Lex Luthor‘s best weapon against Superman may have been teased as early as in James Gunn’s first Superman trailer, possibly setting up the most comic-accurate movie version of the DC villain so far. Superman’s packed cast includes at least three DC villains: María Gabriela de Faría’s The Engineer, the mysterious black-clad villain who could be Ultraman or Ulysses, and Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor, plus the kaiju seen in the Superman trailer attacking Metropolis.

Nicholas Hoult is the latest in a long line of live-action Lex Luthor actors, succeeding stars such as Gene Hackman, Michael Rosenbaum, Kevin Spacey, and Jesse Eisenberg. All previous Lex Luthors have had a feud with their respective Supermen, to some degree, though their screentime has varied a lot throughout the years. From creating a new continent from scratch to killing Superman by bioengineering an even more powerful monster, most of the previous live-action Lex Luthors have devised rather contrived plans to ruin Superman’s life. In the DCU, Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor could take a more direct approach.

Superman’s Hammer Of Boravia Villain Could Actually Be Lex Luthor

Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor May Be Instigating A War Abroad Using His Technolog

In the first Superman trailer, a Daily Planet newspaper headline written by Clark Kent reads: “Hammer of Boravia creates havoc downtown”, referring to a “superpowered mystery man” who “damages Metropolis”. This mystery man seems to be a big, muscular character who wears a full-body suit of armor and a round helmet that hides his identity. Considering that Creature Commandos introduced Gorilla Grodd as a world-conquering villain in a future timeline, the hyper-intelligent gorilla seems likely to be the Hammer of Boravia in disguise. However, it’s possible that Lex Luthor is instigating international conflict under the Hammer of Boravia moniker in order to sell his technology and weapons.

The Hammer of Boravia’s armor looks suspiciously similar to Lex Luthor’s traditional comic book armor. In the DCU, Luthor could use his classic powersuit to pose as a Boravian supervillain who terrorizes Metropolis, motivating the government to commission state-of-the-art Luthorcorp technology to prevent and fight similar threats. Luthor could be doing the same in Boravia and Jarhanpur, profiting from all sides of every possible international conflict. In Superman, Lex Luthor could develop a deep hatred towards Clark Kent for his investigation of Luthorcorp’s shady business, and a deep hatred for Superman for interfering with the Hammer of Boravia’s planned attacks on various cities.

Lex Luthor’s Armor Would Break A Superman Movie Trend In Dire Need Of Change

Lex Luthor May Finally Fight Toe-To-Toe With Superman In The DCU

Lex Luthor has never worn his iconic powersuit in any DC movie. In fact, the first time any live-action Lex Luthor wore a suit of armor took place in Superman & Lois. Not only could James Gunn’s Superman mark the very first time Luthor’s suit of armor appears in a movie, but it could also be the first live-action film to have Lex Luthor brawl with Superman. Although Lex Luthor’s deadliest weapon is his intellect, a hand-to-hand fight scene between Superman and a suited-up Lex Luthor is long overdue on the big screen.