The Official Lex Luthor Casting Thread - Part 4

[elgaz]

I'd really like to see Ralph Fiennes in the role.

 

[Eddie Dean]

 

[Eddie Dean]

After watching a lot of Breaking Bad, Snyder and Co. could do a lot worse then using Gus Fring as a model for their Lex Luthor.

 

[Rodrigo90]

How about Zachary Quinto?

 

[Superman_200]

How about Zachary Quinto?

He wouldn't be back, neither would Daniel Craig, or Christoph Waltz either for an odd choice.

 

[DKDetective]

In terms of Lex's characterization, I hope we get something that is a nice mix of the pre-Crisis mad scientist and post-Crisis billionaire. He should be an amoral, corrupt billionaire who made his fortune based on his inventions and scientific genius. He tries to buy Superman, but it doesn't work and Superman starts destroying the illegitimate sides of his empire and Luthor decides he needs to be eliminated. It fails and Luthor is ruined and shoved in jail. Now Luthor hates Superman for taking everything away. He regularly escapes and constantly plots to kill Superman for it and regain his previous power and influence. Lexcorp's black projects and Luthor's sole knowledge of their products then serve as his means of constantly threatening Superman during his escapes.

 

[manofsteel4life]

In terms of Lex's characterization, I hope we get something that is a nice mix of the pre-Crisis mad scientist and post-Crisis billionaire. He should be an amoral, corrupt billionaire who made his fortune based on his inventions and scientific genius. He tries to buy Superman, but it doesn't work and Superman starts destroying the illegitimate sides of his empire and Luthor decides he needs to be eliminated. It fails and Luthor is ruined and shoved in jail. Now Luthor hates Superman for taking everything away. He regularly escapes and constantly plots to kill Superman for it and regain his previous power and influence. Lexcorp's black projects and Luthor's sole knowledge of their products then serve as his means of constantly threatening Superman during his escapes.

I like how you started it, but then it looks like he's gonna turn right into what most of us don't want, and that's the donner and singer lex. I say keep the business and scientific lex, and forget the escaping jail part IMO

 

[GoblinWhirlwind]

He wouldn't be back, neither would Daniel Craig, or Christoph Waltz either for an odd choice.

Christolph Waltz is awesome, I could definitely get behind him as Lex.

Sometimes I pop Inglourious Basterds in just to watch the opening scene with Landa at the farm.

 

[Eddie Dean]

Ha, sometimes I try to do that, but just end up watching the entire movie.

 

[tomk]

It's a wonderful movie and a magnificent performance by Christoph Waltz. One of the most certain Oscars I ever saw. And I think Brad Pitt's performance is sometimes forgotten about. He was superb too.

 

[Project862006]

suggested him earlier and after Watching Homeland on showtime last night

I really like Damien Lewis As Lex

 

[DIRECTOR]

excellent

 

[DKDetective]

I like how you started it, but then it looks like he's gonna turn right into what most of us don't want, and that's the donner and singer lex. I say keep the business and scientific lex, and forget the escaping jail part IMO

I don't mean the Donner ans Singer Lex at all. I'm talking about serious pre-Crisis Superman hating Lex. I also prefer the post-Crisis business man Lex, but having him continue to operate without legal consequences makes Superman look ineffectual as I believe Grant Morrison or was it the guy who wrote Birthright said. In too many ways, post-Crisis Lex became in the words of Neil Gaiman a slim "Kingpin" and lost his uniqueness.

What made Donner and Singer's Lex bad was the campiness, over the top schemes and fixation with real estate. A serious, vengeful, brilliant former billionaire Lex is very different, more compelling and draws on the character's history in its entirety.

 

[Kurosawa]

Maggin's Lex is by far the best. He actually has real depth and is a three dimensional character unlike the Mad Scientist Lex who proceeded him and the Kingpin ripoff Lex who followed him. It's also the Lex that Smallville's Lex is the most like, and that was by far the most interesting live action Luthor.

That's the route to go. It's the one thing that Smallville knocked out of the park. And for that reason, whoever plays Lex should be close to Cavill's age.

 

[KRIM]

Maybe that's one role where Ryan Gosling could actually accept being in a superhero movie. Fantastic young actor, leading man looks and charm -- would be a great successor to Rosenbaum and could easily surpass him.

 

[Keyser Soze]

After watching a lot of Breaking Bad, Snyder and Co. could do a lot worse then using Gus Fring as a model for their Lex Luthor.

