WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Year of the Villain: Hell Arisen #2, by James Tynion IV, Steve Epting, Nick Filardi and Travis Lanham, on sale now.
Even though Lex Luthor has a ton of new powers thanks to Perpetua, his greatest asset is still his keen intellect. But now, DC's Hell Arisen has put Luthor's brains and his other powers to the test in a brutal contest against The Batman Who Laughs.
While the first issue left the Apex Luthor cornered in his laboratory by a group of Infected heroes, Luthor turns beats the odds in an epic fashion in Hell Arisen #2. Luthor systematically overcomes and shuts down each member of the Batman Who Laughs' Secret Six without even breaking a sweat. The way that he dispatches them while delivering a typically egotistical spiel is incredibly satisfying, in that finally, someone seems to be telling The Batman Who Laughs that he has chosen the wrong universe to mess with.
When King Shazam says that the infected are going to squash Luthor, even if he has some new powers, Luthor points out with a cold smile that he is the mortal man known best for going toe to toe with Superman, the most powerful being on the planet. Luthor makes it clear that he's no push-over, won't be afraid and has Batman-esque contingency plans for his contingency plans.
Before Supergirl can make a start the attack, Luthor initiates his lab's "Red Sun Protocol" which floods the area with red sun radiation that weakens the infected Kara enough for him plunge two kryptonite daggers into her shoulders. Next, the corrupted Wonder Girl rushes him, calling him out for his relative lack of fighting skill. Luthor responds to that claim by unleashing some martial arts robots that effectively hold off her attack.
With Donna Troy taken care of, Lex hacks into Jaime Reyes's suit before Reyes can do anything to stop him. While smashing the Blue Beetle with the gigantic metal fist of his power suit, Lex points out that he of all people knows how to combat alien technology. Lastly, he grabs the Sky Tyrant Hawkman and slams him into the ground as effortlessly the Hulk smashed Loki in Avengers.
Finally, King Shazam stands alone and mocks Luthor for not being able to stop his magic. After saying that his new powers would be useless, it is only fair that Luthor uses his martian telekinesis to force Shazam into saying "Shazam" and reverting to nothing but a child and taking down the insanely powerful team.
With the Secret Six done and dusted, Luthor activates a self destruct sequence and leaves the infected to be crushed underneath the rubble of the demolished building. Kara tries to tell him that his efforts are pointless, but Luthor isn't phased and simply teleports away as the building explodes. We learn later that he has a greater plan going forward, but it's one that he needs some help in pulling off.
It's been clear that Apex Luthor has been powerful for months, but the fact that he can make such short work of five major superheroes, including Supergirl, is alarming, to say the least. While Luthor is arguably on the side of the angels in his fight against the Infected, this does not mean that he is truly a force for good. He is now in league with Perpetua and helped corrupt the entire world. Since he also has his sights on Superman, it's only a matter of time until he uses his upgraded abilities to bring a major hurting to the Man of Steel.
What the future holds for Luthor, the Infected or even the DC Universe is very unclear right now, but one thing is for sure. With Luthor's evolution and increase in power, The Batman Who Laughs' terrifying ability to manipulate and control those around him, and the ending of this comic seeing more heroes become Infected, The Year of the Villain is surely living up to its name.