Forgotten Villains: Gene Hackman’s Lex Luthor

By Owen Quinn author

Photos copyright Warner Bros

I was recently made aware of just how many movies and television shows the younger generation have never heard of, never mind seen. So to that end, we look back at some characters you really need to see before you kick the bucket.

While there have been many versions of Lex Luthor over the years both in live action and animation and yes, there will be another in the James Gunn reboot; you know the one where they sacked Henry Cavill and cast his exact double. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it but to replace an actor, the only movie actor that comes close to Reeve, with literally his twin beggars belief. But for many there is only one Luthor that could go up against Christopher Reeve’s Superman in the movies and make it believable.

In 1978 that man was the brilliant Gene Hackman. Think of it this way; Jack Nicholson as Michael Keaton’s Joker and you know it is magic. Thus with Hackman up against Reeve. Hackman was a highly respected movie star with a string of hits under his belt. With Luthor he wanted to subvert audiences firstly by having the usually bald Luthor have curly hair. With his secret base under Metropolis, he plotted and planned world domination with his two cronies henchman Otis (Ned Beatty) and the lovely Miss Tessmacher, (Valerie Perrine).

This Luthor follows the mainstream of the stories in that he hates Superman and wants to find out all he can about him especially how to kill him. It speaks of his ego that he sees an all powerful alien as the only thing that stops the world from seeing Luthor as the most powerful man in the world. He is a literal super criminal here rather than the had of corporation that trades in all sorts and is a cover to his plans for world domination. There’s a great comedic side to this Luthor all through the movies with his springboard of the forever loyal Otis. When we first see Luthor it is his hand only as he watches Otis being trailed to their secret hideout below the train station by the police. He kills the officer by forcing him in front of a train. Miss Tessmacher calls him sick but here we see exactly what Luthor thinks of himself and how egotistical he is.

He fiends hurt at being called sick when he is days away from committing the crime of the century and prefers terms like charismatic, fiendishly gifted and the greatest criminal mind of his time. The crime of the century involves the theft of nuclear missiles that he will launch into the San Andreas fault triggering the biggest earthquake in history. His father once told him that land is where the money is and when his plan is executed he will make billions from people desperate for land. When asked why so many people have to die he equates it to the phone ringing when you are in the bath…shit happens.

Time and again we him Hackman bounce between comedy and evil as he focuses solely on what he wants regardless of the consequence. Ambition and victory are all he think about in the building of his empire. His vanity is deep and the traditional baldness is given away when Otis finds a wig in Luthor’s bed and Luthor’s changing hairstyles. It isn’t until he is delivered to prison that he whips off his wig and glares hatefully in the classic Luthor image after the departing Superman.

When Superman hits the news Luthor knows he is the real deal because if he were a hoax then he would have been the one behind it. And if anyone could scupper his crime of the century then it’s Superman. In a way Superman’s honesty is part of his own downfall when he revels in his interview with Lois that he is vulnerable to Kryptonite and cannot see through lead. And that piece of information along with the location of Krypton and its galaxy is all Luthor needs to lure him into a trap via a sonic message and meet his foe face to face.

Luthor broadcasts a signal that only Superman and dogs can hear. He claims that he is about to detonate a bomb filled with poisonous gas that will wipe out half the city. Like Zod in the second movie, Luther uses Superman’s love for people against him. But while all this is to bring Superman to the base, it is also Luthor’s way of testing his enemy as seen in the deleted scenes where he tries to burn, freeze and riddle him with bullets before he kicks the door of the base in to which Luthor says with a smile, “It’s open. Come in. My attorney will be in touch with you about the damage to the door.” When his poisonous gas is revealed to be a lie, Superman asks is that how a warped mind like his gets his kicks by planning the deaths of innocent people. Luthor replies , no, by causing the deaths of innocent people.

But for Luthor it is more than that. It is his proving to this god that he is mistaken about his place on Earth. Luthor is the true god with all his technology and money which not even Superman can stand against. This alien is but a cuckoo, made fragile by his own morality. Luthor boasts about what is going to happen using a massive floor map which he smashes to show what is going to left of California once it hits. Luthor would gladly give Otis’ life to destroy Superman and poor Otis would let him do it. Luthor wants to look Superman in the eye and make Superman realise that he is not god here; Luthor is. Luthor has been buying up thousands of acres of land at crazy prices bringing it to the attention of Lois. When the earthquake hits then the west coast of California will fall into the sea making Luthor’s cheap desert land the most valued commodity on the planet. It says something about the caliber of Luthor that the only way his plan can be stopped is by reversing time itself. Delivered to prison Luthor is an angry man.

