Iron Man Vs. Lex Luthor in: "Patent Pounding!"

 

Iron Man and Lex Luthor met in a Bronze Age inspired cover in STF #1004, and I thought I would present a Silver Age confrontation between the two. Their armor may have been a bit clunkier in those days, but the battle would still have been epic!

Deathlok and Lothar

 

Looks like we will be seeing Lex Luthor on the big screen again sooner than we thought, with Man of Tomorrow scheduled to hit theaters in just two years.  Supposedly Lex and Superman will have to join forces against a larger threat - it has to be Brainiac, right? I have a suspicion that we may see Lex even before that though - I don't think an appearance on Peacemaker season 2 is out of the question.

Fantastic Four Vs. Lex Luthor

 

You just know that if Lex Luthor was in the MCU, one of his main targets would be Reed Richards. I don't think that Lex would be able to stand to have another person be considered the greatest scientific mind on the planet, and his ego would not allow that to go unchallenged.

Lex Luthor Vs. Ultron

 

Lex Luthor has had enough experience with Brainiac that he might just have some contingency plans to deal with the robotic likes of Ultron.  At least he has a big enough ego to try... too bad for him that Ultron can match him in the ego department!

Kang and The Legion of Doom

 

Loki ended up its two-season Disney+ arc in such a way that Marvel can easily either continue with Kang as a main villain or move on from him to a different franchise wide antagonist.  I haven't heard of any concrete plans as to what direction the studio will go in, and I imagine we won't until Jonathan Majors' court case is settled one way or another.  

Doctor Doom Vs. The Legion of Doom

 

This is a match up that I have been meaning to get to for a while now, it was just a matter of finding the right images. That's a pretty powerful Legion line up, but if there's anyone who can give them a challenge, it's Victor Von Doom.

Doctor Strange Vs. Lex Luthor

 

Like many, I was entertained but slightly disappointed with Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.  There were some fun action scenes but I didn't care for the cannon fodder cameos and wanted much more madness out of the multiverse than we got.  I think Marvel is waiting for Avengers: Secret Wars before they go really crazy with the multiverse stunt casting stuff.  For a much better movie about variants and multiple realities, I highly recommend Everything Everywhere All At Once. That was incredibly creative and interesting, not to mention touching and funny on a much smaller budget.  It's starting to get noticed now that awards season is rolling around, so I am hopeful that more people will discover it.

Lex Luthor Vs. Medusa

 

Even as a kid, I thought the Silver Age origin given to Lex Luthor was pretty silly.  He and Superboy were on good terms as teenagers until the Boy of Steel had to rescue him from a fire.  In extinguishing the flames, the super-breath also blew some chemicals on young Lex, causing permanent baldness.  Lex swears revenge and thus a life long rivalry was born!  I mean, he did save your life and wigs do exist, Lex!

Kingpin Vs. Lex Luthor (With Daredevil!)

 

I realized that I had yet to present a meeting between the baddest bald businessmen in comics on this blog, so it is time to rectify that oversight. (Correction! they did meet before - in STF #2556!) I don't see any way that these two would ever get along - whatever truce they strike is certain to be broken by one of them.  One town is certainly not big enough to have them both operating in it at the same time. Who do you think wins this battle?

Thor and The Legion of Doom

 

I really dug Jack Kirby's take on the villains of DC Comics.  He had a real knack for inhuman yet expressive faces and DC has no shortage of those.  I only wish I had seen more - it would have been cool to see him tackle Solomon Grundy, Sinestro or Two-Face.

Spider-Man and The Secret Society of Super-Villains

 

This is a story I could see working.   Spider-Man has often been unjustly tagged as a criminal, and it would be cool to see him use that status to go undercover in the underworld - sort of a reverse Thunderbolts set up.  I'm sure there's some real life comic book equivalent of this plot, but I can't recall one right now.

