From Man of Steel to Batman v Superman: A Chronological Analysis of Lex Luthor’s Plans and Motivations
(disclaimer: contains details from the extended cut)
Parts in yellow were added after initial posting
Parts in yellow were added after initial posting
Two Years Ago: Mankind is Introduced to the Superman
Learning that we are not alone in this universe, or even on the planet, certainly shook the world’s belief system and was no doubt the catalyst for Lex’s search for others like Superman after learning he had been among us for 33 years. Lex goes to extremes to find these metahumans including tapping into every type of surveillance, such as government feeds and satellites thanks to his company’s hi-tech capabilities, and using algorithms to identify them. He does not believe these “gods among us” should be here. He even has LexCorp start developing proprietary weaponry to deal with the metahumans.
In the extended cut, upon Superman’s return to him after his fight with Batman, we hear Lex tell Superman “I don’t hate the sinner, I hate the sin. And your sin is existing.” Surely this is not a new sentiment that Lex has suddenly adopted, but one that he has felt since Superman publicly revealed himself to the world exacerbated by the discovery of the other metahumans. Batman v Superman’s bonus featurette “The Empire of Lex Luthor” found in the extra features of the home release has Jessie Eisenberg echoing these same sentiments. He says about Lex, “He views Superman as just existentially wrong. This guy should not exist. And that creates a very dangerous person.”
The reason Lex feels this way is instilled in him by his belief that God cannot be all-good AND all-powerful due in part by his experience with his father as a child. Given that Lex hates Superman’s existence and believes it should not be, it’s natural to conclude he would want Superman dead. But in order to make this happen he needed to find his weakness which motivated a need to learn more about Superman. As we saw Lois do in Man of Steel, it wouldn’t have been difficult for him to connect the dots to discover he is Clark Joseph Kent, especially when scouring the planet for metahumans by surveillance.
Some believe Lex didn’t necessarily want to kill Superman, but rather he wanted to control him or even just keep him in line with the added purpose of keeping other metahumans in hiding. That is, after all, the excuse Lex gives to the senators. But this idea contradicts his view that Superman’s existence is a sin, and the necessity to expose metahumans hiding among us. That is why Lex sought them out in the first place following the discovery that Superman had been hiding among us: to weed them out. The way in which Senator Finch brings this up in her encounter with Lex indicates the possibility that Lex himself is the one who posed the metahuman thesis which would only make sense if he wanted the world to know about them. And the fact that Lex wants to kill Superman is made more obvious by Senator Finch’s recognition that Lex’s silver bullet is intended as a weapon of assassination.
But ignoring those facts, if Lex had intended to work with the government to keep Superman in line and not kill him, it begs the question why Lex was pushing Batman and Superman to fight even before approaching the Senate with his proposal of a silver bullet deterrent. Not only was Lex sending back Keefe’s checks, but Lex had already killed one inmate with the bat brand to instigate Superman before his meeting with Senator Finch and Senator Barrows. One could argue this was done as a backup plan to working with the government. However before Lex’s proposal to the Senators, Lex’s actions had already set Superman and Batman on a collision course with each other which as a backup plan poses too much of a risk.
Given what we learned from Superman’s reluctance to kill General Zod in Man of Steel, Superman will only kill in a “kill or be killed” situation. Once Superman and Batman were to confront each other, Batman without Kryptonite and Superman without Martha’s life in danger, neither would have killed the other and there would have been a better chance of them discussing their differences. And given their morals are aligned they would have likely formed an alliance lending Superman more credence. Had Lex gone ahead with kidnapping Martha but kept the Kryptonite for his silver bullet deterrent, Superman would have succeeded in getting Batman to listen to reason and acquired his help since there was no threat to his life. Unless Lex was intending for Batman to get his hands on the Kryptonite all along in order to pose a real threat to Superman, provoking each of them would work against him.
Lex clearly views Superman as a threat, and he wants to get rid of that threat completely. Here is a “narcissistic sociopath”, as described by Geoff Johns. “Lex in the film is very maniacal.” To keep Superman in check is a half measure, a prospect that Lex clearly has no interest in. Lex shows he does not operate in half measures when he bombs the Senate and creates Doomsday. The fear of death is greater than the fear of being held accountable. If Lex’s goal was to keep metahumans in hiding, another prospect Lex clearly has no interest in, the fear of being killed would certainly be a more effective deterrent than the fear of being kept in check. Killing Superman would be much more successful in achieving that.
Moving on, during the rebuild of Metropolis, Lex’s crews discover Kryptonite which Lex learns is harmful to Kryptonians. At that point he has the information needed which could kill Superman. But given the manner in which the world had embraced Superman’s presence during the course of rebuilding, and the shift in view about extraordinary beings, Lex needed to change the world’s opinion in order to turn it against metahumans before revealing proof of their existence along with their identities. Therefore he needed to use Superman to set an example for why humanity should be opposed to his kind before killing him. He then sets out to find more Kryptonite and devise a plan to use that Kryptonite to demonize Superman and eliminate the “sin of his existence” by killing him.
While searching the planet for other extraordinary beings, Lex discovers Batman’s identity. The fact that Batman is human is both a consolation and inspiration for Lex evident in his willingness to cooperate with Bruce as depicted in the fundraiser scene and his tete-a-tete with him in prison which will come up later - Lex does not feel threatened by Batman since he is but a man. In addition to discovering Batman’s identity, he also learns of his hatred for Superman and decides to use this hate and his years of experience in a plan that would cover both of his goals.
