47 Years Later, Gene Hackman’s Lex Luthor Is Still the Best DC Movie Villain

The late Gene Hackman left behind an esteemed career of acclaimed performances that any actor could be proud of. Whether it was 1970s features like The Conversation, Night Moves, or The French Connection, or 1990s favorites like Crimson Tide or Enemy of the State, Hackman always delivered 110%. One of his most famous roles was his trio of performances as Superman’s greatest arch-rival Lex Luthor in the Christopher Reeve Superman titles. Even with other actors coming along to play the character in live-action cinema in the decades since Superman, Hackman’s turn as this baddie remains unsurpassed.

So beloved is Hackman as this character that his Lex Luthor is even referenced and shown via archival photographs in modern-day pop culture properties like the 2025 feature Superboys of Malegaon. Hackman’s incredible performance has only gotten better and more appreciated with the influx of DC Comics movie adaptations in the 21st century. So many baddies have tormented famous DC Comics heroes, yet none have been as amazing or entertaining as Hackman’s Lex Luthor.

What Makes Gene Hackman’s Lex Luthor So Grand?

Christopher Reeve’s Superman was a miracle. In this performance, Reeve provided two ways viewers could see themselves. Within his Clark Kent, audiences recognized their own vulnerabilities. This dorky newsman echoed how so many people feel awkward or clumsy in everyday life. As Superman, though, Reeve authentically embodied how we all want to see ourselves. Reality and aspirationalism beautifully melded together within his vision of Superman. It also made for a perfect foil for Hackman’s Lex Luthor, who just was a scheming slimeball the audience loved to hate.

If Superman represented an everyman that could embody hope, Hackman’s fully dedicated Lex Luthor performance symbolized all the rampant cruelty of the real world. This man’s big nefarious scheme having to do with real estate purchases echoed the banal reasons so many horrific atrocities occur. Evil transpires all in the name of a few bucks and better land development. Hackman’s gift for lived-in performances made Luthor seem like any con artist or greasy swindler you’d see managing a bank or running for Congress. He wasn’t just an arch-evildoer, Hackman made Luthor seem terrifyingly plausible as some force for wickedness.

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Better yet, Hackman could command the screen just with his masterful comic timing and screen presence. There was no need for him to transform into a gigantic CG beast to be a tangible threat. Hackman did that just with his physicality in any given scene. This stripped-down version of Luthor was someone only Hackman could portray and he reveled in that opportunity. Not only did this make for a great 1970s superhero movie baddie, but it also makes Hackman’s Luthor such a joy compared to other DC Comics movie adaptations foes.

Other DC Villains Needed to Take A Cue From Hackman’s Luthor

In hindsight, only Heath Ledger’s Joker in The Dark Knight (plus the baddies from The Batman) followed Gene Hackman’s Lex Luthor in letting an actor mold a distinctive take on a famous DC Comics villain. Hackman was not bending towards endless comic book references, his Luthor was very much carrying on the spirit (not to mention Hackman’s acting techniques) of his other ’70s characters like his French Connection protagonist. Sadly, too many subsequent DC movie villains have plopped talented actors into thankless bad guy roles that suffocate all their talents.

Kristen Wiig in Wonder Woman 1984, Marwan Kenzari in Black Adam, Peter Sarsgaard in Green Lantern — these and countless other villains had lots of CG and makeup trickery on their side but no personality. The hope was for whiz-bang spectacle and surface-level showy acting to carry the day. In the process, these movies had hollow villains and no real tension. Both versions of Steppenwolf from the various Justice League cuts especially epitomized this, with Oscar-nominee Ciaran Hinds having no wiggle room to inject humanity into this lumbering CG beast. Audiences couldn’t see any discernible traces of reality or personality, let alone menace, in this dimly-colored fellow from Apokolips.

Hackman’s Luthor, by contrast, was bursting with personality just from this actor’s lively performance. Could any subpar modern DC movie villain pull off the hysterical moment in Superman II where Hackman’s Luthor actually breathes a sigh of relief at the sight of Superman after he’s been threatened by Zod and his goons? Nuance, humanity, and just plain entertainment course through every inch of Hackman’s Lex Luthor work all because these movies gave him the wiggle room to make the role his own. No wonder his Luthor remains the best DC movie villain, which is really just the tip of the iceberg in his career accomplishments.

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