Which MCU villains is DCEU's Lex Luthor better than?

Zack Snyder's interpretation of the iconic Lex Luthor, played by Jesse Eisenberg, wasn't well received to say the least.

On the other hand, Marvel also has a "villain problem", with only the occasional memorable villain, if any depending on who you ask.

Which MCU villains is the DCEU's Lex Luthor better than?

I'm personally at a conflict. With the exception of Loki and Zemo, Marvel villains are pretty forgettable. I can at least say Lex Luthor is memorable, and overall I enjoyed him. I just wish they didn't go overboard with the "little" noises he made, but otherwise I enjoyed his character.

Share your opinions below. Movies only.

Malaketih from TDW and Micky Rourke's character from IM2.

So forgettable you forgot his name, lmao.

Yes. For some reason I went to Ivan Drago but then I remembered this isn't Rocky.

not many. Mandarin off my head top

All of them at least lex had dialogue that was interesting.

I think all of them, he actually had comprehensive motivations instead of just being the opposite of the main character

Agreed. The only MCU villains I prefer over him are Loki and maaaybe Zemo.

None. He was straight garbage.

All of them except maybe Loki. I didn't like Lex, but at least he had some interesting dialogue and motives underneath it all.

The MCU villains are just dull.

None really.

Lexenberg is a large negative to the movie.

MCU villains are just bland but still required as obstacles for the hero to overcome.

But at the same time you can at least say they tried, you should want more Lexenbergs IF people are willing to say what we created wasn't very good and the audience is willing to forgive. The lack of risk taking is why the MCU can seem so formuliac.

Maybe mandarin lex Luthor was absolutely terrible.

Mandarin, Malekith, Ultron and Ronan.

Mandarin

Malekith and maybe Whiplash.

Pretty much all of them except Loki. He actually had character that went beyond a template.

• Malekith: Evil *insert race/occupation here* that wants to destroy/take over *insert goal here* because *explanation here*
• Ronan: Evil *insert race/occupation here* that wants to destroy/take over *insert goal here* because *explanation here*
• Business guy from Ant-Man: Evil *insert race/occupation here* that wants to destroy/take over *insert goal here* because *explanation here*
• Ultron: Evil *insert race/occupation here* that wants to destroy/take over *insert goal here* because *explanation here*
• Zemo: "Sympathetic" evil *insert race/occupation here* that wants to destroy/take over *insert goal here* because *explanation here*
• Mickey Rourke: Evil *insert race/occupation here* that wants to destroy/take over *insert goal here* because *explanation here*
• Guy Pierce: Evil *insert race/occupation here* that wants to destroy/take over *insert goal here* because *explanation here*
• TWS villain: Evil *insert race/occupation here* that wants to destroy/take over *insert goal here* because *explanation here*
• Red Skull: Evil *insert race/occupation here* that wants to destroy/take over *insert goal here* because *explanation here*

And yeah, once you factor anything to it's lowest denominator, you'll get templates like this. The thing is though, the MCU villains are already factored down. I can fill in those blanks, and there would be nothing else to say about the character at all.

Malekith, Ronan and Mandarin, but not by much. Everyone else is pretty much on his level or slightly above with the exception of Loki and Zemo being a lot better IMO.

I think a big problem with most of the MCU villains is that there is little connection between the hero and the villain. It's usually a bad guy that the good guy just has to stop. By contrast look at the most popular MCU villains: Loki and the Winter Soldier, both of whom have strong connections to their movie's hero and the battle and drama between them feels like it has bigger stakes and importance because of that connection. Compare that to Ronan who has no connection to any of the Guardians, Yellowjacket who has little connection to Scott Lang outside of Hank Pym, Whiplash and Guy Pierce's character who have little connection to Iron Man, etc. Even Ultron, who I do like overall, really has little connection to Tony and Bruce, the people who created him.

Compare these characters now to Zod and Luthor, both of whom go directly after Superman because of what they want from him. Zod, to save his people and even wanting Clark's help at first, and Luthor, wanting to destroy him because of what he believes Superman represents. While Zod is a stronger character than Luthor, both at least have a connection to the hero. Compare to the least popular villain of the DCEU, the Enchantress, whom has no connection to the Suicide Squad outside of Flag whom is not as big a character in the movie and Deadshot and Harley. There's not as much investment in the fight between her and the Squad because there's not as much of a connection.

