Superman is the greatest and most powerful superhero in the DC Universe. You all know the drill, faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. And yet, his greatest enemy, the one man he can never truly defeat, is a megalomaniacal bald bloke with a penchant for nice suits.

Lex Luthor is the archetypal supervillain, the polar opposite of his nemesis. Where Superman is physically powerful, Luthor’s greatest asset is his mind. Superman is decent, upstanding and completely selfless, Luthor is shallow, nasty and thinks of nobody but himself. But what sets Luthor apart from other supervillains are his goals. While he’s never going to stop seeking more money and power, his ultimate goal is simple. He wants to kill Superman. Luthor can’t stand that there’s someone in Metropolis who is more powerful, and more loved, than he is. That’s it. Pure, simple, jealousy. Everything Luthor does is ultimately about destroying the Man of Steel, and he takes everything Superman does personally. There’s a short speech from Luthor in JLA #11, written by Grant Morrison, which sums up his relationship with Superman perfectly:-

“There have been ‘Justice Leagues’ before, of course. I’ve indulged their existence. Let them conduct their colourful public brawls, like drunken sailors with a Hollywood budget. Let them play their games. I could have destroyed any of those organizations at any time. I chose not to. Until now. Until Superman. I would have overlooked this latest media-friendly pantomime by creatures whose very existence makes a mockery of human achievement. I would even have been prepared to indulge the astonishing arrogance of their lunar clubhouse. But for Superman. I take his leadership of this preposterous team of alpha males as a direct challenge, a throwing down of the gauntlet, a clear escalation of hostilities between us. I intend to utterly destroy Superman’s private army, and to do so I have assembled the perfect weapons…”

Superman takes up leadership of the League, never even giving Luthor a second thought, and Luthor genuinely believes that it’s all about him. This is why he’s such a good adversary for the Last Son of Krypton. He doesn’t know how to be anything else.

Luthor on screen has been tackled by a lot of different actors, many of whom have gotten it shockingly wrong. There seems to be a propensity to portray Luthor as a cackling, pantomime villain, ignoring any of the quieter moments which make the character so menacing and launching into full on over the top histrionics *cough* Kevin Spacey *cough*. But, there have also been a few actors who just get Luthor.

I was quite surprised at the results of your votes for the best Luthor of all time, which was won by Smallville’s Michael Rosenbaum. I was genuinely expecting Gene Hackman to clinch the top spot. But who features on my list of great Luthors? Let’s find out...

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