James Gunn’s Superman nails a lot of elements — its earnest take on the Man of Steel, a scene-stealing Jimmy Olsen as an unexpected heartthrob, and a fiercely driven Lois Lane. But just as worthy of praise is Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor, who captures the character’s signature pettiness with pitch-perfect precision.

Luthor sees himself as the smartest person in the DC universe, and in Superman, he might also be the richest. But he’s also extremely insecure and petty, especially when it comes to Superman. Gunn leans heavily into those elements with his Luthor, paralleling one of the character’s most notorious reveals from Bruce Timm’s 2004 animated series Justice League Unlimited.

[Ed. note: Spoilers ahead for Luthor’s plots in Superman and Justice League Unlimited.]

In Justice League Unlimited, an alternate universe version of Superman kills that world’s U.S. president, Lex Luthor, and leads the local version of the Justice League — the........

© Polygon