The DC Extended Universe is the media franchise and shared fictional universe revolving around the superhero film series based on the original comic books (referred to just as “the DC Universe”). These films are produced by Warner Bros. that also owns DC Entertainment (the company that creates the comics) and DC Comics Inc. (the company that publishes them).
This film series began with “Man of Steel” in 2013 and has a host of movies planned until 2020. The second entry in it consists of “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” which will be launched in 2016. In it, Lex Luthor is the main villain, and to create hype around the project, Warner Bros., quite classily, created a Fortune profile for him, despite the fact that he is a fictional character.
We get some interesting info from Lex Luthor’s new profile.
1. Kord Industries
One of the comic book heroes to which DC currently has the rights is The Blue Beetle. Of the three Blue Beetles that existed in the comic series’ history, Ted Kord is the second one. And he owns Kord Industries which in Luthor’s profile is mentioned as one of the top three charitable corporations in America, with his own LexCorp occupying 3rd place and Wayne Enterprises taking the 1st.
As it was reported that Blue Beetle will have his own movie, fans can only be happy at this mention in the profile, as it makes that possible movie even more plausible.
2. Superman’s bane
As the interview for the profile progresses, it is noted by the writer that Lex Luthor has a collection of meteorite crystals. Yup. Meteorite crystals. Nothin’ worrisome about that for an average human, right? I mean geologists and astronomers aplenty have such collections. Still, considering that what Lex Luthor hates the most is Superman, one can’t help but wonder whether that collection also contains… oh, you know, KRYPTONITE! And whether he’s figured out what effects it has on Superman. Especially since in one of the trailers for the “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” movie, Lex is staring intently at a chunk of it!
3. Hailing, Not Heil!-ing From East Germany
Lex Luthor’s name is actually Alexander Joseph Luthor Jr. . His father, Alexander Luthor Sr. was born in East Germany and came to the USA as a destitute immigrant, who somehow managed to build LexCorp (“an empire of oil and machines”) starting from rock bottom, with nothing but his determination. Interesting to note is that, by Lex Luthor’s own words, Luthor Sr. “came from a country where the government, in the guise of protector, had absolute control over the citizens.”. Ironically, since he’s supposed to be the villain of the movie, he continues with: “That drove him. I get it. Heck, I’d hate to see that sort of thing happen over here.”
4. Major Change Of Direction
Lex Luthor is presented in the interview as just as formidable (if not more so) than his father, at one point earning Fortune’s Businessperson of the Year and being included on the magazine’s list of the World’s 50 Greatest Leaders. Because after his father’s death, Lex took the “aging petrochemical and heavy machinery dinosaur” of a company and turned it into a cutting edge tech company ranking in the Fortune 500 and 2nd in the world as an emerging technologies company after Wayne Industries. The profile mentions some interesting facilities the company has, to give us a sense of its feel: an R&D lab named the “crucible”, an “inspiration station” for its employees, complete with a rappel wall, and a “vegan food cart”.
5. Ominous Concern
At the interview’s end, Lex Luthor says that: “The true gift of LexCorp is our products. We are on the cusp of unveiling a technology that will change the world forever. (…) It’s about safety. This is a product that will protect you, and everyone, from threats you don’t even know about yet.” Pretty cryptic, ominous and especially ironic (remember his declaration regarding the Germany of his father’s time?). As Lex Luthor’s major concern is aliens, like Superman, it’s safe to imagine that the technology he’s talking about bodes nothing well for the hero…