The Plan
Once Lex finds Kryptonite he would frame Superman to make the world and the US Government question Superman’s allegiance and morality. Then using the resulting climate of fear Lex would propose the creation of a Kryptonite weapon to the Senate under the guise of a deterrent. He would use this as an excuse to import the Kryptonite into the country for Batman to use. The Senate would then deliberate over the legislative proposal to put Superman in check. Meanwhile Lex would supply Batman with the Kryptonite giving him the tools to face Superman and hopefully kill him. This would accomplish the goal of eliminating Superman’s sin/existence. Lex would also show Batman the other metahumans so that once Superman was dead he could start hunting them. But if Superman kills Batman then Lex could use the murder of Bruce Wayne as reason for the government to use the silver bullet against Superman.
For this to work Superman had to have both a hatred for Batman and incentive enough to be willing to fight and kill him. That’s where the dead inmates and Martha Kent come into play. We already saw in Man of Steel when Zod tossed Martha Kent to the ground that Superman would fight to save his mother. If Batman loses and Superman kills him with Martha Kent’s life on the line it would prove Superman not only cares about his own interests over others’, but that he would be willing to selfishly kill for his own interests. And Lex would have the head of Bruce Wayne to prove Superman is not innocent.
People would begin to fear and hate Superman, and the Senate would determine that Superman posed too much of a threat. They would vote in favor of the silver bullet. With Batman dead Lex could retrieve his Kryptonite to create the silver bullet. If necessary, after Superman delivers the head of Batman Lex could use Martha to make Superman retrieve it for him before releasing her. Using the Kryptonite Lex would create a weapon for the government to kill Superman. Lex could then expose the other metahumans among us and spearhead a witch hunt against them using the weapons he is developing at LexCorp.
To begin his plan Lex starts to nurture Bruce Wayne’s hatred for Superman by using Wallace Keefe to his advantage. For over a year Lex intercepts Keefe’s checks from the Victims Fund and sends them back with little notes. We know this because Lex admits to it to Superman aboard the Helipad when he says he used "Little Red Notes" to push Batman over the edge. The fact that Keefe never called the Wayne Foundation to ask why he was no longer getting checks tells us that he didn't start getting them only to have them intercepted by Lex at a later time to return them. And the fact that Keefe complains he "has nothing" as he proclaimed on television tells us he wouldn't have been sending the checks back all this time. He obviously needed the money. We must conclude that Keefe has been living off his savings and/or little disability checks from the state. This tells us Lex must have been intercepting his checks from the very start. It's even possible he hacked the entire Victims Fund and no one was getting any checks, but Lex clearly targeted Keefe for his plan.
Once the Kryptonite is found in the Indian Ocean Lex also takes the opportunity to start turning Superman against Batman by having the first inmate with a bat brand killed in prison.
Emerald City
Lex has continued his efforts to find more Kryptonite for Batman to use. He is overjoyed at the whale of a sample that was found. Whether Lex purposely leaves clues for Batman to the White Portuguese, or Batman is able to link the Kryptonite to the White Portuguese on his own, the fact that Batman is led to the name of the vessel means that Lex is making no attempt at hiding the fact from Batman even though he must know that Batman will want it and try to steal it. Another point to consider is the means in which Lex discovered Batman’s identity. Depending on the type of surveillance which led him to that information, Lex could still be surveilling Batman and know what he knows. In any case there is nothing to stop Batman from stealing the Kryptonite whether it comes in legitimately, thanks to an import license, or illegally, and Lex must know this. If Lex’s true intention was to work with the government on a silver bullet deterrent, in order to try to keep the Kryptonite out of Batman’s hands it would make more sense for him to use his contacts in the CIA to acquire and transport it or smuggle it in through more clandestine means and claim it was found in the rebuilding of Metropolis.
For a moment let’s ignore the points already made against the idea that Lex’s plan was to work with the government. If we assume Lex has been giving Batman clues about the White Portuguese at the off chance that he will need to use him as a backup plan, then it doesn’t make sense to allow Bruce to clone Anatoli’s phone before even discovering that the import license is blocked. This will lead him straight to Lex given it is continuously transmitting blacked out data to his house. This is not something Lex would desire unless he had planned for Batman to take the Kryptonite regardless of his acquiring an import license. Even if Lex were to wipe any mention of the White Portuguese from his servers before Bruce has a chance to put a leash on them, Lex would still be in Bruce’s crosshairs which would lead him to the Kryptonite anyway.
More logically Lex wants Batman to steal the Kryptonite given he has been pushing him and Superman to fight each other for some time which plays into his ultimate goal to demonize and kill Superman. Bringing the Kryptonite in legitimately would not only avoid any possibility of government detainment or seizure resulting in potentially no one having the Kryptonite, but it would also make it easier for Lex to bring it into the country and for Batman to take it. However since there are no regulations for importing Kryptonite since it is of alien origin, Lex needs to get approval from the Senate to bring it into the country via an import license.
