Batman Vs Superman: 7 Essential Lex Luthor Details Eisenberg Must Channel

4. Past Tragedy

Man of Steel maybe went a little overboard with the Smallville-set scenes from Clark Kent's childhood. Some of these were done well, like the young Clark's frantic confusion upon discovering his x-ray vision during class, but a few too many conversations with Kevin Costner about being alone in the universe may have threatened to spoil these flashbacks, but it did open the door for future films to employ flashback as a storytelling technique. Tragic events of the past and Lex's way of dealing with them should be part of his character, whether shown explicitly in flashback or just alluded to in a word or a flicker of emotion from Eisenberg. In the 2003-04 series "Superman: Birthright", a lab fire during an experiment is the cause of both the death of Lex's parents and the loss of his hair. In a 2010 issue of Adventure Comics, Luthor's father dies of a heart attack - which we learn was caused by the young boy in order to capitalize on his father's insurance policy. "Arrogance" almost took this slot, but that character trait is best utilized as a mask for the pain Lex harbours from his past. Attention to this would make Eisenberg's portrayal a lot more humanized: we've already seen the actor play arrogant again and again, and only rarely does this mask slip to reveal something else behind it.