Every Superman Movie Villain Ranked Worst To Best

8. Lex Luthor (Superman Returns)

Superman Nuclear Man Doomsday Lex Luthor
Warner Bros.

If following Gene Hackman's lead as Lex Luthor was an unenviable task for any actor, Kevin Spacey was an absolutely note-perfect choice to succeed him.

And for all of Superman Returns' many problems, Spacey is at least a lot of fun as this comically psychotic, wildly over-the-top Luthor.

Sure, he's basically just doing a Gene Hackman impression for large stretches of the movie, but Spacey's Luthor has also got genuinely unnerving screen presence and gave the world the infamous "Wrong!" meme, so it's tough not to like him at least a little.

More definitely could've been done with a world-class actor playing one of the greatest supervillains of all time, but as homage villains go he's absolutely rock solid.

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.