidant, and bodyguard •Emmet Vale - scientist •Unidentified - kryptonite overseer •Anatoli Knyazev's security contractors - mercenaries •Anatoli Knyazev † •A.R.G.U.S. •Amanda Waller - acquaintance •Doomsday † - creation •New Gods •Steppenwolf † •Slade Wilson/Deathstroke - ally and employee
Enemies
•Justice League •Clark Kent/Superman - archenemy, manipulatee and indirect victim •Bruce Wayne/Batman - business rival and manipulatee •Diana Prince/Wonder Woman - discreet observee •Arthur Curry/Aquaman - discreet observee •Barry Allen/Flash - discreet observee •Victor Stone/Cyborg - discreet observee •Daily Planet •Lois Lane - exploited prisoner and exposer •Perry White •Martha Kent - prisoner and attempted victim •Superman Study Committee •June Finch † - rival and victim •Barrows † - exploited manipulatee and victim •Purrington † - victim •Dru-Zod † - posthumous exploitee •Wallace Keefe † - manipulatee and victim •Kahina Ziri † - blackmailed manipulatee and indirect victim •Cesar Santos † - indirect victim •CIA - exploited organization •Jimmy Olsen † - indirect victim •FBI - exploited organization •NSA - exploited organization •Nairomian terrorists † - exploited victims •Amajagh •United States Armed Forces •Calvin Swanwick •S.T.A.R. Labs •Silas Stone - discreet observee •Jenet Klyburn •Arkham Asylum •Nelson
Lex Luthor screenshots, images and pictures - Comic Vine. Follow. Lex Luthor. Character » Lex Luthor appears in 4300 issues . Lex Luthor, Superman's arch-nemesis, is one of the most...
Lex Luthor. An egomaniacal genius and billionaire industrialist, Lex Luthor fights a neverending personal, public, and political battle against Superman. He’s the most intelligent man on Earth.
- Metropolis
- CEO of Lexcorp
Feb 22, 2024 · First Superman Legacy Cast Photo Includes First Look at Lex Luthor Actor Nicholas Hoult With Shaved Head - IGN. By Kat Bailey. Posted: Feb 22, 2024 6:48 pm.
Aug 4, 2010 · Lex Luthor Photos - TV Fanatic. Lexana Wedding - Smallville. Lex and Lana's drama-filled wedding on Smallville. Added: October 13, 2021. Lex and Lana in Lexmas - Smallville. Lex and Lana...