By inserting his mercenaries as bodyguards for General Amajagh, Lex uses the current events in Nairobi, Africa, and Lois’ planned visit there, to demonstrate to the world that Superman takes sides and will act in his own interests over others’. The setting provided a global audience and a reason for the US to question Superman’s loyalty. Lex further uses this as an opportunity to demonize Superman by framing him as a killer. He has his mercenaries use flamethrowers to emulate Superman’s heat vision and uses the opportunity to test special bullets designed by LexCorp, likely to use against metahumans, that Jenna Malone’s character explains “no one would want to” find out more about. To further protect himself, Lex also takes advantage of the fact that the CIA was there unofficially which would ensure the details of the incident would remain classified because the US Government would not want to implicate themselves and reveal their involvement. Swanwick confirms this when he speaks to Lois about the incident.
The events cause a shift in opinion about Superman causing the US to doubt that Superman acts in the interest of the United States. These sentiments echo the concerns expressed by Swanwick at the end of Man of Steel when he asks Superman “How do we know you won’t one day act against America’s interests?” This removes Superman’s halo bringing the world closer to accepting his death without making him a martyr which of course causes Congress to form a special committee on Superman and hold exploratory hearings to investigate the events in Africa in accordance with Lex’s plan.
Lex still needs to get the Kryptonite to Batman, however given that Kryptonite is radioactive, Customs would definitely not allow it into the country without a license and most likely seize or detain it so no one could get their hands on it. In order to get a license, the Senate would have to approve the transportation of Kryptonite since it has no classification in the Code of Federal Regulations for shipping radioactive material.
Lex meets with Senator Finch, the chairman of the committee on Superman. The committee is formed after Lex successfully frames Superman in the African Incident with the help of mercenaries. And with the help of a woman he threatened and paid off to act as a witness Lex is able to convince the Senate that Superman is not innocent. Lex asks Senator Finch for an import license to bring the Kryptonite into the country under the guise of a deterrent. He proposes the creation of such a deterrent for the Senate’s consideration in the expectation that they will deliberate and approve. If Batman fails and Superman kills him, then he will have killed Bruce Wayne, a wealthy philanthropist, and the government would deem Superman a threat and kill him with Lex’s silver bullet. Lex could then use the fallout to start a witch hunt for the other metahumans.
Unexpectedly but fortunate for Lex, Senator Barrows agrees with Lex’s proposal for the need to have a deterrent against Kryptonians, and he takes it upon himself to see what else he can offer Lex to help with those efforts. Seeing an opportunity before him, Lex takes advantage and uses Senator Barrows to gain full access to General Zod’s body and the crashed scout ship in order to gain as much knowledge as he can about Superman and the Kryptonians. This would no doubt help him in his effort to kill Superman and learn more about their civilization and technology.
The Bat Follows the Breadcrumbs
While Lex is making moves, Batman pursues Anatoli Knyazev. If Lex has been leaking info to Batman about the White Portuguese then he must know Batman is onto Anatoli, likely by having someone mention his name. If he hasn’t been leaking info to Batman about the White Portuguese then it’s still possible he knows that Batman is pursuing Anatoli by surveilling him. In both instances Lex must know Anatoli will lead Batman to him.
If Lex was not leaking info to Batman about the White Portuguese and does not know that Batman is onto him, it doesn’t explain why Lex’s computer servers contained only specific information that Lex would want Batman to know or why he smiles when he sees Batman has stolen the Kryptonite from LexCorp. Note the data files contain no information about Superman or Batman and contain a separate folder in the root directory called META_HUMANS in capital letters.
All this tells us that not only did Batman definitely acquire data implicating Lex, but that Lex knew this. If Lex had been leaking the information about the White Portuguese to Batman all along, then based on when Batman starts looking into Anatoli, Lex must have intended for Anatoli to lead Batman to him before he knew if he’d get the import license. It would lead Batman straight to his house to receive the voyage information of the White Portuguese making this his plan all along. And if Lex did not leak information about the White Portuguese but knows what Batman knows by surveilling him, then he would know Batman was onto Anatoli, and Lex would not have allowed Anatoli to to be in such a situation that would allow Bruce to copy his phone or gather any sort of information from him that would lead him to Lex before learning if he had gotten the import license unless it was his plan all along. Note that at the point in which Senator Finch tells Lex she is blocking his import license, the Kryptonite must have already been in transmit meaning Lex was planning on bringing it into the country with or without the import license.
Let’s explore all this a little further. The fact that Batman knew about the White Portuguese but didn’t know that it was a ship indicates that either criminals were telling Batman the White Portuguese was a person, or Batman was so single-minded that he assumed it was a person himself and didn’t bother to research “White Portuguese” to learn it was a ship. Afterall, the White Portuguese must have been a registered vessel in order for it to come in legitimately with an import license. Note that Ben Affleck acts surprised at the picture of the ship.
The first possibility seems the most plausible given that Batman is supposed to be the world’s greatest detective. If these criminals were in fact suggesting it was a person, it would mean they were either misdirecting Batman, whether on orders or on their own, or they honestly thought it was a person themselves. If they were trying to misdirect Batman, it means that either it was Lex’s intention to delay him, or they knew about the plan to bring in the Kryptonite or the people involved and wanted to protect one or the other.