And an angry man in prison has time to plot and research. He escapes with the aid of holographic tech and Miss Tessmacher in a hot air balloon but poor Otis is left behind. Luthor wants his revenge on Superman and has figured out that Superman always flies north for some unknown reason. So he figures there is something there which he doesn’t want found and of course he finds the Fortress of Solitude. He discovers the Kryptonian crystals in which Jor El shares Kryton and his son’s story. It times nicely with the arrival of Zod and his cohorts on Earth. Ever the opportunist Luthor uses his knowledge of Superman to make a deal with Zod; in exchange for the son of Zod’s jailor, he wants Australia given his soft spot for real estate, a nod to the first movie.

But Luthor is not stupid. Again he is testing just how powerful and dangerous these new Kryptons are and when Superman shows up to fight them, Luthor gasps to himself, “Superman, thank god.” earning a glare from Zod. He quickly changes to “Get him!” Hackman is in his element here bouncing off four Supermen of sorts. He flirts unsuccessfully with Ursa, makes jokes at Non’s expense and bows to Zod while still maintaining his Luthor arrogance. When they all end up in the Fortress Luthor again betrays Superman. But he doesn’t realise that it is in fact he who is being played. In the movie Superman gave his powers up to be with Lois with the use of a molecular chamber. When Superman asks him to help him trick Zod into the chamber Luthor warns Zod against the trap.

This says a lot about Luthor’s choice. Zod has already ordered his death despite their deal and yet still takes this chance to get rid of Superman and be ruled by Zod. Despite their rivalry, Luthor hates Superman enough to let the world be ruled by a tyrant who has shown that Luthor’s lifespan may not be very long in the new world. Given that Superman reversed time in the first movie, Luthor has no memory of how he almost destroyed California yet his hatred for the man is as deep as ever. Indeed it would explain why Miss Tessmacher rescues him from prison because she would have no memory of the missile heading to the town her mother lives in.

While Luthor ends up back in prison, behind the scenes neither he nor Margot Kidder would feature in the third Superman movie. Instead Richard Pryor would take centre stage making the most comedic movie in the franchise. While Hackman could perfectly balance a quip and an eye roll while stabbing you in the back, Pryor was the comedy genius changing the tone of the third. However we would see a return to sense when the fourth and the weakest of the movies was released.

This time Superman was out to rid the world of their nuclear weapons because the threat was greater than ever should someone stupid would hit the button and destroy us all. This time Luthor would be aided by his nephew Lenny played by Jon Cryer. Luthor considers him the dutch elm disease of the family tree but is useful when he frees Luthor from prison. Cryer would be cast as Luthor in the Supergirl series years later and embark on a mission to destroy every version of Superman in the multiverse in Crisis on Infinite Earths.

This time round Luthor has been stewing on the Superman problem and has come to the conclusion that only a being equal to or more powerful than Superman can kill him. So he and Lenny steal a strand of Superman’s hair and with a precise dose of nuclear radiation created Nuclear Man. There’s something Freudian about this as he is totally loyal to Luthor. Luthor has complete control and dominance over this Superman clone which is what he has always wanted.

When Superman ends the arms race by vowing to rid the world of all bombs, Luthor gathers the greatest arms dealers on the planet. He wants to add the Nuclear Man cells to a nuclear bomb and detonate it. Once born Nuclear Man will be able to hurt Superman, pierce his skin and flood his body with radiation. None of them are keen to trust Luthor but he reminds them of his motto, “The more fear you make, the more loot you’ll take.”

Superman throws the missile into the sun and inadvertently creates his new foe. It goes straight to Luthor who lights a cigar from his hand and revels in his own brilliance. However when Nuclear Man now speaking in Luthor’s voice tells him he is nothing and that he is the father now, it has all gone wrong for Luthor again. Nuclear Man can fire energy that spins Lenny round in midair but Luthor has given him a weakness in order to control him better. Once out of sunlight, Nuclear Man is inert.

Luthor uses his old private frequency trick to lure Superman into facing his new nemesis by singing Hello Dolly and another fake threat. He brings Nuclear Man and explains what is about to happen. He toasts Superman’s last moments and with him gone, Luthor will rearm the world, not for war. he wants to keep the threat alive and make a fortune. Superman comments that Luthor will break any law even nature to get what he wants. Nuclear Man hurts Superman by scratching his neck and flooding his body with radiation. As he gloats we hear Luthor’s voice. In a way this is again Luthor’s desire to be equal to or better than Superman and placing his voice in Nuclear Man’s body he is achieving that.

With Superman apparently dead, Luthor makes a fortune with his dealers in rearming the world. They want to up his commission but he takes control of the company and uses Nuclear Man to warn them off. He yells they won’t get a reference from him either. And to think he was once surprised that Zod betrayed him over their deal in Superman 2.

Nuclear Man is defeated and Luthor once again is delivered by Superman back to the work detail he escaped from. Lenny is delivered to a boy’s home where he is taken in by the priest and the world is safe once more.

There is no doubt that Gene Hackman will forever be Lex Luthor and I mean the definitive version just like Reeve is Superman and Lynda Carter is Wonder Woman. There have been many versions since some good, some crap but none amazing and flawless like Hackman was.