Lex Luthor has held many different roles within the pages of DC Comics. The genius villain has been a member of both the Justice League and Injustice League, has led the Legion of Doom, and has been a part of the Secret Six. However, Luthor’s most overpowered role (besides Apex Lex) is when he became the new Darkseid AND the new Superman.
The New 52 was an interesting, complicated time for both heroes and villains. In Lex’s case, the relaunch saw him team-up with the Justice League. In the “Darkseid War,” Lex helped the league against Darkseid and the Anti-Monitor. After the ruler of Apokolips was slain in battle, Luthor absorbed energy from the Anti-Life Equation and took on the mantle as the “God of Apokolips.” He would use an Apokolips Motherbox to build new Superman-inspired armor, featuring the “S” on the chest.
During that time, Lex would declare himself as the new Superman when he returned to Earth branding the iconic symbol on his chest with the Apokoliptian armor. At the time, there wasn’t much of a challenge to his declaration - Superman was dead after succumbing to Kryptonite poisoning in “The Final Days of Superman.” Lex would try a more heroic path, even wearing Superman’s cape, but after a few good deeds, Superman reappeared.
Lex’s time as Superman didn’t last very long. But, his connection with Apokolips wasn’t over. A character called the Godslayer tracks Luthor down based on a vision where he sees Luthor wearing the same helmet as Darkseid sitting on a throne in his Superman armor as the ruler of Apokolips. It didn’t help Luthor effectively assumed the role of Darkseid as the God of Apokolips. Godslayer wanted to kill Luthor to prevent the dark future from ever happening. Superman eventually would reason with Godslayer telling him that the specific future wouldn’t happen before rescuing Lex. Luthor gave him his cape back and later would take off the “S” from his chest.
We now know that Lex’s heroic intentions soon disappeared after Superman’s returns. It’s also clear that the dark future where he became Darkseid never fully came to fruition, despite turning into the God of Apokolips in “Darkseid War.” Luthor would return to his evil ways, killing himself so that he could evolve into Apex Lex - thanks to the cosmic Perpetua bonding him with Martian Manhunter’s DNA. He’s so powerful now, that he defeated the Crime Syndicate with relative ease. So, while he’s not the ruler of Apokolips or a version of Superman anymore, Lex Luthor is clearly possessing the most power he’s ever had - which isn’t good news for the people of Earth. Who knows? Maybe, this all ends with Lex on the throne of Apokolips.
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