| Moment of Naked Clarity 0.1 Idris Elba should be Lex Luthor by Cyril T. T. Makwembere |  |
Prior to this piece I made a status on my personal Facebook account expressing my opinion that Idris Elba should take on the role of Lex Luthor for Man of Steel 2: Batman VS Superman. Below is my reasoning behind that thought.
Idris Elba has already proven himself to be somewhat successful as a comic book movie character already (refer to his minor role as Heimdall in Thor & Thor 2). However note, MINOR ROLE. The Marvel cinematic schpeel hasn't had a major black character since Wesley Snipes and Michael Clark Duncan. I do NOT count Don Cheadle/Terrence Howard because their casting was deemed interchangeable and their character has been typecast as the Token Black Guy for 3 whole movies, not to mention that the War Machine has a lengthy publication history as a supporting character. When you consider that in a universe currently housing the spectacle known as the Avengers, it is hard to compete for attention, least you be an opposing arch/supervillain. The cast of Avengers was all-white, heroes and supervillain. Samuel L. Jackson was their Token Black Guy. Ask yourself if you've ever seen Jackson actually do anything aside from walk into rooms and take on a character mix of 'every sage-like Morgan Freeman character since Shawshank Redemption' + 'every angry black police chief in cheesy 80s cop movies ever'. Marvel can't recast Idris Elba, BUT, DC can shop him for Lex Luthor (if you dare mention some heresy for an actor playing for both Marvel and DC, I will summon Ryan Reynolds, so shut up before you force my hand). Lex is arguably one of the greatest supervillains the DC Universe has to offer. There is hardly a chance that the Lex Luthor character will be over-shadowed by the opposing forces of the still-building Justice League (Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman confirmed to this date for 'Superman VS Batman') since he will be a major villain threat.
Lex Luthor needs to be more:
After the fallout of 'Man of Steel', opinions were split 50-50, right down the middle, about the new Superman franchise Zack Snyder, David Goyer and DC were creating. Half applaud the new take on an old hero whose story has been told a thousand times, while the other half berate the production team for sullying the reputation Superman has built as an icon for almost a century. It occurred to me that this split opinion opened up an avenue of opportunity for the DC cinematic universe. DC could both improve on the new Superman, and save his popularity at the same time.
I saw whispers of this idea online and understand that Mr. Goyer has already made a statement to this effect. Naysayers of MoS have scorned the wanton violence, death and destruction the movie both portrays and implies (I take no sides to the argument mind you). Henry Cavill's Superman is unpopular with these naysayers, so is it hard to believe that some of the citizens of his movie world would feel the same way? Wouldn't it be brilliant if someone could speak up about it? Somebody with the balls to speak up to that menace? Somebody like Lex Luthor?
All due respects to Gene Hackman and Kevin Spacey, their Lex Luthors were written badly. They portrayed them to the best of their abilities, but in the previous generation of Superman movies (Christopher Reeves to Brandon Routh), Lex Luthor has never really been a "threat" to Superman. Thus far, Lex has just been a nuisance that the godlike Superman (the old movies hype him up quite considerably) puts up with due to his personal code of ethics. Lex has never truly been 'on-par' with Superman cinematically.
To combat the new Superman, you need a Lex Luthor who can TRULY equal the threat (and the awe) of the new Superman. Where Superman is superhumanly strong, let Lex Luthor be superhumanly intelligent. Where Superman is endearingly caring, let Lex Luthor be ruthlessly cunning. Where Superman inspires awe, let Lex Luthor inspire respect. The arch-nemesis of the strongest being on the planet should not be relegated to some pretentious, scheming real-estate agent. He must be more.
How I see Lex Luthor:
Two of my all-time favourite incarnations of Lex Luthor I’ve been exposed to are the one portrayed in the Mark Millar comic book mini-series ‘Superman: Red Son’ and the one portrayed in the great Bruce Timm’s DC Animated Series universe of the 1990s (voiced by the great Clancy Brown). You may reference them for my vision of the future cinematic Lex Luthor if you will, but I will abbreviate their “charms”. They are both
(a) incredibly charming (both having been in relationships with Lois Lane)
(b) highly intelligent
(c) self-made
(d) industrialist billionaires
(e) driven to protect humanity
(f) driven to beat Superman
Wait, what? (e) and (f) don’t match up you say? How so? Does wanting to beat Superman imply that he wants to take over the world? I say to you, no, it doesn’t.That’s never been the point of Lex Luthor. All the things Lex has done, everything, has been for the sake of humanity. He fervently believes that worshipping the alien Superman reduces human beings to nothing but sheep, and he finds it an insult to him and his kind, that a being from another planet could assume he could lead us. Underneath his inherent sarcasm and pride, Lex believes we could be more. Take himself for example. He made it to where he is by the sweat of his brow. Letting an outsider do the heavy lifting for us is like giving up. Lex hates that. And he would hate the people who allow themselves to be lead. That’s why he has no qualm with loss of life in a world of sheep unwilling to work up to his respect. Those types of people are practically dead to him.
