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Gene Hackman vs. John Shea vs. Kevin Spacey.

StarMan™

Well-known member
I prefer John Shea. Although Lois and Clark wasn't everybody's cup of tea, I would hope most would agree John Shea played an excellent Lex Luthor. The evil, manipulative, super-rich Lex hiding behind a corporate, philanthropic facade is far more appealing to me than the one-dimensional, madcap scientist Lex.

Anyone else agree?
 
I haven't seen Superman Returns yet but I can't imagine Spacey being anything less than excellent. I rate Spacey highly and he hasn't let me down yet.

Hackman's Lex wasn't really to my liking. I was never a fan of Lex as comedy relief but hey, it's Hackamn and it's still fun and I do love Supes I & II

Been a while since I've since any Lois & Clark but John Shea was good as I recall.

Michael Rosenbaum is worthy of mention without a doubt as Lex in Smallville. That show can be trying at times but Rosenbaum is excellent and he plays Lex with a certain machevellian charm that I have always liked. he also plays batshit crazy well in those episodes where Lex loses the plot completley.

Who's the best Lex? I don't know, they all have facets of what makes the character great and none of them stink. I probably do prefer Shea to Hackmans version just on principle of the character and how it's written. I will have to see how Spacey does in the role to see if he's the new Lex of our times though.
 
Haven't seen the latest one either, but I have to say John Shea. Not that I dislike Hackman, but his Lex was a little too cartoony.
 
Hackman's Lex was played as a two-bit car salesman. Not very appropriate as the one guy who gets under Superman's skin consistently.

Without spoiler, Spacey's Lex comes across as much more dangerous and villainous, as well as smart.His motivations are also much more clearly explained and almost respectable if it wasn't for the whole destruction and murder thing.
 
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Dana Glover is THE BEST Luthor ever. She even shaved for the role, but you can't see it in this picture. Turned out to be more effective than Kryptonite in distracting old Supes. Man of steel, Indeed...
 
Callan said:
I prefer John Shea. Although Lois and Clark wasn't everybody's cup of tea, I would hope most would agree John Shea played an excellent Lex Luthor. The evil, manipulative, super-rich Lex hiding behind a corporate, philanthropic facade is far more appealing to me than the one-dimensional, madcap scientist Lex.

Anyone else agree?


I've watched DVDs of Lois and Clark, and I didn't settle with John Shea. I felt he was just a little too slimey and blue-blooded for his own good. Hackman is still a good actor, but probably miscast too, so I'll wait until I see Spacey before I make a final decision there.
 
Spacey was good, but his Luthor's motivation just didn't work for me. Nor did Hackman's Luthor and his motivation, which of course inspired this Luthor.

I think the best Luthor would need to be a melding of the Silver and Modern Age Luthors. Imagine a Luthor who is a super-genius, but who becomes a billionaire from numerous patents of his own creation. Kind of a Bill Gates/Donald Trump combination, but without the bad reality TV show.

That would be the perfect Luthor. Michael Rosenbaum's Luthor on Smallville has the potential to become a fearsome Luthor in his own right.
 
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