The television series Smallville features a younger Lex Luthor, played by Michael Rosenbaum. Although his history echoes previous incarnations, this version of Lex did not begin as a bona fide villain. Lex's full name to be "Alexander Luthor", modeled after Alexander the Great; his father Lionel idolizes the legendary general, and applies Alexander's tactics to the world of modern business. At the age of 9, Lex accompanies his father on a business trip to Smallville, unwittingly getting caught in the meteor shower that brings Kal-El to Earth; he survives, but loses his hair as a result[2] (Superman's indirect involvement in Lex's hair loss resembles the Silver Age comic mythos). Lex later believes that the exposure which left him bald also gave him a "super" immune system and was the reason that he had never been sick after the event. The son of nefarious business mogul Lionel Luthor, Lex is the heir to LuthorCorp, and lives in an ornate mansion on the edge of Smallville.
Lex first meets his future nemesis Clark Kent when he loses control of his Porsche, slamming into Clark and plummeting off a bridge. It is after Clark saves his life that the two bond and become friends. Smallville plays on his relationship with Clark and how that deteriorates into the mutual enmity that they will have in life. Lex's father on Smallville, Lionel, shares many of the same characteristics that Lex's comic book counterpart has. It's through this dysfunctional relationship that Smallville attempts to characterize how Lex eventually succumbs to his truly evil side; early seasons focused on Lex's severely traumatic and loveless upbringing, a stark contrast to Clark's own idyllic childhood.
In the second episode of Season Five, Lex's relationship with Clark finally ends when he arranges for Clark, his parents, and Lana Lang to be taken hostage, in an effort to prove that Clark is hiding some secret abilities. He nearly manages to record evidence of Clark's superpowers, but Clark's powers were taken away by his father, Jor-el and Lex's efforts come to nothing. As resentment between the former friends grows, Lex further alienates Clark by becoming romantically involved with Lana.
At the end of season five, Milton Fine/Brainiac manipulates Lex into being possessed by the consciousness of General Zod. After recovery at the beginning of season six, Lex focuses on a secret project called 33.1 based around capturing and studying people who have been infected by kryptonite in order to recreate their abilities, ostensibly to protect the world against further alien threats. This puts him at odds with Clark and his new ally, billionaire vigilante Oliver Queen, aka the Green Arrow. At the same time, Lex becomes engaged to Lana after she supposedly becomes pregnant with his child (it turned out that she had been drugged with a synthetic hormone to simulate pregnancy). At the end of season 6, Lex is arrested for the murder of his wife, Lana Lang, who is (seemingly) caught in an explosion triggered by a car bomb.
Source: wikipedia.org |
