Summary

ThroughoutDCmovie chronicle , Supermanhas been featured conspicuously , and his large cast of villain has grow alongside him . The character and the man he inhabits are so fundamental to any DC worldbuilding that the DCEU and the DCU have both chosen to begin their universes with Superman features . Consideringeverything we get it on aboutSuperman(2025 ) , the character is a secure foundation to build a universe of discourse . Still , the hero is only as strong as their greatest villain , so it is authoritative to reflect on the strong writing and performances that have contributed to the understanding of these fiber .

There are a fairish turn of remainingSuperman villains the DCU can adaptfor the first clip , asmany of the hero ’s motion-picture show have been dependent on reprise some of the more prominent villains . Lex Luthor has featured repeatedly in the past in both television and film , and that pattern will belike continue . Still , even while the same antagonist may repeat multiple clip in this list , each is a distinguishable and special version on the same inwardness ideas , and the quotes that they have to tender are unique to their iterations or film .

Superman has faced the best , swelled , and most iconic threat in his amusing story . These are the very good stories that stand out above the rest .

Comic book art: Superman is shot as bullets rebound from his body in DC Comics

10“Devils Don’t Come From The Hell Beneath Us, They Come From The Sky”

Lex Luthor Reflecting On The Danger Of Superman In Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

Jesse Eisenberg ’s Lux Luthor is not the most darling enactment of the iconic enemy , but many of his scenes were impactful in make a waste and unstable reading of the brainsick ace . In a tense scene , Luthor speaks with Holly Hunter ’s senator , unveiling an threatening painting and orating on demons beyond our region . This line locates Superman and the threat that his existence represents to humanity through good mythic mental imagery .

This outlook informs much of Luthor ’s fear of otherness , which is a major radical ofDawn of Justice . While his plans and need are less subtle , even Batman share this fear , which result in his attempt to track down and destruct Superman . This quote then contextualizes the care of foreign superpowers , such as what Superman exemplify . It hold Luthor a relatable motivating , even if he after attempts to use that same power to produce weapon for himself .

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9“Others Can Read The Ingredients On A Chewing Gum Wrapper And Unlock The Secrets Of The Universe”

Lex Luthor Imparts Wisdom to Eve Teschmacher In Superman (1978)

Miss Teschmacher , some people can take " War and Peace " and come aside think it ’s a wide-eyed adventure fib . Others can read the element on a chewing mucilage negligee and unlock the secrets of the universe .

Gene Hackman ’s Lex Luthor is playful , sarcastic , and the smart person in any elbow room he recruit . In Superman , he unrelentingly insults his henchman Otis as he schemes within his secret hideaway . This citation , however , shine the character ’s insight into the human status . see the relative note value different people can detect in dissimilar texts points to what Lex sees as profound value in intelligence in considering and interrogate what one has read .

That one can take a chewing gum wrapper and unlock the universe is an exaggeration . Still , Lex sees intelligence expressed as a upshot of interacting with the compose word , not simply consuming it . This is an insightful critique of how parole can be taken and , within Lex ’s enormous underground library , think over well on how his character interact with the lit that he reads .

Jonathan Majors' Kang the Conqueror looks at the camera in Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania

8“People Are No Damn Good, But They Will Always Need Land, And They Will Pay Through The Nose To Get It!”

Lex Luthor Explains His Plan In Superman Returns (2006)

With the housing crisis rising , Kevin Spacey ’s Lex Luthor would have have a go at it 2024 . In this quotation , he augur the rise costs of place to live and construct a plan around them . InSuperman Returns , he plan to generate more land for profit , which align with many profiteers today . However , to increase the economic value of this land , his founding will devastate other places around the globe , sending refugee flocking to his new continent .

Lex ’s investment attribute for inactive income overwork the need for hoi polloi to have a ceiling over their heads , and it is interesting to see a villainous intent like this research in a moving picture from nearly twenty eld ago . While acquaint in an over - the - top and cartoonish iteration of the Lex Luthor character inspired by Gene Hackman ’s portrayal , Lex ’s plan seems less and less ridiculous each twelvemonth . Superman Returns , too , seems to grow more prescient by the daytime .

7“Kneel Before Zod”

General Zod Commands Humanity In Superman II

While not the mostterrifying design for Zod , Terence Stamp portrays the character with elitist pomp and quiet fury , making every utterance of his popular set phrase a instant to cheer . The line has moved into democratic culture and lives beyond the film itself . Stamp ’s malefic General Zod and his iconic Logos elevateSuperman II , perhaps even above the first moving-picture show in the series .

6“If God is All Powerful, He Cannot Be Good”

Lex Luthor Reflects On The Man Of Steel In Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

Much of the conflict inBatman v Superman : Dawn of Justiceis built around perceptions of what Superman is and what he stands for . While inaccurate to the eye of Kal - El ’s feeling , it is easy to paint others with a skirmish that vilifies them . As Lex ’s previously list quote argues , Superman can be cast as a demon . However , here , he changes maneuver , referring to him instead as a Supreme Being .

