Lex's Plans FAQ

How does Lex know about Kryptonite?
Its found by his "Rebuild Metropolis" crews and tested on Zod.

What does Lex know about Kryptonite?
Kryptonite is harmful to Kryptonians.

Why does he look for and need more?
So he can harm the only Kryptonian, Superman, still flying around.

Why does Lex want to use Kryptonite to harm Superman?
Same reason anyone would want to harm someone, because Lex sees him as a threat.

Why does Lex see Superman as a threat?
Because his existence in our world has negative consequences both collaterally in his actions and by his very presence.  Because Superman is responsible for the negative consequences his presence results in even if he doesn't mean for them.
Because a being with such supreme power cannot be innocent ie. void of responsibility/blame

Why would Lex want to bring the Kryptonite to the US?  Why not just lure Superman to the Indian Ocean?
To get the kryptonite to Batman.  Its easier to do that than to bring Batman to the Kryptonite.  Bringing it to the US would also allow him the opportunity to get his own hands on some of the Kryptonite.

Why use Batman to kill Superman?  Why not just do it himself?
Lex cares about his image and how the world sees him.  He does not want to be viewed as the man that killed Superman.  He wants to be viewed as a savior.  A philanthropist that helps people.

Why not just hire a bunch of mercenaries to kill Superman to save face?
Batman is ideal because he has the resources, skill, and experience to handle a threat of Superman's caliber.  He also already had a motive driving him.  No one mercenary would equate to Batman, and an army of mercenaries would be too difficult to coordinate and would further expose Lex's involvement.

Why does Lex try to get an import license? Why not just smuggle the Kryptonite in for Batman like he does anyway?
As mentioned, Lex cares about his reputation.  He does not want to be associated with any criminal activity.  If he can go about things legitimately he would prefer it.  There was no certainty he would get away with smuggling the Kryptonite.  And if it was discovered that he had possession of the Kryptonite at all, it would be known that he acquired it illegally and likely be seized by the government.  You can see the content and satisfaction in Lex's face when he sees Batman has succeeded in stealing the Kryptonite.  Additionally had the government agreed to the import license so that Lex could develop a deterring agent against Superman it would indicate a shift in world view about Superman which Lex was working toward.

Why does Lex want access to the scout ship and to Zod's body?
Lex wants to know as much about Superman as he can.  With Zod's body he could learn more about his biology.  With the scout ship he can learn more about Kryptonians, their weaknesses, and what information their species has learned.  And as it happens, with Zod's fingerprints he is able to access the genesis chamber of the ship.

So why not just plan to have Batman kill Superman?  Why create such an elaborate scheme to change the perception of Superman and demonize him before having him killed?
Because Lex needs the world to understand what he understands to be true.  Lex feels he is surrounded by fools idolizing Superman.  He needs to change the world view of power being innocent in order to turn the world against similar metahuman beings.  Once the world has changed their view Lex can expose the existence of these metahumans.  Until then the world would simply embrace them therefore Lex must keep evidence of these metahumans close to the chest.


If Lex successfully demonizes Superman, why couldn't he then be the one to kill Superman?  He would then be viewed as a hero and his reputation would improve.  For that matter, the government should want to help Lex to do so.
Although Lex is able to shift the world's opinion of Superman, the only way to absolutely demonize Superman in such a way that would force people to want him gone, whether by killing him or by exiling him with the help of a deterrent, is to show him as a real threat to humanity, a threat that people can understand easily.  This requires substantial proof that Superman acts by his own will and not by our will, a question that Senator Finch specifically addresses in her invitation to Superman.  Lex needs to show that Superman could and would put people in harm's way.  Pitting Batman against Superman would accomplish this given Batman is human who is considered to be doing good by many.
From what we the audience and Lex have gathered about Superman and his moral code from the events of Man of Steel and Superman's battle with Zod, the only way to do this is to put Superman and his family in a life and death situation.  If Superman is forced to kill or be killed, then it would push him to kill.  Therefore any smart plan to demonize Superman would put Superman's life in danger.  And any SUCCESSFUL smart plan to demonize Superman would result in his death so that he could not clear his name.  Therefore, a plan to demonize Superman is a plan to kill Superman.  In other words, any successful and smart plan to demonize Superman would consist of him blatantly trying to kill a human (one who does good like Batman) but not having the opportunity to explain and defend himself about why (because Superman wouldn't kill without good reason).  However Lex doesn't want to risk dying himself, therefore he puts Batman in the kill or be killed position.  And since there was the possibility that Batman would fail to kill Superman, Lex developed a backup to his Batman plan by using Doomsday to kill Superman.  Should Superman kill Batman, he would have Doomsday finish him off and have the head of Bruce Wayne as evidence of Superman's villainy.

What if Batman had succeeded in killing Superman? What would have been the point of Doomsday?
While Superman turning against a human who fights for good and trying to kill him would certainly demonize Superman, setting Superman up for unleashing a destructive monster into the world clinches Superman as a threat to humanity villainizing him.  Doomsday would also vindicate Lex and justify the need for his silver bullet changing the world's view of Superman and other beings with powers.  As mentioned, he would also benefit from the reconstruction efforts.