Superman | The Villain

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"I've worked harder than anyone half my age ever did and done more than anyone twice as old as me ever will. Don't tell me 'I can't' when it's perfectly established that not only can I do it, but I probably did it while you were sleeping a week ago." - Lex Luthor, Up In The Sky.

Lex Luthor is recast as a younger (about seven years older than Clark) industrial billionaire, brilliant inventor, and a corrupt, arrogant, jealous individual. He despises Superman and feels that the people shouldn't put all their faith in an alien they don't really know and has made it his life mission to expose the hero for the danger Lex believes he is. Lex lives a playboy lifestyle, flaunting his worth, having gorgeous women at his arms, and planning exotic excursions. He is seen largely as a brilliant executive and a man of the people, despite the fact that he has manipulated the population on several occasions to benefit himself financially and socially. Think Tony Stark/Iron Man, but more meglomaniacal.

He tried to romance Lois Lane, but she wasn't interested. Still, a soft spot remains for the reporter, despite the fact he believes she is totally infatuated by Superman. Luthor thinks that Clark Kent, who he sees as a lowly reporter, is beneath her.

As Intergang's lead financier, Luthor keeps a low profile, despite the fact that the weapons smuggling part of the group is making him billions of dollars on the global market. How he encountered the true power behind this international gang of criminals, Boss Dark Side, is a mystery, even to him. He knows that Dark Side's power extends beyond his legitimate businesses and gun-running practices, but has no idea of the true nature of the crime lord.

His LexCorp Electronics division is a sponsor of both of Morgan Edge's programs. Lex can endure the wildly-opinionated pundits barbed attacks at his own expense, just as long as Edge continues to poison the population's minds about Superman's true nature. The Leslie Willis incident (which Luthor was instrumental in) was regretful, but with his technology, he gave her a new life and a new purpose as a member of Intergang.

He researched and recruited six young heroes to form his Team Infinity, whose sole purpose was to provide a media-friendly PR smoke-screen for many of his shady practices. When the team discovers this as well as the crimes he was hiding, they nearly take down the company. Cadmus takes the young team under their wing under the guidance of Guardian, turning them from a privately-financed group to a government-backed team.

One of the reasons he wants to run for President of the United States is because he wants to get rid of his longtime rival Superman once and for all, plus he feels the government isn't doing enough to control the growing number of heroes emerging worldwide inspired by the exploits of the Man of Steel. His whole campaign is driven by the fact that the whole doomsday creature attack on Metropolis, the existence of Intergang, Brainiac's near takeover of the Earth's power grids, and the near Apocalypse caused by Darkseid were all inspired by Superman's mere presence on Earth. The KOBRA attack on the UN strengthens that theory and creates a climate that caused Lex Luthor to win the election.

This is the beginning of the end of Lex Luthor's reign as he sets in motion an all-out attack on the people in Superman's life just to draw him out, and his ego will cause him to lose all that he worked hard for.

Next: Friends and Colleagues