Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel was met with mixed fanfare. It certainly wasn’t Donner-like; Superman leaned more towards violent, caught up in a fight that left a city in ruin. But that’s something I enjoyed.
No, I didn’t mean all the destruction! Although, it was aesthetically pleasing to my bloodthirsty eyes. No, I liked that Superman wasn’t exactly acting like the Superman we would expect. It was his first time facing off against a threat that actually challenged him physically; it was his first time being Superman. He didn’t have the experience. His emotions got the best of him, and ultimately, he became desperate to stop General Zod.
The events in Man of Steel paved the way for Lex Luthor’s entrance — not the Donner version of course, but one more aligned with the comics. A more intellectual Luthor; one who questions and challenges Superman, who views Superman as a crutch for humanity. A Luthor who views himself as the rightful hero in humanity’s eyes — not that righteous alien. But Luthor has the ego the size of Metropolis and a crippling case of narcissism.
Snyder recently confirmed that Lex Luthor is the villain in the sort-of-sequel to Man of Steel, Batman Vs. Superman. He had some choice words that lends credence to the idea we’re getting the Lex from the comics.
“At its core, Superman is an alien. He comes from an alien world … Lex loves to call him an alien.”
–Zack Snyder
If we truly are getting that version of Lex Luthor, it kind of saddens me that they’re making the sequel to Man of Steel into a reboot of Batman, and possibly an intro to the Justice League. The first movie left an opening for character development for Clark Kent, to learn from his mistakes and grow into the Superman persona. And the film left things at the perfect place for Lex Luthor to show up and point fingers at Superman and blame him for the destruction in Metropolis — not to mention, even be the financial backing to repair the city.
Batman Vs. Superman hits theaters July 17, 2015.
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