Lex Luthor is a complicated part of the Superman legacy. Lex Luthor has been around since the Golden Age, and while he wasn’t always Superman’s arch-enemy — back then it was the Ultra-Humanite — he’s grown into that role beautifully. However, Luthor became something special as the years went on, shifting from the simplistic villain of the old days to something much more complex. Luthor has grown and changed over the years, to the point that he’s been an ally of Superman for the last several years. Lex Luthor is an indelible part of superhero stories, and for most people, he’s the ultimate supervillain. He’s a complex and dangerous character, which fits the villain appellation, but maybe it’s about time that we look at him beyond the superhero/supervillain paradigm. In fact, I would go so far as to say that Lex Luthor isn’t actually a villain.
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One of the great things about superhero comics is that creators have to change characters to keep them fresh, and Luthor has benefited from that. I’ve watched Luthor transform into something very different than he used to be and that’s why I believe that calling him a villain is a bit too simplistic. Much like Doctor Doom at Marvel, Lex Luthor has grown beyond a mere villian and this growth has made him a much better character.
Lex Luthor Has Completely Changed from What He Used to Be
Now, I would never go so far as to say that Lex Luthor has never been a villain, because that would be stupid. Lex Luthor was, for years, the stereotypical mad scientist villain, creating technology to destroy Superman and take the Earth from the superheroes. Luthor in the past wanted to take over the world and rule it with an iron fist. Golden Age and Silver Age Lex Luthor is the consummate villain, but changes came in the post-Crisis days. Lex Luthor went from a regular type of villain to something different. Luthor was a paragon of Metropolis, his wealth and intelligence allowing him to get away with all of his crimes. He went from being the guy in the purple and green armor, to powerful industrialist, trying to devour everything he could. This was a major step in the evolution of the character and his road to becoming something beyond a villain.
The biggest change to Lex Luthor, the one that really made a difference, though, is when it was established that his motives are much simpler than just wanting to take over the world. It was established that Lex hates Superman and the metahumans because he believes that they belittle human achievement. Now, that’s not to say that Lex became a pro-human altruist; his whole reason for hating Superman and the other heroes is because their achievements belittle his own. This attitude came from Lex’s own arrogance, as he sees himself as the pinnacle of humanity, but it shows that there is more to Lex other than his desire for control. Lex, deep down, wants humanity to reach its potential, if only so that he will be the leader and the one that everyone looks to with love and respect. However, it can’t be denied that his goals are more altruistic than before.
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Recently, it was revealed that when Luthor first came to Metropolis, he did the same thing that Superman would do after him — try to become a hero for the people of the city. And, again, he did this as much for self-aggrandizement as he did to actually help but that doesn’t change that it shows another side of Lex Luthor. The current conception of Lex Luthor is still somewhat a monster, but that’s only because of his methods. Luthor wants to save the world, but he wants to do it in his own way. He wants to be the hero that people look to instead of Superman.
Lex Luthor Is More Complicated than the Old Simplistic Labels
Lex isn’t exactly a hero, or even an anti-hero, but he also isn’t really a villain anymore either. Lex Luthor definitely does villainous things, but he does them for reasons that aren’t always the worst. This evolution has made Lex into a much more interesting character than ever before, because to an extent, we understand Lex Luthor now better than we used to. We’ve watched him grow from the villain obsessed with ruling the world and wanting to destroy Superman to a much more multi-faceted character, one that reveals that his goals aren’t actually very different than Superman’s.
Lex Luthor is about to go back to being an enemy of Superman after years of helping him. This time as a quasi-hero has shown that Lex is much more than the simplistic labels of the past. Lex Luthor isn’t a villain anymore, but something far more complex. I think the best thing to call him now is an antagonist rather than a villain. The word still has the same negative connotations as villain, but it shows the evolution of the character since 1986.
Lex Luthor is definitely an opposite of Superman. He’s certainly an enemy of the Man of Steel. Yet his goals show that he’s much different than a villain like the Joker or Gorilla Grodd or Reverse-Flash. Lex Luthor and Superman both want the same thing — to save the world for humanity — but they have differing reasons and methods. This is why I don’t really consider Lex a villain anymore. He’s become one of the most interesting antagonists in comics, and I feel like calling him an antagonist, if anything, is much more accurate than calling him a villain.