In the scenario which has Lex leaking information about the White Portuguese, it doesn’t make sense for him to intentionally delay Batman since he could have just as easily not leaked information about the White Portuguese until later when he wanted Batman to know. In the scenario which has criminals taking it upon themselves to misdirect Batman, with how extreme Batman has become it doesn’t make sense that they wouldn’t have revealed everything they know from being tortured. So we can rule out the idea that Batman is being “delayed” or “misdirected” intentionally.
If Lex was feeding Batman information through these criminals to the effect of thinking the White Portuguese is a person to then have someone lead him to Anatoli which would lead to Lex himself, then this would imply that Lex wanted Batman to get the Kryptonite all along given he’s led to Lex before the import license it blocked. But more likely plans had already begun to ship the Kryptonite aboard the White Portuguese and various criminals heard through the grapevine details including the name “White Portuguese” which of course sounds like a person. They would have passed the knowledge to Batman in the form of “someone they call the White Portuguese” leading him to believe it is a person.
If the criminals didn’t suggest the White Portuguese was a person and Batman was just too single-minded to figure out the White Portuguese was a ship, then given the fact that Lex knows what Batman knows it’s obvious that Lex wanted Bruce to get information from Anatoli which would lead him back to him. This way he could provide him the details about the White Portuguese himself and ensure Batman is ready to steal the Kryptonite.
In both possible scenarios, one in which Lex is leaking information to Batman and the other in which Lex isn’t leaking information but knows what Batman knows, Lex could have removed data regarding the White Portuguese from his servers before Bruce had a chance to copy the data if Lex had gotten his import license. But the fact that Lex was implicating himself to Batman or allowing himself to be implicated via Anatoli before the import license is even blocked tells us that Lex had always intended for Batman to have the Kryptonite. Linking himself to the White Portuguese indicates intent. Otherwise giving or allowing Batman to connect Lex to the White Portuguese at the off chance that he doesn’t get the import license would be too large of a risk given the fact that LexCorp owns the White Portuguese, a registered vessel, which would lead Batman straight to the Kryptonite.
So if Lex had intended for Batman to have the Kryptonite all along, why not just smuggle it in to begin with? Even under the assumption that Batman was a backup plan which we’ve already quashed, we see Lex make it easy for Batman to follow the Kryptonite without making it obvious that he’s helping him. And as we’ve already established earlier, bringing the Kryptonite in legally would avoid any risks of government agency intervention and would also make it easier for Batman to track and steal it. If he wants Batman to steal the Kryptonite it makes more sense to bring it in openly than hide it from him. Note that of all the ports Lex could have brought the Kryptonite into, he chose Gotham, home of Batman.
Foiled: A Change of Plans
Senator Finch goes to Lex’s house to tell him that she is blocking the import license for the Kryptonite. This makes things more difficult for Lex because it means he has to smuggle the Kryptonite already en route to the port of Gotham. Even worse it means that Senator Finch will not be proposing the use of a silver bullet deterrent to the Senate for a vote. Consequently this ruins Lex’s scheme in the event that Superman kills Batman. Lex needs to come up with a new plan for that scenario which causes him to later explore alternatives aboard the scout ship.
But first Lex needs to have his witness to the African incident killed who we discover becomes a Confidential Informant and reveals Lex’s involvement in the incident. Then, having no more use for the committee on Superman and wishing to tie up loose ends by eliminating those with knowledge of his activities, Lex plans to blow up the Capitol building killing Senator Finch, Senator Barrows, Mercy, and Keefe all at once. This will prevent Senator Finch from revealing Lex’s involvement in the African incident after the witness came clean to her as well as exact personal vengeance on her. It will prevent Senator Barrows from monitoring Lex’s access to the Scout Ship which he will now need to actively utilize. It will prevent Mercy from potentially testifying to Lex’s smuggling of the Kryptonite and his association to Keefe. And it will prevent Superman from absolving himself. Involving Keefe acts as a means of delivery and serves to push Batman over the edge in hopes to ensure he succeeds in killing Superman given his plans for Superman’s victory have dissolved. The explosion additionally serves to mar Superman’s reputation. By lining the wheelchair with lead it prevents Superman from seeing the explosive to ensure it goes off, and makes people question Superman’s reliability or consider if Superman was complicit in the bombing.
Moving things Forward
Having Anatoli lead Bruce to his house, or simply allowing Anatoli to lead Bruce to his house, Lex ensures the data on his servers have only the information he wants Bruce to have: information about the White Portuguese, about the Kryptonite, and about the metahumans. Lex extends an invitation to both Bruce and Clark to the fundraiser and uses Mercy as his eyes and ears during the event. His invitations serve him several purposes. They allows him to become further acquainted with the two of them by meeting them in person. They allows Clark and Bruce to exchange conflicting ideas. They allow Bruce to steal data from his servers. And they allow Clark to witness Bruce in the act of illegal activity for his Batman persona informing him of Batman’s identity. Note that Diana is also present at the fundraiser, and Lex clearly knows her lineage given his files on her and his blatant reference to Greek Mythology. No doubt knowing Bruce would see the files on her in the data he steals, it makes sense that Lex would invite Diana to the fundraiser to show Bruce these metahumans are hiding among us. Certainly he didn’t expect for Diana to steal Bruce’s data leash leading to them communicating with each other and becoming allies as a result of Doomsday. Although it is possible Diana crashed the party, her motives for doing so are questionable. She claims Lex has stolen a picture that belongs to her, but we are not given any indication as to how she intended to retrieve it, and she couldn’t have known Bruce would attempt to steal the data. And it’s very unlikely Lex’s men would allow Diana to enter without an invitation, not to mention if he didn’t want her there to begin with he could have had her escorted out by his men at any time since he would have recognized her from his research. Diana must have just noticed Bruce’s activities and taken the opportunity which presented itself to steal his data leash.
