There’s a specific cold sweat you get when you realize you aren’t the smartest person in the room anymore. I remember feeling it in film school when a kid who’d never seen Citizen Kane cut a better short than me in three hours. Envy, rage, existential dread—all at once. That’s the exact frequency James Gunn is tuning into with his new Lex Luthor.
I confess: I’ve often found Lex boring. Gene Hackman’s real estate schemes. Jesse Eisenberg‘s jolly rancher twitchiness. They felt like cartoon obstacles, not human threats. Puzzles for Superman to punch through. But what Gunn is proposing for the DCU feels different. It feels less like comic book trope and more like psychological horror—a narcissist watching his world collapse in real time.
The Terror of Being Replaced
James Gunn sat down with CBS Mornings and dropped the hammer: this Lex isn’t just mad. He’s obsolete.
Before David Corenswet’s Man of Steel showed up with his “dimples and a cape,” Lex Luthor was the apex predator of humanity. Smartest. Most accomplished. The one who arguably did the most for the species. Then an alien drops out of the sky and does it all better without trying.
That’s the core of Lex Luthor’s hatred in this version. It isn’t property values or vague world domination. It’s ego death. Gunn explains that Lex “rationalized his own way of believing that he is put here on Earth to destroy Superman.” Terrifyingly human. We like to think we’d welcome a savior, but if that savior made our life’s work look like a child’s finger painting… would we? I’m not so sure.
A Villain Who Actually Scares You
Gunn was blunt about previous iterations: “I haven’t been particularly scared of Lex Luthor.” He’s right. We knew Superman would win because Superman always wins.
Nicholas Hoult’s version is designed to be “incredibly dangerous.” This Lex creates Ultraman—a Superman clone—specifically to dismantle the hero. That isn’t a business plan. It’s an execution order.
The shift is crucial. By grounding Lex’s motivation in professional jealousy and shattered identity, Gunn turns him into someone we uncomfortably understand. We’ve all felt replaced. We’ve all felt the bitterness of watching someone else get the credit. Making us empathize with the devil makes him scarier than any mustache-twirling caricature ever could.
Gunn acknowledged that Michael Rosenbaum’s Smallville Lex was also scary—”incredibly tragic and human.” But in this film, Lex and Clark meet for the first time. No lost friendship to mourn. Just the immediate, visceral reaction of a man realizing he’s no longer the main character of reality.
What This Means for the DCU
The film also stars Nathan Fillion, Isabela Merced, and Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen (who may be getting his own HBO Max spinoff). Looking ahead, Supergirl arrives in 2026 with Milly Alcock in the title role.
But the Lex/Superman dynamic sets the foundation. It tells us Gunn isn’t just smashing action figures together. He’s interested in the bruises they leave on the people holding them.
Key Takeaways
- Ego death drives the hatred. Lex was the greatest man alive—until Superman arrived and made him irrelevant overnight.
- No more camp. Gunn’s Lex “really wants to kill him,” shifting the tone toward psychological thriller.
- Fresh start, no baggage. They meet for the first time here, building the rivalry from scratch without Smallville history.
- Rosenbaum acknowledged. Gunn respects that version but wants his own Lex to be genuinely terrifying.
FAQ: Lex Luthor’s Hatred in the New DCU
Why is Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor different from previous versions?
Gunn emphasizes this version is genuinely “scary” and “dangerous”—not campy or purely business-minded. His hatred stems from the psychological trauma of being replaced as humanity’s greatest achiever by an alien who does it all effortlessly.
Does Lex Luthor have superpowers in the new Superman?
No. Lex relies on genius-level intellect. He creates Ultraman, a Superman clone, giving him a superpowered proxy. This underscores his role as mastermind rather than physical threat—more dangerous because he plans rather than punches.
Is this the first time Lex and Superman meet in the DCU?
Yes. Unlike Smallville where they share a friendship-turned-rivalry history, Gunn confirmed they’re meeting for the first time. Audiences witness the inception of the hatred without decades of narrative baggage.
The strangest thing about this version of Lex is how familiar he feels. Not as a comic book villain—as a person. The guy at work who was the best until someone better showed up. The friend who stopped calling after you got promoted. The version of ourselves we don’t like to admit exists.
Gunn isn’t just asking us to root against Lex Luthor. He’s asking us to recognize him. And that recognition—that uncomfortable mirror—might be scarier than any Kryptonite ever was.
Whether Hoult can carry that weight remains to be seen. But for the first time in a while, I’m actually nervous about what Lex Luthor might do. That’s not nothing.
