Images for Superman ’78’s next issue tease the Donner-era Lex Luthor’s return and his ongoing dynamic with, and disdain for, the Man of Steel.
A sneak preview for Superman ’78 #2 reveals an uneasy alliance formed between Superman and Lex Luthor, as well as a classic take on the latter’s iconic supervillain weaponry.
The comic panels open with Lex Luthor, drawn in the mold of Gene Hackman from the Christopher Reeve films, out on parole and trying to apply for a job at Kord Industries. However, despite continually boasting about his reputation as the “greatest criminal mind of our time,” Lex is left angered by the jobs he’s offered and his irrelevant treatment by the outside world. This extends to his new living conditions, where Lex discovers Superman waiting to check in on him as part of the parole agreement.
The second actor to play Lex Luthor after Lyle Talbot in 1950’s Atom Man vs. Superman, Gene Hackman made his debut in 1978’s Superman directed by the late Richard Donner. After learning of Superman’s existence, he simultaneously attempts to kill the Man of Steel using kryptonite while also destabilizing the land around the San Andreas Fault in order to make his real estate more profitable. Hackman would return as Lex in the film’s sequel, Superman II, albeit as a secondary villain next to Terence Stamp’s General Zod, as well as the critically panned Superman IV: The Quest For Peace, in which he creates a super-powered adversary to defeat Superman called Nuclear Man.
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The character has since been portrayed in live-action by multiple actors for film and television, most recently Hackman’s Superman IV co-star Jon Cryer — who played Lex’s nephew Lenny — in Supergirl since season 4. In addition to Lex, Supergirl also introduced new versions of his henchmen Otis and Eve Teschmacher, both of whom debuted in the original Superman film.
Superman ’78, which takes place in the same universe as the early Christopher Reeve movies, sees its hero face a new foe in Brainiac, whose design was modeled after Yul Brynner in 1973’s Westworld. The first issue reveals that Brainiac witnessed the destruction of Krypton and, decades later, discovers Kal-El’s existence when a drone is sent to Earth to evaluate its species’ threat level. After being defeated by Superman, the drone transmits its data to Brainiac’s ship, who vows to capture him so that Superman’s actions don’t interfere with humanity’s development.
Superman ’78 #2 drops in stores on September 28.
Source: DC Comics
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