Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor Gets One Thing Right That Other Superman Movies Missed

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Spoilers for "Superman" follow.

I'm going to say it, Nicholas Hoult is the best Lex Luthor we've had on the silver screen thus far — no, it's not just because he doesn't wear a wig.

In director James Gunn's "Superman," Lex is the Lex Luthor I know from the Superman comics and cartoons. The highest compliment I can pay to Hoult's Lex is that he reminded me of Clancy Brown's voiceover performance as Luthor in the DC Animated Universe (from "Superman: The Animated Series" to "Justice League Unlimited.")

That's not to throw the other Lex Luthor actors under the bus. Gene Hackman, who played Lex opposite Christopher Reeve's Superman, was one of the greatest screen actors who ever lived. Hoult has even said he wasn't trying to top Hackman. But Hackman was playing the Silver Age Lex Luthor, i.e., a criminal mastermind with no pretense of legitimacy. Hackman also leaned on comedy; his Lex was ruthless but often exasperated by buffoonish henchmen (and fairly buffoonish himself).

Hackman is good in the Reeve "Superman" movies, it's just not Lex Luthor as I recognize him. The same could be said of Kevin Spacey as Lex in "Superman Returns," who was imitating Hackman's Luthor the way that Brandon Routh was Reeve's Superman. 

Gunn's "Superman" is the second attempt to kickstart a DC Universe on film by rebooting the Man of Steel. Based on the reviews, "Superman" might actually succeed where "Man of Steel" did not. The old DC Extended Universe was doomed by a rocky foundation and the even iffier choices of the second movie, "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice." One of the iffiest was the casting and direction of Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor.

Eisenberg's Lex took Hackman's flamboyant jokester to new, annoying heights. Hackman's Lex could be silly, but he was charming and funny, too. Lex in "Batman v. Superman" was an erratic wannabe philosopher. His hyperactive, grating demeanor and too-high voice drained any sense of villainous menace. DCEU Lex was a scientist, as in the comics (and unlike Hackman and Spacey's versions), but that hardly mattered when he didn't feel like a genius.

The frequent defense of Eisenberg's casting is how he'd previously played Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in "The Social Network," and a 2010s Lex Luthor would be a tech bro oligarch, right? My counter is that Eisenberg's quiet, piercing-eyed Zuckerberg is a better Lex than his actual Lex performance! Meanwhile, Hoult's Luthor ditches the comedy of his predecessors. He is a venomous villain and an evil mastermind driven by uncontainable jealousy. 

Lex Luthor as we know him today goes back to writer/artist John Byrne, who rebooted Superman in the 1986 mini-series "The Man of Steel." Byrne turned Luthor into a business mogul who kept up the appearance of legitimacy. He was still a mad scientist like the Lex of older stories, but now he was part of Metropolis' elite with all the resources that it entailed.

This revision gave new context to why Lex hates Superman, beyond having a bee in his bonnet from the hero always foiling his criminal plans. Luthor is an egomaniac, but it's hard to blame him for being one! He's rich, intelligent, self-made, handsome, and an unparalleled inventor and entrepreneur; in many ways, Lex Luthor is the living American Dream. If it wasn't for Superman, Lex would be the most powerful and admired person in Metropolis, and he can't stand that he isn't. Luthor's obsession with (destroying) Superman was now an act of envy.

Byrne's Lex Luthor, his reasons for hating Superman included, is the one that most inspired the aforementioned Clancy Brown's performance as Lex. Now, too, it has inspired Gunn and Hoult's Lex. Speaking to Rolling Stone, Gunn detailed how he got into Lex's head and explained his hatred for Superman (David Corenswet) like this:

"[Lex] is the world's greatest man in so many ways. He's done these unparalleled things. And then you got a guy who comes in who's done nothing to deserve the ability to fly and to smash down buildings. And he's also extraordinarily handsome, too. And all of a sudden that's all the world is talking about. And that sort of obsession with being replaced, with being — with your gifts not being seen or passed over — I think is what drives Lex."

Eisenberg-Lex's motives of jealousy were obscured behind pretentious rambling about Superman (Henry Cavill) being a false god and paraphrasing Epicurus. ("If God is all powerful, then he cannot be all good.") Hoult-Lex cuts to the heart.

In the third act of James Gunn's "Superman," Lex finally gets to lay into Superman and explain why he hates him so much. Superman says Lex is jealous of him, and Lex counters that he knows that. "My envy is a calling! It is the sole hope for humanity!" Lex says, because if humans do nothing but worship Superman's unearned and in turn unattainable strength, our advancement as a civilization is over.

(Nicholas Hoult has told /Film that he pulled from Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo's "Lex Luthor: Man of Steel," a Lex-focused comic that dives into his head to explore why he hates and fears Superman.)

Hoult's Lex doesn't just have the right motive; he has the right personality. This Lex is no animated smooth talker like Gene Hackman's; he's calm and stern. He's not humorless or lacking a twisted sense of showmanship, but ice runs in his veins. When Superman bursts into his office, knocking his desk away, Lex stands up, drinks his coffee, and looks his adversary right in the eye. Lex always feels like he is in control of himself and those around him ... until the third act, when that control is ripped right out from under him. The key parts of Lex's narcissism include his short temper, petty cruelty, and a refusal to suffer fools or failure.

Hoult's Lex Luthor in "Superman" is the serious, ripped-from-the-comics Lex who I had long ago (in 2013) expected we'd get in Zack Snyder's "Man of Steel" sequel. In the same way, the DCU is off to a much better start than the DCEU had. I walked out of "Batman v. Superman" thinking that Lex was irreversibly compromised. "Superman" made me excited to see Hoult keep playing Lex as his jealousy towards Superman keeps burning in his brilliant bald head.

"Superman" is playing in theaters.