I like the idea that Lex desperately wants love, both the love of the masses that Supes gets, parental love, companionship and all that, but he has fucked up every relationship in his life and is incapable of what he desires.
He is too smart, egotistic, greedy and ambitious to form real relationships. Always thinking about plans to get his way (good plans too) but never having to actually bond. It is why he likes fighting Supes so much. He is not as smart as him but he can keep up through quick thinking and strength as opposed to everyone else who is just powerless before him.
He wants the idea of Lois, the woman herself is an annoying pain in his ass, he ruined his relationship with his “son” and even the women he made to his specifications (Hope and the Lois robot) he sacrificed in his schemes.
Imo, he never had to learn how to form bonds with others as everyone around him could be manipulated like clay.
He’s the best supervillain for a reason, he’s fun, he’s well-written, there’s no crazy origin and remove the fantastical elements and you can see his character as a reflection of many modern problems plaguing men, fatherless behaviour, superficial obsessions, wanting to be what they claim to hate, loneliness worsened by layers upon layers of self-loathing and insecurity.
I would not say "fatherless". He work better for me as someone who is so smart that everyone felt like programable robots for him to manipulate. So smart that he felt like listening to no one but pretended he did while planning to make them dance to his tune. If I were writing him, he would have been in both physical stuff like boxing and football as well academics as chess club and mathletes. He should be the kind of guy who was popular with everyone (nerds, jocks, teachers, cheerleaders, goths etc) and mastered everything he wanted easily.
His first defeat should be Superman. There might have been setbacks before but that was minions not being able to follow instructions and messing up (Lex would correct those mistakes). Superman should be the first person to truly beat him in anything. That should be the reason for his obsession.
I'd be down for a Luthor feature — but the Superman-Lois-Lex Bermuda triangle has been done.
LMAO the Pulitzer-winning journalist can’t see through Clark’s dollar store disguise? Worse, she can’t see through Clark, or Bruce, or Lex? It makes her look like a goddamn nimrod.
It should be hard to see through that disguise as it is layered. Superman is the embodiment of confidence and strength. He radiates power and confidence. He has the body of a god and the powers to match. He literally floats above mortals and almost never gives the chance to see him at eye level (Clark Kent was the first to interview him). It is also worth noting that Superman does not wear a mask to hide his face meaning that in most people's minds, he does not have a secret identity. Here is what most people think about him: "He probably has a name but it is an alien one and lives in a secret place called "The Fortress of Solitude". That is it. Why would he need a secret identity to begin with?"
Clark, on the other hand, is the kid from Kansas who grew up in a place not even the residents can point out in the map and radiates awkwardness that is matched only by acne-riddled teenagers getting their first boner while the sexy nurse is giving them a check up. He has a body that looks pudgy due to baggy, unflattering clothes and a posture that makes him resemble a Neanderthal. And his glasses are rather unflattering to while distorting his eye color just enough to see that they are green (as opposed to Superman's whose are blue).
Add the fact that those two behave nothing alike and you get a really good disguise.
