50 Fun Facts About Lex Luthor

In which comic did Lex Luthor first appear?

That was April 1940, two years after Superman's own debut in Action Comics #1.

Which duo created Lex Luthor?

Superman's creators gave him a foe with no powers at all, just brains and ambition.

What is Lex Luthor's full first name?

Early stories called him only 'Luthor'; 'Lex' was later said to be short for Alexis before Alexander stuck.

What colour was Luthor's hair in his earliest appearances?

He was a middle-aged man with a full head of hair before an artist's error made him bald.

Luthor's baldness began as a mistake by which Superman studio artist?

He apparently confused Luthor with a bald henchman from Superman #4; editor Bob Rozakis confirmed it.

In 1945, the War Department had Superman strips pulled because Luthor used which device?

The radiation storyline violated voluntary censorship meant to hide the Manhattan Project.

In which 1960 comic did the Silver Age Luthor get the first name 'Lex' and a Smallville origin?

Writer Jerry Siegel reworked him so he and Superman could have fought as teenagers.

In his Silver Age origin, what was teenage Lex trying to create when his lab caught fire?

Superboy put out the blaze but destroyed the experiment, and the fumes took Lex's hair.

What first name was retroactively given to the red-haired Earth-Two Luthor?

Brainiac executed him during Crisis on Infinite Earths, agreeing one Luthor was enough.

Luthor's Silver Age family changed its surname to what anagram after he turned to crime?

His little sister Lena grew up as Lena Thorul, never knowing her brother was a supervillain.

Which two creators reinvented Luthor as an evil corporate executive in 1986's The Man of Steel?

Wolfman reasoned that a man who could afford giant robots would not need to rob banks.

John Byrne based the 1986 businessman Luthor on Howard Hughes, Ted Turner and which other tycoon?

The initially brutish, overweight design later slimmed into a sleeker, athletic version.

In which Metropolis district was the post-Crisis Luthor born?

He grew up poor alongside future Daily Planet editor Perry White.

How did the post-Crisis teenage Luthor make his first fortune?

He sabotaged the car's brakes after taking out a large life-insurance policy on them.

What is the name of Luthor's Metropolis company?

Smallville called it LuthorCorp; he later rebranded it Supercorp and handed it to Superman.

Which author grumbled that the corporate Luthor was 'just a skinny Kingpin'?

He preferred the bald scientist whose mind could not be kept in prison.

Luthor's kryptonite ring gave him cancer, costing him which body part?

The ring was later stolen and ended up with Batman, to be used if Superman ever turned.

Luthor faked his death and returned in a cloned body posing as his own son from which country?

'Lex Luthor II' had a full head of red hair and wooed the protoplasmic Supergirl.

Which demon restored Luthor's health in exchange for his soul during Underworld Unleashed?

Lex agreed because he did not believe souls existed.

Luthor's daughter Lena was born to which near-immortal wife?

He later had the Contessa seemingly killed by a missile barrage.

To which office was Luthor elected in the comics at the turn of the millennium?

He ran on technological progress; his first act was a proposed moratorium on fossil fuels.

To whom did Luthor hand control of his company before entering the White House?

She later sold the whole company to the Wayne Foundation, leaving him with nothing.

What did Superman split in half in a rage on learning Luthor would be president?

Batman's response was a warning: keep the kryptonite ring or the White House, not both.

Which Kansas city did Imperiex destroy after President Luthor sat on an advance warning?

He wanted Earth drawn into a great war so he could prove his leadership.

Which telepath wiped Luthor's knowledge of Superman's secret identity?

Decades later Luthor killed Black to make the world forget the identity again.

In 'Public Enemies', President Luthor secretly injected himself with a kryptonite-laced version of what?

The Bane super-steroid made him strong, irrational and finally a fugitive.

Who briefly became president after Luthor fled the White House?

Clark's Smallville pal had been Luthor's vice president.

Superboy, the clone Lex covets, is a hybrid of Superman's DNA and whose?

Conner Kent learned the truth about his 'fathers' and Luthor tried to make him his soldier.

What did Luthor plan to rename Earth after gaining Superman's powers in 52?

Natasha Irons shut down his synthetic metagene with an electromagnetic pulse.

In Final Crisis, Luthor helped override which Darkseid broadcast?

He called it a legendary first team-up between 'good' and 'bad'.

In the New 52, Luthor fed Clark Kent tips under which codename?

He was simultaneously dealing with the Collector of Worlds to shrink Metropolis.

Which super-team did Luthor join after helping defeat the Crime Syndicate in Forever Evil?

The League figured membership would make him easier to watch.

In Year of the Villain, Luthor was reborn as a Martian-human hybrid called what?

Perpetua's gift came with a Martian's vulnerability to fire.

In the Elseworlds tale Speeding Bullets, a disfigured Luthor adopts which identity?

In that world Kal-El was raised by Thomas and Martha Wayne.

In Superman: Red Son, Luthor is married to which character?

He ends that story as mankind's saviour after the Soviet Superman fakes his death.

In Amalgam Comics, Luthor merged with a Captain America villain to become what?

A meteorite chemical gave him green skin and a skull-like head.

Where did IGN rank Luthor on its 2009 list of the 100 greatest comic villains?

Only the Joker, Magneto and Doctor Doom placed above him.

Who played Luthor opposite Christopher Reeve's Superman, starting in 1978?

He played him as a comedic foil across three films plus the Donner Cut.

Who played Luthor in 2006's Superman Returns?

His take was drier and more straightforward, with a humorous streak kept.

Who played Luthor in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice?

Before his casting, the part was discussed as drawing on Bill Gates, Richard Branson and Brad Pitt.

Who plays Luthor in the 2025 film Superman?

He reprised the role in Peacemaker and is due back for Man of Tomorrow.

Who played Lex Luthor for seven seasons of Smallville?

He started as an amicable 21-year-old befriending Clark after a car accident.

Which sitcom veteran played Luthor on Supergirl and in Crisis on Infinite Earths?

His Lex was serving 34 consecutive life sentences for turning the sun red.

Who voices Luthor across the DC Animated Universe, starting with Superman: The Animated Series?

He has reprised the role in Lego games, Public Enemies and Shadow of Apokolips.

In the DCAU, which bodyguard assists Luthor in running Metropolis?

She was created for the cartoon in 1996 and later migrated into the comics.

In the 1990s Teri Hatcher TV series, how does Luthor die in the first-season finale?

John Shea's Luthor was later frozen by his physician so he could be revived.

Who played Luthor in the 1950 serial Atom Man vs. Superman?

Predating the name 'Lex', this Luthor ran a TV station as cover and masked up as the Atom Man.

In Smallville, who played Lex's father Lionel Luthor?

Glover also voiced the Riddler in Batman: The Animated Series.

Which Superman villain did Luthor's scientists create in a failed attempt to clone Superman?

He also indirectly created Parasite in the post-Crisis continuity.

In Kingdom Come, the older Luthor leads which group against Superman's militarised heroes?

Mark Waid and Alex Ross's 1996 story set the stage for a grim superhuman future.