Even if Luthor isn't in the movie, they could take cues from that scene from earlier in this season of Breaking Bad, where Walt goes to Los Pollos Hermanos to confront Gus. The person at the desk says he isn't in, but Walt waits anyway, convinced it's a lie. You have all the build-up, with the surveillance cameras following him, and the CCTV-POV shots, until eventually Walt bursts through the door and into the office, to find that it is indeed empty, and Gus isn't in. You could do something similar with Lois going to Lexcorp's offices.

 

[hopefuldreamer]

Maggin's Lex is by far the best. He actually has real depth and is a three dimensional character unlike the Mad Scientist Lex who proceeded him and the Kingpin ripoff Lex who followed him. It's also the Lex that Smallville's Lex is the most like, and that was by far the most interesting live action Luthor.

That's the route to go. It's the one thing that Smallville knocked out of the park. And for that reason, whoever plays Lex should be close to Cavill's age.

Lex was actually one of the things I didn't like about the Byrne era, especially how he was drawn.

But I wouldn't say Smallville got Lex perfect. In early seasons I really enjoyed his character, but he wasn't exactly shown to be consistently smart and by the end I felt they'd destroyed what they'd intended to do.

Plus, Lexana...

I think LnC had a great Lex. His motives for going up against Superman were IMO the most exciting.

- knowing it meant even more power if he defeated him

- want of the thrill of actual competition

- and eventually personal hatred for a man who basically stands for the opposite of everything he believes and practices

I know they too added in the love rivalry, but that's the kind of maniac I'd love to see.

Cool, charming, philanthropist, keen head for science and business, but with a tencious hunger for power and a lack of empathy or morality.

 

[Lencho01]

I'd say Lex and pretty much everyone on Smallville fell to having bad writers. No one was constistent on that show. But, it was obivous the Lex and Lionel were their favorites to write for with Clark being their least.

Give me the good moments with Lex and the way he was in "Onyx" and I'd say they're good to go.

 

[Wheels]

What I like about Lex in Smallville was he never wanted to be the bad guy; In his mind he is saving the world. He truly did love certain characters but his love was twisted as was his views on right and wrong. He seemed like a layered and more interesting character to me than LnC Lex.

 

[Keyser Soze]

Maggin's Lex is by far the best. He actually has real depth and is a three dimensional character unlike the Mad Scientist Lex who proceeded him and the Kingpin ripoff Lex who followed him. It's also the Lex that Smallville's Lex is the most like, and that was by far the most interesting live action Luthor.

That's the route to go. It's the one thing that Smallville knocked out of the park. And for that reason, whoever plays Lex should be close to Cavill's age.

Was it Maggin that wrote that old story - I can only half-remember it, but it made an impression on me at the time - where Luthor has Superman just about killed, but stops to rescue someone who was thrown into the sea or something as a result of his latest diabolical scheme? I also remember another great story where Luthor dons a secret identity to visit a museum exhibit, and when Superman finds out about it he lets him visit it rather than hauling him back to prison.

 

[godisawesome]

Lex's motivation and character are so much fun to play with.

For instance, let's say you go with a Lex who doesn't know Clark, and is simply the most powerful bussiness man and mad scientist in Metropolis. Superman's power and persistance in not-dying becomes a thorn in his side, and when he's defeated the first time, he dedicates the rest of his life to destroying Superman.

For another, let's say that Lex does know Clark from Smallville, and part of the reason he can't see through the disguise would be because that would mean a dumb farmboy from Kansas is more powerful than he is. He grows to hate Superman because Superman keeps foiling his plans, but does enjoy the competition for the sheer fun of it.

Personally, I had my own version which was much more about Lex's personality and relationship with members of his family. It's a bit more of a hodge-podge of Smallville, the mid-90's post-crisis Lex, some of Morrison's Luthor and a bit of Cornell's take on the character. Lex and Clark were friends as kids and preteens, but Lex's antagonistic relationship with Lionel Luthor slowly poisoned all his other relationships. They grew apart or became enemies when they became teenagers, with Lex leaving Smallville for a small-scale war on his fairly powerful, but not exceedingly rich father. By the time they meet again as adults, Lex has killed his father and built up his own bussiness empire to eclipse Lionel's memory, and has become the weapons supplier to Metropolis' gangs, mostly so he can also supply the police and politicians with stuff to oppose the gangs. Lex seems to have married early, but after his wife's tragic "plane crash," now raises his young daughter Lena by himself, showcasing his twisted idea of what love is, as he can't understand the idea of unconditional love. He did date Lois for a while, but she's far too good of a person and reporter to be ignorant of his true nature, so she's become an enemy he enjoys opposing on a mental level. He basically treats Clark as a dumb old aquaintance until Clark starts to become close with Lois. His initial antagonism with Superman starts as almost playful opposition, but when he begins to lose the love of Metropolis and his daughter becomes a fan of Superman, he soon decides his beeef with Superman is completely personal.

