10 Times Lex Luthor Outsmarted Everyone
1. When He Allowed Imperiex To Attack Earth For Some Good PR
Every so often, DC Comics likes to shake things up by pitting a seriously dangerous enemy against the planet Earth. Whether it's Darkseid or the Anti-Monitor, someone will come along and throw the balance of Earth out of whack. For President Lex Luthor, the threat came in the form of Imperiex.
In the DC Universe, Imperiex is the physical embodiment of entropy, and when he decided it was time to destroy the entire universe, he started with the planet Earth. Unfortunately for everyone living on the planet, Lex Luthor found out about the pending attack and didn't let anyone know about it.
As a result, when Imperiex's probes came to the planet, they destroyed large areas on all seven continents, which killed a lot of people. Lex then formed an alliance of superheroes, the military, and anyone else with some level of power to stand up to Imperiex, and saved the planet.
The point of his actions were intended to make him appear heroic, but he put a lot at stake to ensure he managed some good PR. If his plan failed, Imperiex would have destroyed the whole universe, not to mention Earth. Luthor managed to succeed, and while this was one instance where he outsmarted everyone, it's also the evilest thing he's ever done... and that's saying something.