A Machiavellian schemer and genius-level intellect whose ambitions know no end, Lex Luthor is one of the biggest villains in the DC Universe. Using his considerable business and scientific acumen with cutthroat ruthlessness, he’s been a plague to both Superman and the Justice League on many occasions.
More often than not, Luthor has no qualms about teaming up with other villains to achieve his goals, as he usually has well-laid plans to betray them anyway. While this may work with DC villains, what about those at Marvel?
10 Team-up: Doctor Octopus
Doctor Octopus is one marvel villain Lex Luthor would have no qualms about teaming up with. After all, they already have in 1976's Superman vs Spider-Man crossover. In it, the duo joined forces to remove their arch-nemeses from the picture so Luthor could enact a plan that would result in planet-wide destruction.
Realizing the folly of this, Octavius betrayed Luthor to halt the potential destruction of humanity. A modern team-up would probably follow the same pattern: an overly ambitious Luthor enacting a plan that even the villainous Doc Ock would have to reconsider.
9 Hate: The Kingpin
A Marvel villain Lex Luthor would probably not enjoy teaming with would be Wilson Fisk, aka the Kingpin of Crime. Although on the surface, both men seem to share similar traits as ambitious businessmen with shady criminal backgrounds, the fact of the matter is that Luthor would see Fisk as nothing more than a common street thug.
Through most continuities, the extent of Fisk's influence remains New York City, which to a man with worldwide connections and influence like Lex Luthor, would seem like small potatoes. Further, Lex is a scientific genius who brings much more to the table in terms of personal strategic advantages than Fisk.
8 Team-up: Emma Frost
Lex Luthor is an equal opportunity employer and prizes competence above all else in his employees and business partners. It’s why Mercy Graves has long been his personal bodyguard, and its why he offered the position of head of LexCorp to Talia Al Ghul when he was running for president.
Emma Frost is nothing if not competent. Aside from spending years as the White Queen of the Hellfire Club, the mind-reading, diamond-skinned mutant has served as the Headmistress of the Massachusetts Academy, trained the Hellions and Generation X, served as an X-Man, and been a critical part of the Cabal, Norman Osborn’s dark mirror of the Illuminati. The usefulness of having a telepath as a partner aside, Luthor could benefit from such a highly competent and strategic alliance.
7 Hate: Magneto
Part of the reason Lex Luthor hates Superman so much is that he believes Kal-El’s natural Kryptonian abilities negate humanity’s potential for accomplishment, that anything humans could achieve through hard work and perseverance would pale in comparison to what Superman could do with little effort.
This would definitely put him at odds with Magneto, who believes that mutants are the next stage in evolution and are ultimately superior to human beings because of their abilities. To Magneto, humans are a thing of the past, and for Lex, mutants (especially one as powerful and determined as the Master of Magnetism) would be the ultimate threat to human achievement. Diametrically opposed in ideology, there is little chance Luthor would partner with this Marvel villain.
6 Team-up: Norman Osborn
If there’s one person in the Marvel Universe Lex Luthor would get along with (in)famously, its Norman Osborn. Quite frankly, they’re almost the same person, as both are scientists, captains of industry with huge networks and resources at their disposal, greedily and ruthlessly ambitious, and sport distinctive hairstyles. A Luthor/Osborn team-up would certainly spell disaster for any opposing force they set their sights on, at least until the team-up dissolves due to mutual distrust and betrayal.
Familiarity eventually breeding contempt, both crave to be number one too much to share power for too long, and, since Osborn has a history of insanity due to the instability of his Goblin formula, the smart money is on the cool and calculating Luthor taking him out when his usefulness is at an end.
5 Hate: The Leader
A maniacal and aspiring world-conqueror, The Leader would already have the planet in his hands if it wasn’t for the efforts of the Incredible Hulk. The Leader definitely has the intelligence and the resources to be a viable partner for Lex Luthor.
At multiple points in his career, he’s been the head of a vast underground criminal organization replete with an army of foot soldiers and the latest in state-of-the-art weapons. As enticing as getting his hands on these resources may be, The Leader’s questionable sanity, duplicitous nature, and meta-human stature would be enough to cause Luthor to steer clear...or take him out.
4 Team-Up: Doctor Doom
As the ruler of the nation of Latveria, Doctor Doom has a whole country’s resources at his disposal, which would definitely appeal to Luthor’s hungry appetite for power. Aside from that, Doom, like Luthor, is a genius-level intellect who enjoys creating new and exotic weaponry but also has an edge on Lex by being a powerful mystic and sorcerer.
Both men are no stranger to having allies nor to double-crossing them, but a team-up between these two individuals would see each individual carefully deliberating when the proper time to take the other out would be. Since both men are so deadly and competent, a double-cross would have to be effective on the first try, resulting in a long-term partnership to be sure.
3 Hate: Ultron
Originally created by Hank Pym to be a boon to the world, Ultron is a powerful artificial intelligence strong enough to fight the Avengers by itself. Due to Ultron’s power levels and essence as a technological entity, Lex Luthor would definitely consider joining forces because he has done so before with a similar construct, that being Brainiac.
In Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Luthor/Brainiac team was both formidable and (mostly) equal in power, but that was because Brainiac functioned on a (mostly) reliable logic, something that Ultron skews more often than not. Due to that unreliability in thought processes (which often borders on insanity), Ultron is definitely an entity that Luthor would steer clear of if he couldn’t fully control.
2 Hate: Carnage
Lex Luthor is a perfect arch-villain; a cold, calculated, and ruthless man who plots his moves with the artful execution of a chess prodigy. To quote Hannibal, there’s nothing Lex loves more than when a plan comes together, which is why out of all the villains of the Marvel Universe, the one he would hate to team with most is Carnage.
A living embodiment of chaos, the symbiote-spawn of Venom believes firmly in never having a plan, allowing the impulses of his insanity to dictate his murderous actions. If Lex is to be likened to a master chess strategist, the least likely person to team with is the one who topples the board for no reason, and Carnage is just that person.
1 Team-up: Thanos
If needs be, Lex Luthor has no problem playing second fiddle to a bigger bad if it suits his overall purpose and long-range plans. After all, he had no qualms about including Darkseid in the war effort against Imperiex in Our Worlds at War, as it meant ensuring the survival of the universe.
Luthor would undoubtedly take the lead from the Mad Titan Thanos if they were to team up. Recognizing Thanos’ overwhelming power (especially if wielding the Infinity Gauntlet) would be enough to have Lex retreat to a subordinate position in the partnership... for a while. Allowing Thanos to revel and consolidate his power, Lex would bide his time before choosing the perfect opportunity to relieve Thanos of that power permanently.