Of all other villains to face off against Superman, none are more iconic than Lex Luthor. Over the years, this single man with no powers has challenged the Man of Steel in incredible ways while proving time and again that he is truly one of his greatest foes.
Likewise, serving as the antithesis for one of the most popular comic book characters ever, there have been plenty of different takes on Luthor over time. Though he isn’t depicted as often as Superman himself, there are still plenty of versions of Lex worth talking about. Looking at some of the best and the worst, here is our list of the 5 greatest alternate version of Lex Luthor, and 5 of the worst.
10 Speeding Bullets (Worst)
In this popular Elseworlds story, readers get to see what would happen if Superman had landed in Gotham City and was raised by the Waynes. With an adopted child, however, the Waynes never have a son of their own, leading Kal-El on the journey of becoming Batman instead.
While the story itself is incredibly well-written, its version of Lex leaves a lot to be desired. Following a chemical accident, Luthor actually becomes his own version of the Joker. Despite being a really intriguing concept, something held this version of the character back. Though Lex is a drastically different character from Joker anyways, the differences here aren’t quite up to the same standard as the rest of the story.
9 Earth One (Best)
The Superman: Earth One series served as a modernization of the Superman character, reintroducing The Man of Steel himself as well as offering alternate takes on some of his classic villains. By the end of the second installment, it is very clear that Lex is going to be involved in the third.
Interestingly enough, however, the Earth One version of Lex actually turned out to be 2 separate people, a married couple named Alexander and Alexandria Luthor. Like the main version of Lex, these two were incredibly smart, with Alexander even attempting to help Superman in his fight against Zod. Unfortunately though, Alexander met a tragic end, firmly establishing his wife as the main Lex of this universe.
8 The Dark Knight Universe (Worst)
Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns is considered by many to be one of the best Batman stories ever told. Set in an alternate future, this timeline features all sorts of variations on other popular DC heroes and villains.
Unfortunately, Lex Luthor isn’t one of the better characters in the timeline. When he is seen, he is incredibly ugly, though he is still depicted as being very clever. Despite being in so little of the series, this version of Lex doesn’t feel like the same person in any sense, and also offers little to actually move the story forward, landing him as one of the more disappointing versions, especially considering the book’s author.
7 Injustice (Best)
The popular video game series introduced some great takes on some classic DC heroes, with Lex Luthor being one of them. Ironically, Lex and Superman are actually friends in this universe at first, with Lex only turning against him after Superman becomes a tyrant.
Thankfully though, this version of Lex proved to be a very valuable asset for Batman as he attempted to bring Superman down. Lex also played a key role in developing a lot of the plot points of this story, and even held his own surprisingly well against some of DC’s most powerful characters.
6 Flashpoint (Worst)
With Flashpoint being such a good storyline overall, it is a little disappointing that Lex is hardly in it. Granted, Superman himself isn’t in much of the series as well, but this version of the Man of Steel is definitely much more intriguing than this version of Lex.
In the Superman spinoff series, Lex is briefly seen with his father as they visit Superman in his containment cell. Of course, things go wrong and Krypto breaks out, where he then attacks the Luthors. Lex’s father then uses Lex himself as a human shield, leaving heavy implications that Lex actually died from the encounter. Though he wasn’t seen very often, this version does offer some interesting insight into the main version of Lex.
5 Kingdom Come (Best)
The Kingdom Come version of Lex is actually very similar to the original version, which is probably why he worked so well. Aside from being older, this version of the character was still up to his usual antics, manipulating characters for his own gain while believing himself to be the hero.
For his biggest feat throughout the story, Lex actually managed to brainwash Billy Batson, who was now an adult. In doing so, Lex picked one of the few people left on the planet who could actually manage to take down Superman. Thankfully, things didn’t go according to plan for him, but it is still a clever way to incorporate the character.
4 Earth 3 (Worst)
Looking specifically at the JLA: Earth 2, or the New 52 Earth 3 version of Lex, the character has the potential to be so much more. On this Earth, good and evil are flipped, meaning that evil always wins out over good in the end.
Because of this, Lex is actually a good guy on this world, but is still constantly losing to its version of Superman. Later on, during the New 52, it is revealed that this version of Lex actually becomes Mazahs, another version of Shazam. Unfortunately, very little is seen of and known about this character. With so much potential, readers can’t help but feel a little let down by this version of the iconic villain.
3 Red Son (Best)
For those who are unfamiliar, Superman: Red Son is an elseworlds story that explores what the DC universe would look like had Superman’s rocket landed in Soviet Russia instead of Kansas. Though things can certainly become very grim from a concept like this, the story actually supports the idea that no matter where he grows up, Superman is still Superman.
Taking place during the height of the Cold War though, Lex becomes one of the most influential figures in America, and even gains a lot of political power in the series. While Lex is still the antagonist, he is also the good guy in his own way, and even comes up with a clever way to “beat” Superman, establishing this version of the character as one of the most interesting and most effective versions of Lex yet.
2 Lex II (Worst)
In one of the weirder instances in Luthor’s history, Lex actually died, had his mind put into the body of a younger clone, and then pretended to be an Australian version of his long-lost son known as Lex Luthor Jr. Eventually, he was found out to be the real Lex Luthor, but it never made much sense as to why he bothered with the ruse in the first place.
At the time, this version of Lex felt like an attempt to go back to the Pre-Crisis version of the character, where Lex was a bit more erratic. While comics themselves are almost never without their weirder moments, this just seemed like a very odd direction for the character.
1 Main (Best)
Of all other versions of the character, none are arguably better than the main version of Lex himself. Of course, this version has been around for the longest, giving him an unfair advantage over the others, but it is also the version that has challenged Superman the most, making him such a great villain in the first place.
Over the years, this version of Lex has put Superman through some of the worst challenges imaginable. Even though he has gone through some personality changes himself, he has remained the same character at his core, earning his reputation as one of DC’s biggest villains.