After the fundraiser Lex starts taking measures to execute his plan to bomb the Capitol Building. More specifically he bails out Keefe from jail and provides him with the wheelchair containing the explosive, and encourages Keefe to contact Senator Finch in order to have his voice heard.
Having sent the checks back each month and including messages such as "Bruce=Blind" effectively allows them to slip through the cracks unnoticed and makes all the difference in making Bruce feel like he's failed Keefe for not knowing about them for all this time. To ensure that Bruce sees the checks Lex sends one final newspaper clipping directly to Bruce that reads "You Let Your Family Die" the morning of the Capitol Tragedy, presumably with Keefe's return address on the envelope to link it to him.
Some people suggest Lex started using Keefe once he appeared on television after defacing the Superman statue, but that would imply that Keefe was held in prison without bail for at least 12 months which we know is impossible. Given various details in the movie, certainly not more than a month at most passes between Keefe going to jail and the Capitol Building bombing. We see at least 12 returned checks, each with little red notes which Lex admits to sending, the final one containing an image of the Capitol Building in flames.
Some people have also suggested that Keefe was the one sending the checks back all along. But that would suggest Lex contacted Keefe simply because of his disgruntled attitude toward Superman on television without any endgame to push Batman over the edge. He could have easily paid someone to falsely testify as he did the African woman, but instead he chose Keefe because of his connection to Bruce Wayne. The fact that Lex sent the newspaper clipping that reads "You Let Your Family Die" implies he at least knew about the checks. But the only way for him to know about them is for Keefe to have told him about them. Alternately he could have sent the newspaper clipping without knowing about the checks simply in an attempt to push Bruce over the edge. However both these instances are unlikely given the very subtle messaging of the red notes suggesting knowledge he is Batman, but more importantly the check that shows the capitol building in flames. Keefe did not know he would be blowing up the Capitol Building. And Lex planned the explosion before even meeting Keefe. Therefore the check must have come from Lex.
So Lex has been returning these checks from the very start to push Batman's buttons. Also worth noting, while Bruce believes Keefe is the one who has been sending back the checks which makes the message more powerful, it is still effective if he believes someone else sent them because in the end Bruce still was blind to the fact they were being sent back due to ignoring his responsibilities as a result of pursuing Superman . Hence he still failed Keefe who suffered as a direct result of Superman's fight, both because of the direct physical injury and because Bruce was distracted by Superman from noticing an employee suffering.
Hi-ho, the Derry-o, the Bat Takes the Rock
Now that Clark knows that Bruce Wayne is Batman, Lex pushes his buttons even more to entice him to hate Batman so that he will want to fight him. He has the second inmate with the bat brand killed and projects Batman as above the law, above society, and a killer.
Meanwhile, with the voyage information for the White Portuguese giving Bruce a time and place for where the Kryptonite will be, Batman makes his plans to steal it. Not wanting anyone to know his plans or make it seem too easy for Batman at the risk of making him suspicious, Lex sends mercenaries to smuggle the Kryptonite off the White Portuguese without giving them any details of his overall plan.
Batman fails to acquire the Kryptonite during the heist. But Lex knows that Batman has connected him to the Kryptonite, something he ensured early on. Therefore Batman can logically follow the trail back to LexCorp. With the execution of Lex’s plan to bomb the Capitol Building, Batman is pushed over the edge and steals the Kryptonite from LexCorp. Now that Lex has primed Batman and Superman to fight each other, Lex needs to devise a plan in the event that Batman fails to kill Superman.
Plan B: If You Can’t Kill Him, Kill Him
Now that Lex has failed to sway the government to his way of thinking, he must explore alternate plans in case Batman fails in killing Superman. He uses his now relaxed access to the scout ship to learn more about Superman and the Kryptonians. Using the fingerprints taken from General Zod earlier (no doubt acquired after seeing the panel in the scout ship), Lex identifies himself as General Zod giving him the freedom to explore the ship without being attacked by the AI as Lois was in Man of Steel. Upon entering the genesis chamber Lex takes the Command Key, not fully inserted into the control console, and re-inserts it completely into the control console. As we saw Clark and General Zod do in Man of Steel on this very scout ship, the one who inserts the command key is recognized as commander of the ship and revokes the previous commander’s authority giving control of the ship to the person who inserted the command key. Therefore Lex no longer needs General Zod’s fingerprints and upon his command overrides Zod’s security clearance just as General Zod did when he quarantined Jor-El’s program in Man of Steel. Lex uses his new command of the ship to learn everything he can about killing Superman. This leads him to learn about Doomsday. So he uses Zod’s body and adds his own DNA to make a clone by using the genesis chamber of the scout ship. This replaces his original plan for the government to kill Superman should Batman fail to do so.
