Disclaimer: This article will contain spoilers on Superman 2025. You have been warned.
Lex Luthor was the clear winner in the movie, and it’s all thanks to hatred. It drove him to find a way of beating an alien who just appeared three years ago. Luthor deserves the victory he earned through his efforts. But in the end, Empathy was what beat Luthor.
I will go through the emotions between the two characters and how they worked against them.
How Hatred Beats the Man of Steel
Gunn gave us a scene that would have been saved for the middle or near the end of every Superman movie: The Man of Steel loses. There was no origin story or even a scene with Superman going up against an evil metahuman, a natural disaster, or even a Metropolis bank robbery. We are treated to the main character nearly dead, and no one knows why until he goes back to Metropolis.
The revelation hits as hard as those Ultraman punches. It was Lex Luthor and a “metahuman” from a foreign country. What’s more, this powered-up bad guy was given training or was taught to do specific moves based on codes sent through Luthor’s command station. Superman is clearly not winning round 2. Luthor found a way to win against Superman, and no Kryptonite was involved. Hatred was the driving factor in his win.
For years, Lex has been studying Superman, allowing him to find combat moves that are effective against him. While we have no idea at the start of the movie that Superman is fighting Superboy… sorry. I mean a clone of himself, Gunn made it clear that Lex is beating him with his intellect when we see him issuing those commands to Ultraman during the fight.
Defeating Superman was just part of the plan, being completely humiliating and dominating the alien. Luthor engineered a proxy war between Boravia and Jarhanpur.
While the plan was to own a part of the land that has a major return on his investment of weaponizing a nation, it was just a bonus to what Luthor wants. To force Superman into deciding a side by stopping the war and swaying public opinion against the Man of Steel.
Unfortunately, that plan did not work. He could not get Government support to restrain Superman. Lex needed an additional push, which he had already planned. He penetrated the Fortress of Solitude using Ultraman. Here, he manages to restore and obtain Kal-El’s parents’ broken recording. At the same time, kidnapping Krypto as a bonus.
It was already checkmate when Luthor made the restored recording public. The crowd who were once supportive of Superman looked at him differently than earlier. It felt like a close friend was actually a criminal the whole time.
Upon learning about Krypto, Superman had no choice but to give himself up to the US government, and ultimately, to Luthor.
Luthor is the ultimate winner when Superman is incarcerated in the pocket universe with Rex. He completely dominated the Man of Steel. Yet, there is still that lingering hatred that made him feel that there was more to strip away from this alien. This led to the darkest point of the movie, where Lex played Russian roulette with the food cart guy. He wants to know everything about Superman.
When Lex fired the live bullet, it was the most painful moment for Superman that we experienced in the movie. But for Lex, it was just a minor setback since there were more possible hostages. Including that Daily Planet reporter called Kent.
Information was not likely the goal here. It was not possible for Lex not to know “everything” about his enemy since he gained both Krypto and the recording from Superman’s abode. The goal here is to take away everything Superman cherished until there is nothing left, which started the road toward his defeat.
Why does Lex hate Superman?
Regular DC comic readers and animated series watchers will note one thing Lex has in common in almost all continuities: Power. He is rich. He is smart. He has connections. Lex even became the US president across several universes.
But no matter how powerful Lex can become. He is still weak when compared to Superman. Even as the president of the most powerful nation in Earth, especially in the DCU, Luthor could not compete against Superman.
Note that I did not just say “physically” weak. Superman had a different kind of power that Luthor could not duplicate or clone in any universe. That is the ability to be trusted by people.
Superman’s Empathy Shown By Metropolis’ Residents
Note that Superman had stopped the Boravia and Jarhanpur before the movie started, and that Lex had launched a massive misinformation campaign. Yet, Metropolis citizens love Superman.
A group instantly went over to Superman when he got pounded into the basement by Ultraman. The food cart vendor himself went over to give Superman a hand.
Keep in mind. This is an ordinary guy who gave Superman free food just one time. With no powers or tech whatsoever. Helping the most powerful being on Earth.
How could anyone gain that kind of trust from an ordinary person?
We could see the reason in Superman’s fight against the beast trampling Metropolis. He was struggling throughout the fight. Not because he could not beat the creature, but because he wants to find a way to inflict as little harm as possible. Throughout the fight, Superman is extremely mindful of the people around him.
To further press down on the point. Superman saved a squirrel.
It was silly. Gunn’s test audience and even his team said they hated it. But Gunn still cut it back in. While we may not know why Gunn felt he wanted that squirrel back in. I can assume one reason. He wants to emphasize how Superman is empathetic to a fault, to the point that he will bother with a squirrel.
To further emphasize this, one of the people in the crowd chucked a can at Superman. The crowd felt betrayed, but was not intimidated by this Superman. You do not get this reaction from people who sees you as a modern god. You get it by being that trusted friend.
How Empathy Won The War
Going back to the pocket universe scene. Lex could have kept Superman in prison here throughout the movie and possibly stopped Mr. Terrific. Yet, Luthor’s hate made him blind to how the Food cart owner’s death could affect Rex and that Mr. Terrific was able to track Superman.
Hate made Luthor not see the most essential pieces of the puzzle, like his girlfriend leaking plans to the Daily Planet staff. He also could not see that Superman was Clark Kent.
Empathy, on the other hand, worked for Superman. Mr. Terrific did not just track Superman to piss off Guy, he likely wanted to help Clark. It also shows how Superman gained Rex’s trust when he questioned his morality after Luthor’s Russian Roulette.
Being blind because of hatred made Luthor not consider Superman’s way of dealing with the Engineer, smashing both her and Ultraman onto the ground with the speed of a falling meteor. Though the real cost of Luthor’s hatred was the Daily Planet’s crew in exposing his plan to the world, all because he did not see his Girlfriend taking selfies around sensitive areas.
While Empathy did not help Superman during his fight with Ultraman, it did help him win against Luthor. Despite everything he invested and built during those unseen years, Luthor lost it all while Superman regained his “power” or everyone’s trust in the end. He even strengthened his bond with Lois.
Hatred vs Empathy
Strong emotions like hate can push people like Lex to overcome Superman. Unlike the Luthor in Superman vs Batman, this Lex has full control over Ultraman and Engineer. He even had Kal-El’s most powerful Kryptonite, and its not a piece of an alien planet. It was his good nature to save everyone.
Yet, Superman’s good nature is also what saved him at a critical time. It got him support from the Daily Planet crew, who created a powerful offense against Luthor with the exposé. Empathy even made Guy risk getting in trouble with Oa just to do Clark’s favor.
Hatred is still a powerful driver to achieving one’s goals, but it leaves you taking too many risks. Meanwhile, empathy can leave you vulnerable. Though, it helps you gain support to cover those vulnerabilities.
Want to know my thoughts about the movie? Read my Tito Review of James Gunn’s Superman!
