Superman's villains

[brokenstatue2001]

Is it just me, or does Supes have a lot of lame ass villains. I mean his greatest nemesis is a rich, bald dude.
I mean, Batman's greatest is the Joker, Daredevil is the Kingpin, Fantastic Four have Dr. Doom, X-Men have Magneto, Spawn has Clown/Violator, and don't get me started on Spidey.
With the exception of FF, all these bad guys have come up beautifully on the screen.
I guess my favorites would be General Zod (I know, Superman II) and Mr. Mxyptlk (I guess I got his name right) but I'm guessing they wouldn't make on the new movie or Smallville, what do you think?

[Essex]

How could you possibly say that Lex Luthor is lame??? He is one of the most ruthless and devious villains in comic history!

At any rate, I don't see your point at all. Superman has a very extensive gallery of some really fantastic villains. Luthor, Zod, Darkseid, Mongul, Brainiac, Bizarro, Doomsday, the list goes on.

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"That which does not kill us...makes us stranger." - Trevor Goodchild, Aeon Flux

[brokenstatue2001]

Well, Luthor is devious and ruthless, I'll give him that, but the Joker is far and away the more of a menace than Lex would ever be.
As for Zod, I like him, I said that, but he and Bizarro are too much like Superman, powers-wise.
It seems like Superman has two major type of villains, evil alien warlords or giant robots, and those are the only things that could go toe to toe against him.
Now, I'm not knocking Superman in any way, I just think they should have more original ideas when it comes to who he's fighting against.

[Essex]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by brokenstatue2001:
<B>but the Joker is far and away the more of a menace than Lex would ever be.
</B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

How do you figure this? Joker is a madman and murderer, yes, but he is predictable and repetitive. Luthor is more powerful than Superman, just by sheer scope. Anything is possible with Luthor because of his wealth, influence, power and absolute ruthlessness. In fact, Luthor is basically ALL of Batman's greatest villains rolled into one package. He has the murderousness of the Joker, the inteliigence of the Riddler, the business sense of the Penguin, the scope of Ra's Al Ghul, the mystery of Two-Face and the ability to generate fear better than even the Scarecrow.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by brokenstatue2001:
<B>
It seems like Superman has two major type of villains, evil alien warlords or giant robots, and those are the only thi</B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


If you're going to generalize Superman's villains so broadly, you could just as easily say that Batman only has two types of villains: intelligent madmen, or wild madmen.


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"That which does not kill us...makes us stranger." - Trevor Goodchild, Aeon Flux

[This message has been edited by Essex (edited 05-21-2004).]

[WC]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Essex:
<B>
If you're going to generalize Superman's villains so broadly, you could just as easily say that Batman only has two types of villains: intelligent madmen, or wild madmen.

</B><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You forgot one category: bad directors and scriptwriters - perhaps Batman's greatest enemies.


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Meoww! Send in the clowns!

[brokenstatue2001]

Well, here's the thing with Joker and Luthor, while Luthor is contempt with ousting Superman as an alien, it really doesn't seem he is interested in anything else. Meanwhile, all the Joker cares about is causing chaos, no matter where he goes. Plus, he's more intelligent than the Riddler, has a wider scope than Ra's Al Ghul, and is the only enemy to generate fear into Batman.
Luthor, to me seems like Spidey's JJJ, only with more resources. Like when Luthor made his battle suit, it was like in Spidey when JJJ controlled the Spider Slayers. Although, I'm pretty sure Luthor could kick JJJ's ass, I'm not sure he's as good a villain everyone makes him out to be. Now you may hit me over the head with a whiffle ball bat.

[Essex]

If you actually find it appropriate to compare Luthor to Jonah Jameson, I'm not going to bother continuing the discussion. There's no point.

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"That which does not kill us...makes us stranger." - Trevor Goodchild, Aeon Flux

[MarcoPolo]

Newest rumor is that Vin Diesel is gonna play Lex Luthor, I'm so for that!! He would make a great villian for Superman.

[bottleHeD]

Isnt Luthor supposed to be a cunning, intelligent kinda guy?
Every time i look at Diesel, i half expect him to go "Hulk Smash"!!

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HeD t r i p p i n '

[brokenstatue2001]

I might get a lot of backlash here, but I would rather see Bruce Willis play Lex Luthor.
I've never been a fan of the idea that Lex and Superman being the same age, I guess that would be the benefit of being bald in comics, it's hard to pin down the exact age. But, I think Willis' stillness and overall creepiness (check out Sixth Sense, now imagine bald and EVIL) might be a good fit.
Now you may crucify me. (winces in anticipation).....

[norrinraad]

The Bruce Willis suggestion makes way more sense than Vin Diesel. I don't see any similarities at all between Vin Diesel and Lex Luthor (except for the obvious baldness). This is exactly the kind of ridiculous casting I would expect from Warner Brothers. Take a popular actor and cast him more for his box office appeal than for his role suitability. I like Diesel and think he can be good in certain roles, but Lex is a different animal altogether. I believe a younger Michael Douglas would have been perfect for Lex, especially after seeing Wall Street where he played a very similar type of character. Good ol' Vin, no matter how hard he tries, just doesn't come off as being particularly ruthless or intelligent onscreen, qualities essential for Luthor.

[FireStormTrooper]

What do y'all think about JOHNNY DEPP as Lex Luthor??? Apparently on this very website there's a rumor by someone with inside knowledge that the studios are going with an unknown for the role of Superman (HENRY CAVILL hopefully) and are pursuing Captain Jack Sparrow for the role of Superman's arch-enemy.

I couldn't read the report (loading problems), but that line of thinking intrigues me. I mean, has anyone even seen Depp BALD before? How would he look? Maybe a good idea for a new photo-manip for all you artists out there http://www.comics2film.com/UBB/wink.gif

[This message has been edited by FireStormTrooper (edited 07-09-2004).]

[This message has been edited by FireStormTrooper (edited 07-09-2004).]

[MarcoPolo]

I really like Depp as an actor. He got a lot of talent, but I just don't see him playing Lex.

[norrinraad]

Neither do I. We all knew that after Pirates of The Carribean Depp was going to be offered every big blockbuster role out there, but I just don't see him as Luthor. Depp is a great actor but he seems to shine best in quirky, off-beat roles. When he plays it relatively straight (The Astronaut's Wife, Nick of Time, From Hell) he just doesn't seem as convincing.

I think Anthony Heald 20 years ago would have made a great Luthor. As for someone younger, James Spader could work...

[The Xenos]

Heh. After seeing Spader in Secretary with Maggie Gyllenhaal, I can only imagine the kinky things Lex would do with Mercy or some of his female help.

-Xenos