The actual root of Luthor's sheer loathing of Superman is actually much deeper than that though. Luthor convinced himself of amorality and social darwinism during his battles with his father, and the intervening years have ripened those thoughts into supreme self-absorption and narccisstic confidence in his world view. Because Superman is so blatantly a moral hero, and thus a complete refutation of Lex's worldview, he is compelled to try and break Superman on the fundamental level; somewhere in the back of his mind, Luthor is aware that if Superman is right, than he himself is monstrously evil, and that would terrify him with its implications. Thus, Luthor is constantly convincing himself that Superman is a cancer on existance holding back mankind from seeing its true saviour: himself. Luthor is not insane, and at first he has a firm grasp of most of his flaws with one exception, and that's his pride. Like Smallville and Cornell's Lex, he is also deeply jealous of Clark for his relationship with his parents and his blooming love with Lois.

And the reason why he has a daughter in my version? The Lex Luthor who handed over his daughter to Brainiac in the B13 story-arc was one of the most profoundly loathable slimeballs I've ever read about, and up until then his "love" for his daughter seemed like an almost redeeming quality. And that's the thing- if Superman can ever truly convince Lex that he's wrong, like in All-Star Superman, Lex is capable of actual remorse and heroism. And if the audience can actually tell that Lex is actively choosing to do evil, it makes him that much more powerful of a villain. His daughter is there for that, and we should feel sorrow for the little girl.

 

[Eddie Dean]

+

÷

=

 

[manofsteel4life]

I don't mean the Donner ans Singer Lex at all. I'm talking about serious pre-Crisis Superman hating Lex. I also prefer the post-Crisis business man Lex, but having him continue to operate without legal consequences makes Superman look ineffectual as I believe Grant Morrison or was it the guy who wrote Birthright said. In too many ways, post-Crisis Lex became in the words of Neil Gaiman a slim "Kingpin" and lost his uniqueness.

What made Donner and Singer's Lex bad was the campiness, over the top schemes and fixation with real estate. A serious, vengeful, brilliant former billionaire Lex is very different, more compelling and draws on the character's history in its entirety.

Oh I gotchya.......I misunderstood, they seemed similar when you were describing them

 

[Willi Berg]

Grant Morrison and Rags Morales talked about their characterisation of Luthor in Action Comics #2:

MEET LEX LUTHOR

MORRISON: Superman is us at our best, and Lex is us at our worst…but they're both us. He's selfish, he's inwardly directed, he's greedy, he's egotistical, he pretends to hate Superman but really he wants to look like Superman, he's constantly chugging energy drinks, he talks crap…[Laughs] I wanted to make him an embodiment of all our worse traits. They're what make us human, so that's what makes Lex human and relatable. That's why Lex Luthor's such a great villain: we all recognize those traits.

MORALES: Lex's weight is one of those little subliminal things. It adds a layer of jealousy and feeling insignificant and insecure about yourself. He's this out-of-shape, snide, condescending jerk who we're too mature now to stuff into a locker when we see him, but we still do it every time in our heads. [Laughs] Luthor's that guy from the electronics store who condescends to you when you ask about the difference between a megabyte and a gigabyte.

The following is a panel description from the script of ACTION COMICS #1:

…Silhouetted against the screen are two of our principle players - Lois Lane's dad GENERAL SAM LANE and Superman's arch-villain LEX LUTHOR. Lane is the archetypal tough American dad. Luthor, like Superman, is a little younger, perhaps a little heavier and sturdier. I like the idea that he was a little fat until his jealousy of Superman drove him to the gym to become the trim, muscular Luthor of the Silver Age and more recent stories. So he's not obese but he's veering a little more in the visual direction of Luthor's heavier build as it appeared in stories from 1941 to 1959.

 

[manofsteel4life]

What do you think about that willi?