Comic book readers, moviegoers, and tv fans alike know that Lex Luthor is an evil genius. As Superman's primary adversary and one of DC Comics' most iconic villains, he gleefully manipulates and plagues the good guys. In addition, Project Cadmus created Superboy/Conner Kent, a powerful metahuman clone made from Lex and Superman's DNA.

In Titans' Season 4 premiere, the team stops in Metropolis, where Lex reaches out to Superboy so he can finally meet his son. Dick is naturally apprehensive, considering playing nice has never been one of Lex's strong suits. It doesn't help that Lex only recently engaged in a verbal altercation with the creepy Mother Mayhem, and she wants to teach him a lesson he won't forget. Titus Welliver, who portrays Lex on the Titans, recently spoke with CBR about his take on the character, what makes him so deadly, Lex's thoughts on Superboy, and Mother Mayhem.

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Titans Titus Profile

CBR: Most audiences probably know Lex Luthor to be Superman's number one nemesis and possibly the guy who has genetic ties to Superboy/Conner. How aware were you of Lex's history?

Titus Welliver: Completely. I am 60 years old. I started collecting comics when I was seven or eight. I had an older sibling who was also a collector of comics. I was raised on DC and Marvel comics. I have seen the evolution of Lex Luthor over the years. There's a great line in the show where Grayson goes, "Yeah, Lex Luthor is the only man that Bruce Wayne was ever afraid of." Yeah, because Lex is a badass. I had a lot of knowledge.

I'm also a big fan of the show. I have watched the previous three seasons multiple times. It's a thing I do with my sons. They are also big comic guys. We either watch it together or we are texting each other. Needless to say, they were extraordinarily excited when I said, "I am going to tell you something, but you can't tell anybody," which, of course, they are so used to with NDAs. They have become quite proficient at doing that.

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Fans have been treated to various iterations of the character over the year. There are these amazing performances by everyone from Gene Hackman and Michael Rosenbaum to Jon Cryer and Kevin Spacey. What was your take on Lex? What did you want to bring to the table?

I wanted to bring him forward to today. There are qualities in Lex Luthor that exist in big business. We are so completely aware and interested, and also terrified, to a certain degree, of the corporate world and how much control it has over our world. Then you put a face to it with someone who is heads and tails above all of them and backs it up not only with a business sense but with a pure genius.

What I think I wanted to do was steer clear of anything tropey. I didn't want to do any mustache-twirling. What I wanted to do was bring a kind of stillness to that character. I felt a guy with that much intelligence, with that much power, there would have to be a level of narcissism and arrogance. When you play that against what is happening with him and his relationship with Superboy, initially it feels like it could be an aggressive act, this attempt to get in touch with Superboy. What ultimately unfolds is there is a level of humanity inside of Luthor that is undeniable, where he has an emotional connection to Superboy. I also think there is the parallel to the fact that for all these years, Superman has been his nemesis. I thought of the idea that Luthor kind of said, "Well, if you can't beat them, join them." By combining their DNA, it's not that it is a resolution, and he goes, "Well, maybe Superman is not so bad." But there's a level of control that he has there.

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Titans Titus

What can you tease about how their initial encounter goes down?

Unbeknownst to Lex, there is a beating heart inside of him -- that there is this paternal instinct, and he's ill. He wants to hand this off to his son, even though Superboy doesn't necessarily first acknowledge kinship, because he says, "I don't think of you as my father." That was the fun stuff to play. We know what Lex is capable of. To see a chink in his armor, a bit of vulnerability, while staying true to the character and who he inherently is... At the end of the day, he wants to rule the world -- and the universe, or any universe he can get beyond that universe. That was the tricky aspect to bring in. I wanted to bring him forward.

Live-action has never tackled the Lex/Superboy relationship. So far, it's just been in the cartoons or the comic books.

The idea of bringing Lex in is also to move that character forward in the canon of the show, to flesh him out and bring the audience closer to that character. It's a great mechanism to do that because there is a lot going on with him. Then, to be faced with this thing of, "OK, this guy is Lex Luthor, but by the same token, there is an undeniable thing that occurs between the two of them." It's awkward, and it's uncomfortable in an interesting way, sad. It culminates to the end... or does it?

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We've circled around that Batman is scared of Lex. Conner's response is basically, "Well, he doesn't have any superpowers to be afraid of." So, what makes Lex such a formidable foe, then?

We know that, over the years, it started with kryptonite, and Lex possesses technology. He can't beat Superman, but he's figured out how to lick him. That is also the great thing about Lex Luthor. He does not have any superpowers. He has built suits, robots, and all kinds of things to fight Superman. So, yes, does he have superpowers? No, but he has the ability to hurt or even destroy Superboy if he wants to.

It feels like his ego causes him to underestimate his opponents, whether it's the Titans or Mother Mayhem.

That's a two-prong thing. Superboy has a certain attitude in the same way Lex does. It's not the same, but those are the little nuggets that are the Lex parts that exist within him. Also, the thing with Lex is that he is dealing with something that he considers to be tactile but also not tactile. It's the supernatural. He underestimates that, thinking he can combat that with the tools that he has. Ultimately, what becomes very obvious is that Lex is in deep water.

Lex has pissed off the wrong person this time.

Yeah, completely. Completely.

The fourth season of Titans premiered on HBO Max on Nov. 3.