Superman may be the archetypal superhero from whose rib all later comic book heroes were created, but Lex Luthor is far from your typical supervillain. The Man Of Steel's arch nemesis is a smart, conniving, megalomaniacal and intensely driven sort that isn't a world away from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg; or at least the Mark Zuckerberg from the recent movie The Social Network. And if his world domination plan involved social media instead of robots. Which makes Jesse Eisenberg's casting as the villain in Zack Snyder's upcoming Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice a stroke of genius. Eisenberg has the requisite chops to not only make Luthor the true threat he is despite lacking any powers of his own, and coming up against the indestructible Last Son Of Krypton whilst also conveying what a complex character Lex is. Plus, as the picture released by Snyder this week proves, he doesn't look half bad with the iconic slap head either. Last time Lex was on screen Kevin Spacey took the part with a delightfully scenery-chewing performance meant to recall Gene Hackman's previous spell as the character in the same way that Superman Returns was supposed to be a love letter to the Christopher Reeve films. That's probably not what this new Luthor is like. It's also not how he's been characterised in the comics for a good long while, instead opting for a smooth and suave industrialist who wields his influence to make a difference. That difference being killing Superman. He's changed a lot over the years, and these are ten things DC probably wants you to forget about Lex Luthor.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
