What we call God depends on our tribe, Clark Joe, because God is tribal. God takes sides. No man in the sky intervened when I was a boy to deliver me from daddy's fist and abominations. I figured out way back that if God is all-powerful, He cannot be all good; and if He is all good, then He cannot be all-powerful. And neither can you be. 
- — Lex Luthor src
History
Early life
Alexander "Lex" Luthor is the namesake son of East German émigré Alexander Luthor, Sr., the famed businessman that founded the petrochemical and heavy machinery company known as Lexcorp. Luthor, Sr. immigrated to the United States to escape his native country's totalitarian government. Although Luthor, Sr. had investors believe that he named Lexcorp after himself to build a legacy for his son, Luthor, Jr. believed otherwise.[1] As a child, Luthor, Jr. was physically abused by his father.[2] When his father passed away in the year 2000, Luthor took over as the CEO of Lexcorp. As time went on, Luthor transformed the already reputable company into a Fortune 500 technology corporation that had little resemblance to the former Lexcorp run by his deceased father.[1]
Aftermath of the alien invasion
Following the Kryptonian invasion of Earth, Lexcorp tower was destroyed along with much of Metropolis. Lex Luthor announced to the press that he saw the event as an opportunity, as he announced his plans to use his fortune to rebuild the tower and to donate money to help rebuild Metropolis. Distrusting of Superman, Lex Luthor began researching him in order to expose who he really is.[3]
God vs Man
Eighteen months after the Kryptonian invasion, Superman became an increasingly controversial figure to the public, with people either supporting or fearing him. Luthor manipulated the public by sending his henchmen to bring death and destruction in Superman's wake, and paid or threatened people to testify against the hero and verify his guilt.[4] In response to an incident in Nairomi, Senator June Finch aired a message on television asking Superman to step forward and explain himself and his intent to the public. Upon learning of a radioactive meteorite that had been found internationally that may be harmful to Superman, Luthor ordered it to be shipped to him from overseas, claiming it was for "national defense purposes". Suspicious of Luthor's motives, Senator Finch blocked the shipment. When Superman eventually arrived to explain himself to the public on television, Luthor detonated explosives that were hidden in the room, resulting in the deaths of every human being in the room including Finch. This caused further public unrest toward Superman, as Luthor framed a Superman heckler for the explosion.
Luthor convinced a corrupt politician to allow him access to a Kryptonian ship that was captured in the invasion, as well as the corpse of Dru-Zod, a deceased Kryptonian general. Using his own blood, Zod's DNA and knowledge provided by the ship's artificial intelligence, Luthor brought to life a living deformity that had once plagued Krypton.
When Luthor's meteorite shipment arrived, it was stolen by the vigilante known as Batman. Aware of Batman's mistrust of Superman, Luthor eventually deduced that Superman and Clark Kent are the same person. Luthor had Superman's mother kidnapped. Luthor also sent taunting messages to Batman under the guise of an employee who was crippled during the Kryptonian invasion, manipulating events so that Batman believed that Superman cannot be trusted, as Superman is powerful enough to potentially wipe out the human race.
Batman prepared to kill Superman by building advanced armour and weapons made from the meteorite. Luthor told Superman that if he didn't kill Batman, his mother would die. Superman battled Batman, but when Batman got the upper hand, Superman convinced him to help save his mother just as Batman was about to give the killing blow. When Luthor learned that his plan failed, he sent the deformity to kill Superman. After a destructive conflict, both Superman and the deformity were killed.[2]
Arrest
Lex Luthor was arrested for his crimes and was sent to a high security prison. There, Luthor was visited by Batman. Batman threatened to brand his skin with a bat symbol. Luthor taunted him with claims that an entity is coming to Earth due to the death of Superman, wordplay that made clear he was aware of Batman's secret identity and by revealing that he intended to use the insanity defense to avoid trial. Batman left, telling Luthor that he would be watching him and revealing that he knew of Luthor's plans and arranged for him to be transferred to Arkham Asylum when declared insane.[2][4]
Post-Steppenwolf Invasion
After the newly created team of six heroes repelled the invader Steppenwolf, Luthor is shown to have escaped prison with the help of Slade Wilson. The two decide to form their own league.[5]
Powers and Abilities
Abilities
- Genius Level Intellect: Lex Luthor is a supergenius of phenomenally outstanding, wunderkind level intellect (known to be a polymath and bibliophile, making numerous eclectic references), quite possibly the most intelligent human being in the world, with his phenomenally eclectic intellect virtually unrivaled, with Lex standing out even among other geniuses.Lex's tremendously eclectic intellect extends itself to his unparalleled leadership, tactical, strategic, demagogic, deceptive, mathematical, scientific, engineering, computer science, computer programming, cryptographic, robotics, hacking, criminology, genetics, neuroscience, political science, literary, mythological, theological, exploitative networking, and oligarchical business skills, in addition to his phenomenal idiosyncratic wordplay skills with witty puns and malapropisms (allowing Lex to subtly reveal things he is aware of, with people only realizing it when he intends them to).[2]
- Business Management:Lex Luthor is a pheneomonally brilliant, supergenius oligarchical businessman, a wunderkind prodigy, quite possibly the best currently alive in the world, managing to successfully transform his father's company, LexCorp Industries, from a petrochemical and heavy machinery dinosaur into a cutting-edge Fortune 500 technology giant (in a stupendous, what some call a superhuman, business feat), helping the company grow and get more business partners (notably quickly absorbing Hanford Technologies), as well as considerably expanding the already massive wealth inherited by him from his father to phenomenal levels that makes him quite possibly the wealthiest man in the world
- Deception: Lex Luthor is pheneomonally skilled in deception, far surpassing even deceptive genius Batman himself in that regard, as he was, much like Ares, notably able to successfully hide his internal pure malevolence under a kindly and altruistic façade.[2]
- Science: Lex Luthor is a supergenius scientist, pheneomonally skilled and knowledgeable in a vast array of scientific fields (including physics, chemistry, biology, genetics, neuroscience, computer science, psychology, and many others), even more so after absorbing new knowledge from the Fortress of Solitude's Kryptonian archives.[2]
- Indomitable Will: Lex Luthor, much like his archenemy Superman, has tremendous determination, fearlessness, and strength of will, since he absolutely refuses to ever hunker down and give up, even when placed against seemingly insurmountable odds, with Lex mastering almost any situation with his numerous tactical contingencies, and even going so far as to claim that he doesn't know how to lose.[2]
Notes
- This version of the character is exclusive to the continuity of the DC Extended Universe and is an adaptation of Lex Luthor. The original character was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and first appeared in Action Comics #23.
- Lex Luthor was portrayed by Jesse Eisenberg.
Related
- 6 Appearances of Alexander Luthor, Jr. (DC Extended Universe)
- 5 Images featuring Alexander Luthor, Jr. (DC Extended Universe)
- 2 Quotations by or about Alexander Luthor, Jr. (DC Extended Universe)
- Character Gallery: Alexander Luthor, Jr. (DC Extended Universe)
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 http://fortune.com/contentfrom/2015/10/5/lex-luthor-jr/ntv_a/3dsBA58oDAfxgFA/
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
- ↑ Batman v Superman Prequel: Chapter 5 - Lex Luthor
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice - Ultimate Edition
- ↑ Justice League (Movie)
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