The only ones I like more than Lex are Loki & Kingpin

Like everyone else says most. He wasn't really good per say but at least he wasn't bland like most Mcu villains. He was entertaining in a way so bad is good kinda way. Except that speech scene that was pure cringe. Almost as bad as "this is a rebellion right? I rebel" from sw rogue one

Mandarin, Whiplash, General Ross, Yellowjacket (I thought his acting was corny, the actor is better in House of Cards IMO), Nebula, Korath, Malekith

All of them beside loki from thor movie avengers loki sucked

Pretty much all of them

Him and Ultron were about as disappointing as each other for me

He was better than Ronan, Malekith, Mandarin (if he even counts), Aldrich Killian, Whiplash, that Hammer CEO guy, and MAYBE Ultron. If not he's on par with Ultron.

He's on the same level as Yellow Jacket (cool design and fights). And the rest of the MCU villains are better or superior. I just didn't like Lex in that movie. He had a few good lines of dialogue. I'll give him that and that's what makes him better than the villains I've mentioned. Zemo, Loki, Bucky, Hydra leader from TWS, and Red Skull are imo the best villains yet in the MCU. (I have still not seen Doctor Strange, so no mention of that villain)

Like saying poop is better than diarrhea.

Whiplash , Malekith and Mandarin.

Loki and Zeno were the best followed by Skull and Kingpin rest of them are not even close to the four I mentioned.

I do agree that the MCU villains have been lackluster, but you're not being fair here. Isn't every single villain ever made have a race, an occupation, and wants to take over something or defeat someone for specific motivation? I mean, you can literally apply everything you said to the DCEU & Foxverse villains and it would hold up all the same.

The MCU villains need improvement, but I don't think your criticism of them makes any sense here

ALl of them lol except loki

True, but refer back to the bolded

Well, the best MCU villains are still Loki, Fisk, Cottonmouth and Purple man right? I'm sure Mordo wil be up there too. Luthor isn't quite there yet but I still say he was a better villain than Zemo.

All with the exception of Zemo, Bucky and Loki. MCU villains are too stereotype and straight up dull.

All except for Loki, Purple Man and Kingpin.

It's not just the MCU that has a villain problem, it's comic book movies as a whole.

he was actually better than most

theres only a handful of MCU villains I even remember

even less that were good

edit:

plus he's not irredeemable, he will appear again and could have his personality fixed

showing the change from over-worked mind to stoic genius could be possible

he was already mastering alien tech, and using some to make a warsuit would put him up there

From the movies Loki and Red Skull are the only ones that are better and that is saying something...

I don't think I'd put him above a single one. Maybe above Malekith because I think Lex at least had some performance and motivation up on him, but DCEU Lex is an all-time bottom-feeding trash comic book movie villain. MCU has villains as a weak point because they're mediocre or sub-par, not because they're completely terrible. Even some of the most low tier MCU villains I can think of (Whiplash, Ronan, Yellowjacket, Abomination, Justin Hammer) were better. If Lex wasn't named Lex Luthor, nobody would even entertain the idea of him being so much as a passable movie villain, let alone a good one.

The only ones I could really put Lex clearly above, are ones that weren't main villains, like Baron Von Strucker, Nobu, and Madame Gao.

While I agree with what you said, I have to disagree with Luthor having a stronger connection to Superman then say Zemo, who wanted to destroy the Avengers for killing his family (which he was arguably right about), or even Whiplash, who had a grudge against Stark for what happened to his father.

I think the only MCU villain I'd say that had a weaker motive then Luthor was Malekith, who wanted to destroy the world cause... reasons? Even Ronan at least had religious zealotry as his motive, perhaps not all that compelling, but at least a believable motive.

The Mandarin. The biggest mistake in the history of the MCU was their treatment of the Mandarin. He is one of Iron Man's greatest villains, and they made him a joke in favor of the completely unintimidating Aldrich Killian.

All of them except Loki.

All of them except Loki and Stane.

None. He sucks just as much they do, if not more.