How did Lex becomes Superman's main villain?

I know this is a foreign concept to someone posting on Cred Forums, but it's this thing called popularity.

Same reason why the Joker is Batman's enduring villain. Same reason why Green Goblin is Spider-man's.
Because Lex is a thematic foil.
Primary colors like red and blue become secondary colors like purple and green. Brawn is matched with brains. Superman has the morals of small town America, versus Lex's slick big city persona. Both have immense power in their world, but one uses it for the betterment of his fellow man while the other uses it for self aggrandizement. Truth, Justice, and the American way gets corrupted into PR, a cadre of lawyers, and rampant corporate greed and randian self pleasure.

Lex became Clark's main villain because they complement each other so well.

I more wonder when Lex became like that, though. My understanding is Lex was primarily just a super science villain until more recent decades. And that said traits of his listed up there were added over the years because of how they contrasted with Superman's.

Most Supes villains are generically evil
For Lex, it's personal

But Lex didn't wear purple and green till the 70's.

Are you saying Terra Man's motivation was not the most reasonable in the silver age?

Because we've forgotten how great a villain Luthor in his element is. Mad scientist Luthor is best Luthor.

Think carefully about the fact that of the three live-action cinematic Luthors we've had, all were businessmen, and all were fairly lame non-threats. Businessman Lex had his chance, now I want the classic. Or is a good superscientist criminal mastermind too much to ask in a world with a flying alien who shoots lasers from his eyes?

Why not both? I mean, after all those Iron Man movies being successful you'd think they would give a chance to having him be both business man and super scientist with a weird fetish for green and purple.

From a narrative standpoint, Luthor is one of the best foils for Superman, representing everything Superman can't, or won't, be. He wields institutional power in a way Superman is afraid of doing. He is a pure mortal, representing the pinnacle of humanity in both intelligence, and (often, but not always) strength.

He also counterplays well against the 'Brand' of Superman in that Superman represents hopeful optimism and faith, and Lex often represents the inevitable march of progress and science.

From the institutional perspective, it's a good question. Early Lex wasn't a very compelling villain, and he represented the 'corporate profiteers' of World War 2 in some respects. Why he was focused on as the primary antagonist back then speaks to the sort of social good bent of Superman and how he was an early symbol of anti-racism, and anti-corporatism after an illustrious career as a war propagandist.

You'd probably love the Lex Luthor from the "Atom Man vs Superman" serials, he was the perfect 'renegade super-scientist' iteration of the character.

>PR, a cadre of lawyers, and rampant corporate greed and randian self pleasure
You already mentioned "the American way".

I'd love to see someone do a followup page where the two of them talk it out and Luthor says "Man, I really need to work on my anger management issues" right before Superboy flies him to Quergg where they have hair serum.

"Hold your breath, we're going into the universe."

>or one of the earliest villains

Lex luthor was absolutely one of Superman's earliest villains.

But only rich CEOs can be evil!

Well, in BvS Luthor was more a mad scientist than a CEO. The only work he does at Lexcorp is playing basketball.

I'm not sure if Hackman Luthor was even that. He was just some weird guy that lived in the sewers and bragged about being such a criminal genius despite not really doing anything.

Then he tried stealing weapons from a convoy on the highway.

Superman made him bald.

I kind of wish they went with the early fan theory that Lex would make the war suit out of Zod's armor.

Sometimes people forget these two traits can go hand in hand
I mean, how do you think Lex made his millions? Playing the crabs table?

...

He made DC Facebook.

There was no scientific genius involved.

Yeah, I remember that artwork of Zod's armor reworked in Luthor's purple-green colors. That would've been somewhat plausible.

I take it Batman is responsible for Twitter? Boy, I bet he regrets that.

>not posting best version

Don't be a faggot

>im-fucking-plying
I bet you think Zuckerberg is just no-skilled loser
Not to mention Lex has explicitly been shown to know at least biology

Lex Luthor's supposed to represent the Neitzschean Superman that was the original concept for Superman before he became a comic book guy in tights.

>I think maybe because his reason for hating Superman isn't god damned retarded or unmemorable.

>hurr durr my hair!

Or in post crisis:

>hurr durr i'm a fat manlet with rage issues

Or the modern take:

>hurr durr my dick is small, i'm a insecure manlet why is superman so sexy!

Lex is petty as fuck. A good villian, and is fun when balding writers like johns don't try to push him as some kind of anti-hero, but his reasons are not why he is cool.

Lex is everything bad a person can be, and is a good way to show how it doesnt matter how talented someone is, if his soul it's corrupted he will always fall.

>nd all were fairly lame non-threats

BvS Lex was a faggy cunt, but you are retarded if you think he was a non-threat.

I hope you've seen the Brave and the Bold episodes with Supes and the one where Batman ends up on an alien world with its own Batman and Luthor and becomes the Supes. They do mad science Lex so well.

Lex is Superman's main villain for the same reason Joker is Batman's. The same reason Norman is Spider-man's, Black Manta is Aquaman's, Doom is Mr. Fantastic's (or vice versa, whatever), and Dr. Sivana is Captain Marvel's. Othello and Iago, Hera and any of Zeus's illegitimate kids.

These are villains who's main goal is to fuck with the hero.

Lex went back in time to become Superman's dad for no other reason than to make him watch powerlessly as he destroyed the United Nations. Lex spent millions of dollars on a lavish funeral for Superman just to be able to literally say "I buried you".
Lex in an alternate universe made Earth a utopia where hate and pain are distant memories, and on his deathbed said that killing Superman is the greatest thing he ever did. Lex becomes a hero when Superman becomes a villain.

A villain who only wants to cause the hero pain is a fantastic foil.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=Tm9U0Q-HuqQ

>Lex spent millions of dollars on a lavish funeral for Superman just to be able to literally say "I buried you".
His pettiness is the best part about him, a la forty cakes

I thought it was just because DC hired Captain Marvel writers to work on Superman in the 60s.

If you like Luthor, I heartily recommend reading the "Black Ring" arc of Superman, by Paul Cornell. He's the protagonist and is written very well.

>pottery

why am i so bald