Zack Snyder uses ideas and imagery of myth and faith to inform much of the Superman story he tells in his trilogy . Like Lex , Snyder seems to want to vie with the idea of an omnipotent superbeing by construe myths . The idea Lex expounds in this view , however , is a perversion , and is informed by fear . Lex want to check . If there is a being more brawny than Lex , his idea of commodity is contradicted by its have any authority over him .

5“It Is Not Enough That I Succeed, Everyone Else Must Fail”

Ross Webster Quotes What He Believes To Be Atilla the Hun In Superman III

Ross Webster , an evil captain of diligence , fulfills the Lex Luthor part inSuperman IIIas an intelligent , non - physical antagonist to Kal - El . His philosophical system , which he credits to Atilla the Hun , informs his persona in shorthand , giving audience an understanding of the ruthlessness and pettiness that Webster is think to embody . Webster is an original foe created for the picture and did not appear in the strip , making the quick establishment of his principle necessary .

It is unclear if this quote is really from Atilla the Hun . Various source credit it to others , including Genghis Khan and Gore Vidal . Still , it is an in effect cock for pass on details of the reference . While Webster is not thebest ranked Superman scoundrel , he is still a decently good antagonist , and using words like these to explain his personality efficiently gives audiences an understanding of what he represents .

4“You Alone Will Be Held Responsible By Me”

General Zod Says To Jor-El In Superman (1978) Before Being Banished

“ The suffrage must be solid , Jor - El . It has therefore become your decisiveness . You alone will condemn us , if you wish well , and you alone will be held responsible by me ”

General Zod is cruel and shallow , spurt threats in a pathetic attempt to save his peel . On test for an seek coup on Krypton , the council is forced to pass legal opinion on him . As their guilty finding of fact is handed out , Zod makes one last attempt to restrain Jor - El into set him free . Jor - El does not bow to this , and the three Kryptonian resister are shut up aside in the phantom zona for a lengthy stretching .

This was an unintentional gift , as it allowed them to survive the destruction of Krypton . However , Zod pass his entire time in the phantom zone grudge over his last Word of God , building up further resentment towards Jor - El and everyone in his family melodic line . come face to confront with his Logos , Kal - El , on Earth in Superman II informs his character ’s journeying . In this good view from the first film , the inspiration for Zod ’s private road and vicious enmity to Superman are born .

Nicolas Cage as Nick Cage looking at Spider-Man Noir

3“Every Action I Take, No Matter How Violent Or How Cruel, Is For The Greater Good Of My People”

General Zod Justifies His Actions In Man of Steel

General Zod in the Zack Snyder films is a dissimilar character than in the Reeve plastic film . Still bitter , still full of rage , this Zod is more idealistic and pursues something bigger than himself . While the premature Zod is driven by angriness and revenge , this Zod has a dedicated fealty to his hoi polloi . This mindset , however , does not allow him to line up any value in man or the human masses , check them as less than Kryptonians .

In this quotation , Zod ’s motivating is made unmortgaged . He wish to terraform the earth and turn it into a new Krypton because he has organized religion in Kryptonians as a biologically better entity . Humans are insects to him , which can only be rule over or destruct . While he does not find enceinte remorse in their destruction , this line demonstrate that he is not so unsighted that he can not imagine how his act might be see . This version is a more complex , if less coloured , character iteration .

2“Nobody Wants War. I Just Want To Keep The Threat Alive”

Lex Luthor Says To Superman In Superman IV: The Quest For Peace

Gene Hackman ’s Lex Luthor is colourful , exuberant , and playful . He is selfish and often selectively blind to the impact of his military action . InSuperman IV : The Quest for Peace , he make this absolved with his cavalier attitude toward the threats he creates , including the invention of Nuclear Man . Still , even Lex know that there are act of destruction he does not wish for . unluckily , he does n’t do much to avoid them .

Lex Luthor is fundamentally selfish and looks out for himself and his good interests at every twist . Perhapsthe most dominant characteristic of the Gene Hackman version of the graphic symbol is that he only care about himself . Every word of honor he speaks and activity he takes serves this ideal ; others are treated as jerky and disposable . He does not bid for the earthly concern to sting , but if necessary to get what he require , he will reluctantly take it with a jape and a smile .

1“If History Has Proven Anything, It Is That Evolution Always Wins”

Faora During A Fight With Superman In Man of Steel (2013)

Speaking to the dominance of Kryptonians over tellurian , Zod ’s compatriot capture into a competitiveness with Superman duringMan of Steeland lectures him on this philosophy between throwing punches . It is interesting to see the estimate of Kryptonians presented then as an evolutionary advancement over humanityrather than the gods Zack Snyder seems to care to cast them as . Still , this informs the worldview of the Kryptonian invaders , asserting that survival of the fittest is the only path forrad .

Faora is tearing and drive by an ideal , but her assertions do question profoundly seated human impression in phylogeny . If survival of the fit is truly a biologic imperative form , then humankind may be doomed to fall to greater military force should they ever be . TheDC Universeis dwell with many of these opponent , and were it not for Kal - El , even forSuperman ’s weakness , manhood would have come down many times before . Only by the will and faith of the Man of Steel can man ’s goodness persist .

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General Zod from Man of STeel Michael Shannon and Gene Hackman LEx Luthor from superman on top of Christopher reeve superman blue background

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