Zack Snyder Confirms The DCEU Lex Luthor's Dark Origin

Jesse Eisenberg Lex Luthor Justice League

In Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice's third act, we learn that Lex Luthor hates the Man of Steel because a divine being like Kal-El never saved him from his abusive father. It colors Lex's personality in a very unique way, and it has led many DCEU fans to the assumption that Lex eventually took action against his dad before seizing control of LexCorp. Now it sounds like Zack Snyder may agree with that theory. In fact, in response to an online fan comment suggesting that "Lex got rid of his father," Snyder took to his Vero account and agreed. The director wrote:

we feel the same way about lex taking out his dad.

So, it sounds like things did not go so well for Lex's father. The abusive patriarch of the Luthor family pushed his son to the brink of sanity during Lex's formative years, and the film heavily implies that Lex has yet to forgive him for that. Now, based on Zack Snyder's own comments on the matter, it looks like the folks behind Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice do believe that the older Luthor was killed by his son.

Of course, that is something that many of us had already assumed. The DCEU Lex Luthor is far more unhinged than the average depiction of the character, with an obvious willingness to kill anyone or anything that stands in the way of his goals. He even blows up a building full of government officials and innocent bystanders just to frame Superman for the terrorist act, so the odds of him taking revenge on the man who beat him as a child seemed pretty good.

With Zack Snyder's Vero post pretty much confirming that Lex Luthor killed his father (though it's arguably still not technically canon until we see it on-screen), we are left to wonder how this could play into a future DCEU movie. If you sat through the post-credits scene for Justice League, then you likely already know that Lex has some big plans in store. Teaming up with Deathstroke, it suggests that Lex is about to form the Legion of Doom, which will bring him into contact with the other notable bad guys from DC lore. We still don't know what this supervillain team will look like in its final form, but this background knowledge of Lex helps us get a much better understanding of the man putting it all together.

Speaking of the Legion of Doom, we will see one of its key members debut on the big screen later this year when Black Manta and Arthur Curry face off in James Wan's Aquaman. The film will premiere on December 21, so mark it down on your calendars and stay tuned for more DCEU updates as they become available to us!

Conner Schwerdtfeger

Originally from Connecticut, Conner grew up in San Diego and graduated from Chapman University in 2014. He now lives in Los Angeles working in and around the entertainment industry and can mostly be found binging horror movies and chugging coffee.