The Greatest Gladiator Match in History
As Doomsday incubates, Lex continues to surveil both Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne. Once Lex sees Clark travel far away from both Metropolis and Smallville, a trip that leads Clark north to the Arctic, Lex takes the opportunity to kidnap Martha. This occurs some number of days after the Capital Building bombing demonstrated by the television mentioning Superman hasn’t been seen since the day of the tragedy. Lex watches for the bat signal and, when the night finally comes that he sees it, he calls his men to kidnap Lois.
When Lois is brought to Lex atop the helipad, he uses her to draw out Superman who he must know is back from the arctic using his surveillance methods. With Doomsday cooking, and Batman armed with Kryptonite and ready to kill Superman, Lex has no reason not to believe this is his final confrontation with Superman. He shows his hand explaining his motivations and gives Superman the ultimatum: bring him the head of Batman within the hour or Martha Kent dies. Lex leaves Superman no other choice stating, “If you kill me, Martha dies. And if you fly away, mmm, Martha also dies. But if you kill the bat, Martha lives.”
If Superman fails to bring Lex the head of the bat and Batman kills him, Lex will have succeeded and Superman would be dead. He could then frame Superman for unleashing Doomsday unto the world. If Superman succeeds and Batman is killed, then Doomsday would finish the job and Lex can blame Zod claiming Doomsday was a Kryptonian fail safe of the scout ship.
The Mind of Lex Luthor
Lex says to Superman: “Problems up here. The problem of evil in the world. The problem of absolute virtue. The problem of you on top of everything else. You above all. Because that’s what God is.”
“What we call God depends upon our tribe...cause God is tribal. God takes sides. No man in the sky intervened when I was boy to deliver me from daddy’s fist and abominations. I figured out way back if God is all powerful, he cannot be all good. If he is all good, he cannot be all powerful. And neither are you. They need to see the fraud you are. With their eyes. The blood on your hands. And tonight they will.”
Everything Lex Luthor says in this film has significance. He often comes off as obscuring his words and meaning, however it’s merely a result of thinking beyond ordinary men. In “The Empire of Lex Luthor” featurette, Phil Jimenez of DC comics specifically cites the comic Superman: Birthright in reference to the depiction of Lex in this movie. He describes this Lex as being “too smart”. Jimenez continues by saying, “He understood too much. He was crazy because his brain could not turn off. This is the smartest man in the room. This may be the smartest man on the planet.” If we consider this in our analysis of Lex’s monologue we can paraphrase and derive its meaning as follows:
In the world there exist decisions that are inherently skewed toward being moral or immoral; too far in either direction can be harmful because the consequences are a matter of perspective. What is good for one may be bad for another. Superman does not define these lines of morality, but has reign over everything in between.
Superman decides, with his supreme power, how and when to act and interfere without limitation. He decides who lives and who dies. But it is through our suffering that we grow stronger, as individuals, and as a species. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Superman interferes with this Darwinian progress.
If a supreme being has complete control and influence over people and events, he cannot be beneficial for them or act in a way that is morally sound for everyone. And even if this supreme being wishes to benefit everyone and act in a way that is morally sound for everyone, it is impossible for him to have such complete control and influence over people and events therefore he could only help a select number and inadvertently create an imbalance.
The people need to see the deception that Superman is good for the world. They can’t be told, they must come to that realization on their own, that Superman’s interference with human history is a death knell for humanity.
This echoes themes presented throughout the movie by Jonathan Kent in his story about protecting his family’s farm from flooding resulting in the Lang’s farm flooding, and by the Senate witness of the African incident who comments that Superman doesn’t answer to anyone, not even god and asks how Superman chooses who lives and who dies. Note that in the Extended Cut we learn that these lines by the witness were scripted by Lex. And twice in the movie Superman acts to save a woman that he loves which would have resulted in others dying, an example of Superman’s taking sides which Lex had set out to show the world. In fact, the premise of Man of Steel is based on this very idea. General Zod specifically says that every action he does was for the greater good of his people. However what was good for his people was not good for the people of Earth. Zod was choosing sides, choosing who lives and who dies, just like a god. Just like Superman.
Lex mentions there was no Superman to save him from his father’s fists and abominations. It does tell us how fractured he is due to his father’s abuse, but his purpose for saying this to Superman is the matter which warrants consideration. The logical significance of this within the context of his speech is in the fact that he survived those hardships arguably making him stronger for it. And the fact that there was no Superman to save him when he was a child exemplifies the fact that Superman can’t save everyone. God helps those who help themselves, because there is no divine hand to manipulate the strings, it is in Man’s own hands to decide its fate, yet people and mankind will become complacent by Superman’s presence. These sentiments are prevalent in Lex’s statement about not having to “rely on the kindness of monsters.” This idea harkens back to Faora’s statement in Man of Steel that “Evolution always wins.” The fact that Superman is now saving people creates an imbalance in the world and interferes with that evolution. Eisenberg states in “The Empire of Lex Luthor” featurette that “Lex views himself as a kind of savior of mankind.” By eliminating Superman, Lex believes he is saving mankind. Ironically there is a foreboding that Earth will suffer the same fate as Krypton if Superman continues to save people. Krypton was plagued with overpopulation and resorted to genesis chambers to breed. With Superman saving those that would otherwise have died, he is contributing to the overpopulation problem.
If God favors one army over another, then the clashing army will suffer losses as a result. Each life that Superman chooses to save is inadvertently another life that Superman chooses not to save. Therefore, with each life Superman saves, he is taking sides. According to Lex it is unacceptable for a being to have such power to tip the scales, hence when he says “I don’t hate the sinner, I hate the sin, and your sin is existing,” he is saying that Superman’s very existence is a transgression against the rules of nature.
