4. Lex Luthor (Paul Cornell's Action Comics)
During Paul Cornell's acclaimed run on Action Comics leading up to the much-heralded issue 900, just before the New 52 relaunch, he featured a Lex Luthor with an unquenchable thirst for gaining power. While this in and of itself is not surprising, Cornell's motivations for Luthor during this cover run on Action Comics did not include the usual mad scientist, industrial xenophobic, or presidential mastermind machinations that versions modern comics fans were accustomed to seeing Luthor cavort under. This Action Comics' Lex Luthor was obsessed with an Orange Lantern Ring, whose bearers were consumed with avarice, or greed, while wielding incredible power able to create anything out of their mind's will. This was a fantastic storyline, which not only showed a galactic-powered Lex in all his orange-fueled glory, but also tinkered with the shocking inner-workings of Luthor's mind, as Cornell wrote a Lex who not only created a replica Lois Lane android to serve as his sounding board for his one-sided narcissistic monologues, but would always be constantly turning off or reprogramming her when she speaks out to his disliking. Cornell created a devilishly evil Lex, while also painting him with an extremely dark humor matching his black heart. This near dozen-issue run by Cornell on Action Comics featuring Superman's greatest foe not only gives Superman a classic villain to tangle with, but does the dual accomplishment of granting Luthor god-like cosmic powers to rival Superman's, and also links the Man Of Steel sequel to a greater DC film universe, with the Orange Lanterns being related to the Green Lanterns, which could serve as an introductory point for a new Green Lantern solo film or team up, and also contribute to an evil spectrum of a potential big bad crew that would predicate a Justice League formation for the team-up epic.