Casting 30 of our favorite Marvel and DC Comics superheroes and villains
By Mark Lynch
10. Lex Luthor
Every hero needs a villain who can challenge them. Since Superman is one of the greatest heroes of all time, it makes sense that he’d need a villain to match.
Lex Luthor challenges Superman despite not having superpowers. Luthor’s incredible intellect is more than enough. His plans are some of the best we’ve seen and have caused the Man of Steel problems for decades.
Jesse Eisenberg wasn’t a good Lex Luthor (he should have been the Mad Hatter). Kevin Spacey should have been great. Unfortunately, the story in Superman Returns was awful. Whoever’s next needs to play Luthor as the serious genius that he is. Not someone seems more random than calculated.
Our Dream Casting: Mark Strong
This may seem like the cheat code because Mark Strong can be the answer for everything. In this case, it’s absolutely true.
Lex Luthor has to look and be calm when he’s in his business life. However, when he’s battling Superman, he has to look obsessed with his foe’s destruction. Strong has played that role on more than a few occasions in his long career. When Luthor puts on that super suit to fight Superman, Strong would look perfect.
If the movie went with the DC Rebirth story, he could do that as well. He’d be extraordinary when he’s speaking to the public about him being Metropolis’ savior.