My radical approach to the new Lex Luthor:
Cast a black man. Cast a black man with presence and charisma. Cast a black man with certified acting chops. Someone who may even have recently spiked in popularity. Cast Idris Elba.
Idrissa Akuna “Idris” Elba was born 6 September 1972, making him age 41 at the time of writing this. In 2015 he will be 43. I pitch him to be the prime age for Lex. A slightly older, but not too old Lex will give him an outlook of “the poor alien may be virtually-immortal, but he hasn’t lived as long as I have”, making any moments where he patronises Superman a little more effective. His age also legitimises the length of time it would take to make the LexCorp conglomerate a rival to Wayne Enterprises (Batman) and Queen Industries (Green Arrow).
Idris is familiar with action-heavy roles, so activity will be no problem for him at that age.
Henry Cavill stands at a sturdy height of 6 foot 1 inch. Idris Elba stands at a hefty 6 foot 3 inches. A Lex Luthor that can quite literally, look down on Superman. Tick.
Idris Elba ranked #2 on People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive 2013 list. Glamour UK Magazine ranked him #8 under Henry Cavill’s #1 in 2013. So we can assume that to draw the ladies (and fellas I suppose), Elba would be a particularly good choice as opposing villain, since he orbits in a similar solar system of sexiness as Superman (say that 5 times fast). Listen DC, sexy villains are in nowadays (CC: loki@tomhiddleston.com, BCC:my.name.is.kaaaaaahn@benedictcumberbatch.co.uk).
Idris Elba is an actor who has received multiple nominations since his breakthrough in ‘The Wire’, even winning a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television film AND a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for his performance in ‘Luther’. People defend Ben Affleck’s casting as The Batman by referencing his recent successful DIRECTING exploits. That is all fine and well, but I defend my Idris Elba casting as Lex Luthor by referencing his recent successful ACTING exploits (keyword: Mandela).
Idris Elba’s Lex Luthor:
Elba would be an incredibly intelligent, charismatic, handsome, SELF-MADE, billionaire industrialist blackman. His combined high status, race, and ability would make him an outlier in society. An “alien” if you will. But he loves Earth just as much as Superman. Up till now he’s been a generous philanthropist, “giving back to the community”, funding research for both the government (military and otherwise) and for the general betterment of human standards of living. He single-handedly funded a relief effort when Katrina hit The South. He reimbursed families who were refused payouts by their insurance companies. He made himself feel what they felt. He never thought he would witness such a great loss of life again. And then the events of MoS took place.The city he effective called his home was ravaged. And only one man stands responsible. Superman. Lex is at first amused and fascinated by this alien creature. The hero tries to clean up the mess he made, but Lex is putting food on the table for the people who lost loved ones, jobs, homes. Lex is putting roofs over their heads, rebuilding. Superman can stop the odd criminal/villain now and again who tries to take advantage of the chaos in the fallout of MoS. Lex is building support as the hero Earth needs. Of course, people see it another way, and hail Superman as a messiah. Popular opinion is split. Lex wonders why they can’t see the same big picture he does. He resents that a non-human assumes that humans can't save themselves. Lex is about as different as people come in his position in life. But Lex does good right? This greenhorn “superhero” has levelled half a city. Lex thinks that HE should be Earth's hero, the voice for the downtrodden, its example. The example of how strong we could be. And he proves this by beating The Superman. Certain higher governmental powers are not at ease over Superman’s rejection of their monitoring/control, so Lex is tasked with “taking control of the problem”. Lex considers this his legal mandate to do as he pleases to salve his ego that Superman’s very existence bruises. From there on, it’s a slow descent into obsession..... He uses everything at his disposal, money, resources,influence, and brains, to rival the Man of Steel. He becomes the Lex Luthor we will REMEMBER.
And that’s about it. I could go on more, but this is about as robust and compact as it needs to be. Give it some thought. My argument is still open to debate.
Idris Elba for Lex Luthor. Lex Luthor for President.
It's hard to be bald.
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