Earlier in the film Lex told of his father waving flowers at tyrants every Saturday. This background is laid very early in the movie to help us understand where Lex is coming from. He expresses the purpose of his silver bullet is to prevent the same scenario from happening to our children. It’s no coincidence that Batman’s ‘knightmare’ consists of a world not so different from the Injustice comics in which Superman becomes a tyrant over Man because he feels he knows what’s best for them. In this potential future Superman is hindering Mankind, like a protective parent, from developing and learning from their mistakes, and taking away their free will, something which even God cannot take away. This shows a clear connection to Lex’s mention of waving daisies at a reviewing stand and insight into Lex’s fears about a being like Superman becoming a tyrant over Man and interfering with Darwinian evolution which also leads us back to his relying “on the kindness of monsters” statement. He describes them as "The basis of our Myths. Gods among Men." Lex is motivated by the fear that Metahumans will rise and rule over humans as gods. He aims to prove Superman as a false god so people are not want to
If a parent prevents a child from touching a hot plate, they will never learn not to touch it. If they do the child’s homework for them, they will never learn the subject of study. If they carry their child everywhere, they will never learn to walk or gain the muscles necessary to do so. If the parent does everything for the child, the child will rely on the parent for everything to the point where they will not know how to exist without them. This interference in the child’s development is unnatural, just as Superman’s interference in mankind’s development is unnatural.
Before the capitol tragedy, Lex tells Senator Finch, “You know what the biggest lie in American history is? That power can be innocent.” When you consider Lex’s speech to Superman it encompasses that very statement. As Man of Steel Answers points out, Lex’s ultimate goal is to expose this to the world, and about Superman in particular. I would even go a step further and say power is not innocent, but for sake of consistency, Lex’s statement captures this notion. And it is because of this that Lex deems Superman’s existence a sin, one that must be ended.
Let’s take a moment to establish what that statement means. Power, the capacity to direct or influence the course of events, is NOT innocent, not without culpability for action that is considered bad or wrong. According to Lex, Superman IS culpable for actions which result in bad things, and every action is good for some and bad for others. Accordingly, every action by Superman has a negative consequence whether directly, by acting in the interest of one party at the expense of another such as in Jonathan Kent’s story, or indirectly, from inaction. Furthermore he implies that Superman’s actions directly affect the course of human history and therefore are bad for humanity. To raise a being like Superman to the level of a god is to hand over the fate of humanity to him and others like him. Concordantly, Superman, with the power he possesses, is not innocent in that his action or inaction has a cost, one that is paid by Mankind.
The Devil is Born
Including his own DNA to make Doomsday makes Lex feel both paternal and godly as he is creating life from himself. As Jessie Eisenberg states in “The Empire of Lex Luthor” featurette, “Lex creates Doomsday, tells Superman he is born to be your destroyer….Lex has a kind of Freudian psychology. He creates kind of a son, he thinks of Doomsday like a son...he has this almost paternal feeling for Doomsday, but Lex determines that that is the best way to destroy Superman.” He sees Doomsday as an extension of himself and believes it will be obedient to him. In the same featurette there is footage of a deleted line from the movie where Lex says “Ancient Kryptonian deformity. It obeys only me, and born to destroy you.” This idea is instead conveyed in the final release of the movie by his line “blood of my blood”, which is more in tune with his speech patterns, and how fathers expect their sons to obey them. But in reality, that isn’t the case; sons disobey their fathers all the time, and Lex only thinks Doomsday will obey him. This mirrors Doomsday’s origin story in the comics where Berton, Doomsday’s creator, believes he would control Doomsday but is actually killed by the creature. Geoff Johns points this out in “The Empire of Lex Luthor” featurette calling the movie’s presentation of Doomsday’s origin in this respect as true to canon.
We can’t know what is in the mind of Doomsday, if anything, but given what we know about Doomsday in the comics about being cloned and learning from each death, and given that Doomsday is a clone of Zod, it’s possible Doomsday punches at Superman because he remembers him. Likewise in the comics Doomsday attacks Superman because he recognized him as Kryptonian, just like the being that created him even though they look very different physically.
As already established, this Lex is inspired heavily by the comic Superman: Birthright. Both versions of Lex have the same psyche and personality, and their motivations seem very similar. In the comic Lex even uses Kryptonian technology to learn more about the Kryptonians and the knowledge they collected akin to how Lex in the movie uses the scout ship both in learning how to kill Superman and learning about Apokalips. Given the comic version of Lex attempts to frame Superman and the Kryptonians by staging a false invasion of Earth resulting in countless deaths and destruction, it seems a logical conclusion that Lex has similar motivations in unleashing Doomsday in addition to killing Superman. It’s possible he even hopes to use Doomsday to weed out the other metahumans.
While Superman is occupied with Doomsday Lex takes the opportunity to learn if there are more aliens out there to worry about. He doesn’t want to be caught surprised like when Superman was revealed to the world. This is when he learns about Steppenwolf and the three motherboxes, and possibly even about Darkseid and Apokalips.
