Batman V Superman: Five Big Takeaways From The Lex Luthor Viral Site

The Competition

While Lex Luthor is typically a Superman villain, it looks like his boardroom prowess has made him something of a threat to Bruce Wayne (Batman) and Ted Kord (Blue Beetle), or at least their companies.

Kord Industries being named in the viral campaign is most interesting because of recent rumors that a Blue Beetle/Booster Gold movie was in development. A Booster Gold Easter egg was spotted in Man of Steel, so it certainly appears that according to filmmakers, a version of each Booster and Beetle likely exists somewhere in the universe already.

We already knew that Wayne Enterprises existed in the DCEU, with an Easter egg in Man of Steel and references in supplemental material for the movies.

Don't call me "Junior!"

The Fortune profile introduces the young Lex Luthor, played here by Jesse Eisenberg, as "Alexander Luthor Jr."

There are a couple of things to unpack just from that name. In some versions of the mythology, Lex brought himself up from his bootstraps, and in some he inherited the company. In the case of Batman V Superman, it says that Lex's father started the company and named it after himself.

Being Alexander, rather than Alexis (Earth-1, pre-Crisis on Infinte Earths) or Alexei (Earth-2, pre-Crisis) is interesting, too, especially since on Earth-3, Alexander Luthor, Jr. was a key part of the Crisis on Infinite Earths and later Infinite Crisis. That version of Lex had a full head of hair and was eventually murdered by The Joker.

Alexander Luthor, Jr. is the son of Alexander Luthor on Earth-3, the world's only superhero (the Justice League are petty dictators on his Earth).

In the main continuity, Lex Luthor had a "son," as well -- Lex Luthor II -- who had long hair, an Australian accent and took over for his dear old dad when Lex died from radiation poisoning due to prolonged exposure to the Kryptonite ring he wore to stave off Superman.

Lex II, it eventually turned out, was Lex himself with a cloned, younger body, looking for a way to survive and a fresh start.

Passed Away Unexpectedly

According to the Fortune profile, Lex Luthor's father "passed away unexpectedly" when he was 16 years old.

According to Lex Luthor: The Unauthorized Biography, an original graphic novel from writer James D. Hudnall and artist Eduardo Barreto, Luthor killed his parents as a teenager by tampering with their car before they left for a trip without him.

In that version of the mythology, he was a self-made man and rather than simply inheriting family money, he used the insurance money from their deaths to support himself and pay for founding LexCorp.

Meteorite crystals

So it appears as though it's...what, serendipity?...that gives Lex Luthor access to Kryptonite.

Unless of course this really is the second Lex Luthor in the traditional sense and his father had some kind of knowledge of Kryptonians at some point in the past -- say, if Kara Zor-El, who arrived here centuries ago, were somehow to survive.

At any rate, we've seen that green K in the trailers and now we know that the story behind it apparently has little to do with actually LOOKING for a weapon against Superman.

Lex Vs. Bruce

"LexCorp has quickly become the second largest emerging technology corporation in the world next to Wayne Enterprises."

That's from the Fortune story and it's interesting for a couple of reasons.

First of all, in the comics Lex has consistently found himself disappointed to learn that Bruce has more cash.

Second, being such close competitors might lend some credence to those early set rumors that Bruce and Lex had a scuffle of some kind.