Lex Luthor Vs. Power Man & Iron Fist

 

Since Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings will center around a martial arts tournament, it seems like it would be a perfect place to feature a contestant from K'un Lun and introduce the world of Iron Fist to the MCU.  Alas, while there will be contestants culled from Marvel's library of characters, that does not seem to be the plan.  Hopefully it won't be too long before we find out how Danny Rand and Luke Cage will join in on the big screen super heroics.

Ms. Marvel and Supergirl (Vs. Lex Luthor!)

If you had told me that Jon Cryer - the actor who played Lenny Luthor in Superman IV: The Quest for Peace would decades later play Lex himself (more convincingly than the latest big screen version), I would never had believed it.  That is what has come to pass, though!

This marks the Eighth cover featuring The Danvers Twins:

They faced off with an angry pet in STF #2144...

They battled The Gladiatrix in issue #1872...

They faced a stone centurion in Issue #1808...

They had robot problems in Issue #1414

They were at odds with one another  in Issue #763...

They played a trick on the world in Issue #520...

...and they were first revealed to be sisters way back in Issue #152

Lex Luthor Vs. The Kingpin

I have been surprised by Jon Cryer's performance as Lex Luthor on Supergirl.  Despite the actor's comedy roots, he plays the malevolent mogul deadly serious.  Plus, the battle armor suit looks pretty cool on him as well (even though it's one of those magic Iron Man/Black Panther  armors that seem to magically appear out of nowhere).  I'm not crazy the he kept his goatee for the role, but otherwise he is a huge improvement over Jesse Eisenberg.

Green Goblin Vs. Lex Luthor

One of the many pleasant surprises from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was the use of the Ultimate Comics' version of The Green Goblin.  Even though he just had a small role, it was very cool to see him in action.  The whole movie is jam-packed full of treats for comic fans, though, literally from the first frame to the post credits scene.  The love for Spider-Man and the genre  that went into the creation of this well-deserved Oscar-winner is very evident, and I highly recommend it.

She-Hulk Vs. Superman's Villains

I am still amazed that we have not seen a live action She-Hulk yet.  I've said it before - A lawyer that deals in meta-human cases who is also a superhero herself would make for a great  Movie or TV series filled with action, humor, and courtroom drama. Plus, Jennifer Walters has such a great personality, I would think it would be a fun role to play for an actress.

The Avengers and Lex Luthor

So, Jon Cryer will be the next Lex Luthor.  Tha'ts right, Supergirl, known for casting actors from former Superman shows and movies, will be introducing the former Lennie Luthor as the new Lex.    Come on, was Michael Rosenbaum not available? Maybe he will surprise us and show a menacing side in addition to his comedy chops, but I still have my doubts about this casting.  Oh well, he'll still be better than Jesse Eisenberg.

Doctor Doom Vs. Lex Luthor

Here are two arch-villains that have been woefully represented on the big screen.  And it's so unnecessary, too - all the filmmakers need to do is to follow the comics.  Doom is a disfigured dictator who dabbles in science and sorcery and Luthor is a genius billionaire who ruthlessly uses his resources for personal gain - the further the movies stray from these simple concepts, the less it works.  And casting is key - of all the odd choices made for the DCEU, Jesse Eisenberg as Luthor was the most baffling.

These two first met in STF #491...

Thunderbolts Vs. The Secret Society of Super-Villains

Ever since I was a kid watching The Legion of Doom on Super Friends, I have always liked seeing villains joining together to make teams of their own.  It's cool to see so much power amassed together and the conflicts that arise when a group of evil, self-serving personalities attempt to work as one.  The Thunderbolts took the concept one step further by having the villains pose as heroes, and explored the effect that had on all of them - making it one of my favorite Marvel series.

War Machine Vs. Lex Luthor

One thing that I really loved about Lex Luthor's portrayal on Superman: The Animated Series and Justice League/Justice League Unlimited is that we got to see him evolve through many of his comic book characterizations, from the businessman, tho the genius inventor, to the operative from behind prison bars, to the leader of the Secret Society... they even pulled off the power suit.  Hopefully if Lex returns in the films, he will be more comics-faithful than his last cinematic appearance, which did not work for me at all.