Go Crazy? Don’t Mind If I Do
From what we see of Lex when the SWAT team enters the scout ship, it is clear he was not expecting them while he is learning from the ship’s AI. This can be attributed to his expectation that Doomsday would kill Superman which would mean the world would be pre-occupied with Doomsday’s destruction and not with Lex. It's possible he also expected the ship's security would keep intruders out as we’ve seen it do against Clark and Lois in Man of Steel. There is also the possibility that Lex was so overwhelmed by what he learned from the scout ship’s AI about Steppenwolf, the motherboxes, and possibly Darkseid and Apokalips, that he was either distracted or didn’t see the relevance of humans’ laws anymore.
Of course Lex does not expect Doomsday to be killed so quickly. Afterall, without Lex’s silver bullet how would the government stop Doomsday? So in his mind there is time to learn more from the ship’s AI. He isn’t aware that Diana has become an ally to Superman and Batman. And Batman is the only one that could implicate Lex of any wrongdoing based on the phone call that he made to Anatoli since all other evidence is circumstantial. Given Batman answered the call from Martha's location it tells Lex that he must be fairly close for him to have gotten to her in such a short time. Since Batman and Superman are now working together it would be natural for Lex to assume that Batman would be killed by Doomsday as well, especially in his current delusion of grandeur. Without Batman there is no solid evidence to suggest Lex was guilty of any wrongdoing, and certainly none to suggest he was behind unleashing Doomsday. He could very well just have been in the wrong place at the wrong time and played the part of a victim, especially if he had planned on creating the narrative of Doomsday being of Kryptonian origin. Unfortunately for Lex, Superman manages to defeat Doomsday, and Batman manages to survive. This leads the government to investigate the scout ship which had been drawing a surge of energy causing a blackout.
Upon being found at the scene of the crime, Lex is arrested. Technically speaking there is no hard evidence of any wrongdoing on Lex’s part, it’s all circumstantial. Lex has done a fine job at covering his tracks. He has the African witness killed so she can’t testify against him in association with the African incident. There is nothing linking Lex to the Capitol bombing since the fact Keefe’s wheelchair was made of LexCorp metal alone does not implicate Lex. The men who kidnapped Martha presumably worked for Anatoli Knyazev and took orders from him not knowing of Lex’s involvement. We know this because Bruce tells Alfred they are too low level and that Anatoli is the one who knows things. Anatoli, the person who could implicate Lex, is presumably dead. With Superman dead, Lois has no other witnesses to Lex throwing her off the building. This also means Superman can’t testify as being the only witness to see Lex unleash Doomsday. Batman could theoretically act as a witness to Martha’s kidnapping based on the call he answers from Lex, but Batman would never appear in court to testify, nor should the word of a vigilante hold up.
But we see Lex in prison. The newspaper that Perry White holds shows the headline "Lex Luthor arrested for connection to Capitol Bombing". This implies two things. First, Lex was not linked to Doomsday. Had he been implicated for unleashing Doomsday that would have been a bigger headline a most certainly would have been the focus of the newspaper story. Second, Lois must have played a part in Lex's arrest. In the extended cut we see her connect the dots to determine Lex's involvement in the explosion. She must have submitted the evidence she found to the authorities.
Lex wisely has his attorneys immediately ask for a competency evaluation and fakes insanity to avoid trial. It stands to reason that he would have confessed to creating Doomsday to enforce his state of insanity. Knowing that Batman is the reason he is in prison to begin with, Lex brags to him about avoiding a trial. Thinking he had one up on Batman, Lex is then told he will be going to Arkham Asylum, something Lex clearly is not happy about based on the expression on his face.
In “The Empire of Lex Luthor” featurette, Geoff John specifically states “He's just kinda starting out. He's on his way to becoming the iconic Lex Luthor in the comic books. But it’s a very different version.” Here we see Lex in his new bald look giving that indication that he will be more like the Lex in the modern comic stories going forward. That’s not to say Lex in this movie is not based on Lex Luthor from canon. As the Executive Producer Wesley Coller says about Jessie Eisenberg’s performance in “The Empire of Lex Luthor” featurette, “He's able to really get across the complexities of Lex Luthor in the film. If you go back to the canon in a lot of ways it is very much in keeping with some traditional versions of Lex that we just haven’t seen in sort of main stream pop culture recently." With that said, the one defining characteristic that has spanned nearly every version of Lex Luthor is his desire to see Superman killed.
Lex says to Batman, “Look at us. This is how it all caves in. Civilization on the wane, manners out the window.” In referencing the two of them, Lex is acknowledging two humans at odds with each other when they should be working together, as he suggested to Bruce at the fundraiser, against threats to their kind. As mentioned earlier, Lex’s actions convey a hope of working together with Batman to exterminate the metahumans. He elaborates by suggesting that everything, humanity and mankind, is caving in. The rise of methumans will mean the end of civilization. He says all this in a way that communicates his knowledge of Batman’s identity: by using homonyms for Wayne Manor. Finally, in an attempt to warn Batman with the slightest hope that he can do something to save the planet, Lex tells him about what he learned aboard the Kryptonian scout ship. There is something out there to fear, and it’s coming and it’s hungry. This is seemingly about Darkseid. He ends with saying several “dings” which may be part of his warning to Batman as this is the sound the Motherbox makes. This could be a way of preparing him to be aware of the sound. Additionally it could be Lex playing the role of being insane.
