Jesse Eisenberg will play Lex Luthor in next year's "Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice." Given the divisive casting, it's no surprise that Warner Bros. focused their first viral marketing campaign on the villainous billionaire.
Fortune published a fake profile on Luthor, detailing his family history, meteoric rise and strong opinions on savior figures. But the profile was also littered with little clues about the ever growing DC Extended Universe.
Shall we dive in?
Kord Industries
Behind LexCorp and Wayne Enterprises (which we'll get to in a minute), Kord Enterprises is listed as one of the "top three charitable corporations in America." Die hard comic book fans will recognize the company for its owner, Ted Kord, who was the second Blue Beetle. This is important given the recent rumors suggesting a Blue Beetle and Booster Gold movie. It could be a simple name drop, or it could be a seed for a project down the line...
Kryptonite
The writer of the fake profile notes Lex's impressive collection of meteorite crystals. To the initiated, this is obviously a direct reference to Kryptonite. "Batman V Superman" will introduce Superman's main weakness, giving Lex a certain power over the Man of Steel. How will Supes combat this? Will Lex use the special green rock to make a certain war suit? We'll have to wait to find out.
Savior Complex
According to the article, Lex's father emigrated from East Germany to chase the American dream. Eventually, he built "an empire of oil and machinery" while Lex has pivoted the company to focus more on technology. But Lex mentions that his father's country of origin had a government that, under the claim of protection, "had absolute control over the citizens." Here we see the initial ideology that Lex possesses towards "saviors," hinting at his eventual disapproval of Superman.
Lex Luthor Sr.
In the DCEU, Lex's father passed away suddenly in 2000, though no cause of death was provided (suspicious?). This could either be nothing or something. In the comics, Lex's father usually died due to accident or health issues and was never a major character.
LexCorp
As mentioned before, Eiseneberg's Luthor shifted his father's company from oil and machinery to tech. This obviously worked out as the profile tells us he was later named Fortune's Businessperson of the Year and listed as one of the World's 50 Greatest Leaders. This new emphasis on science and technology likely leads to Lex's rumored experiments on General Zod's corpse, which could lead to big problems in "Batman V Superman."
LexCorp vs. Wayne Enterprises
The profile describes LexCorp as the "second largest emerging technology corporation in the world," behind only Wayne Enterprises. Lex believes his company's success is directly tied to its military contracts, whereas Wayne Enterprises has eschewed that type of business. The young billionaire believes the world is facing the most dangerous time in history and insists that a strong military defense is crucial to America's continued survival. We're betting that line of thinking will reappear down the line.
New Developments
Perhaps most interesting is not Lex Luthor's background in the DCEU, but what is on the horizon. Lex teases a new technology his company is working on that will change the world. The only details he provides is that this new product will protect people from threats they don't even know about. What does he mean - aliens, metahumans, etc.? What exactly is this product? We don't know, but it'll probably resurface in "Batman V Superman."
