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Season 10 Theory: President Lex Luthor

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  • Season 10 Theory: President Lex Luthor

    I believe that upon Lex Luthor's return in season 10, the writers need to either draw the roadmap of his journey to the oval office, or show him assuming the presidency.

    I have three reasons for this:

    1) It completes Lex's Arc.
    2) It sets Lex up as an antagonist worthy of superman, and fulfills Dr. Fate's prediction that he'll be his "greatest adversary".
    3) It's more current than Lex's traditional power base of a megacorporation.

    The completion of Lex's Arc
    The series finale must be a notch greater than the usual predicted vision of showing superman flying in his tights, and showing Lois Lane's cover story. It needs to show Lex completing his journey as well.

    Most fans think of Smallville as Clark Kent's journey, and it is that, but it is also more. It's the formation of the superman universe. Season 1 and 2 of smallville where set up as a comparative study between Clark and Lex, with Lex getting many storylines independent of Clark. What they had in common was friendship, and strong [albeit different] father figures, tremendous talent, and they were on their way up. The ladder they were climbing was different though, Lex was climbing the ladder of power, and Clark was climbing the ladder of influence.

    In episode 1x06, "Hourglass", a woman predicts the futures of Clark and Lex, or rather, she sees them. Clark's future is one of great influence, she tells him she's seen him many times before, saving other people. Lex is seen as president of the united states, surrounded by death. Her predictive powers, in this show, are shown to be absolute. He needs to become president. I suppose the death surrounding him could be due to his failed defense of Earth during Darkseid's invasion, but that can be left to fanfiction.

    Lex's dream in Smallville is to step out his father's shadow. To be his own man. In seasons 1 and 2 he sets up LexCorp, and helps the plant employees buy out their plant. He sets up Cadmus labs to investigate the meteor rocks independent of his father. He eventually assumes management of LuthorCorp, when his father goes to jail, and he keeps it through continued blackmailing of his father. He eventually kills his father, to step out of his shadow. How can he step out of the shadow of one of the world's most connected businessmen? He cannot do it by becoming one of the world's most connected businessmen, as he has in the comics. Pretty much the only way up is the presidency.

    In the pivotal Lex episode of the series, 5x09, "Lexmas", Lex chooses the path of power. The presidency is the office that best personifies power.

    It sets Lex up as an antagonist worthy of superman, and fulfills Dr. Fate's prediction that he'll be his "greatest adversary".

    Clark's main adversaries thus far in the series:

    A) Lex and Lionel Luthor - corporate executives
    B) Brainiac - Artificial Intelligence
    C) Davis Doomsday - Ultimate Soldier
    D) Major Zod - General

    I can think of no greater power base that one-ups the above occupations and power base than that of president. First, it directly incorporates the power bases of A and D. The government is in many ways just the largest corporation, and it has several generals working for it.

    It has many great minds working for it, none as great as Brainiac's but it doesn't suffer Brainiac's and Davis' biggest weakness - they worked alone. There is no banishing the president to the phantom zone, there is no burrying the president underground and there is no having the legion capture the president and send him to the future for reprogramming. Smallville has hinted that Superman will suffer in his quest for public acceptance because he's an alien. The legion told him in season 8 that he was the one responsible for bringing acceptance to alien. In 8x15, Infamous, we see an alternative reality where he is rejected, and it's a probable eventuality. Clashes with the president will never help his public image, even if the president is unpopular.

    In order to withstand a Luthor powerbase enshrined in the oval office, he will not just need the brawn to fight billion dollar military machines, he'll need to win the hearts and minds to appeal the public, to keep their trust, and the brains to keep those two goals in harmony.

    It's more current than Lex's traditional power base of a megacorporation

    Superman was written in and is a product of the 1930s, in the era where companies made things but the economy was run into the ground by robber barrons . 75 years later, the economy has again been run into the ground by robber barrons (they're called banksters now), but there are no longer many American companies that make things. The sectors in the USA that do, such as pharmaceuticals, software developers and defense contractors, do so almost entirely because of the pork barrel and protectionism they receive from Washington, not due to the ingenuity of their CEOs. Lex Luthor, supervillain and CEO, does not make sense in a world with no Henry Fords.

    By and large, the government has become the central processing unit of American capitalism, and it is responsible for a disproportionate amount of the good and the bad going on. It is a logical powerbase for a supervillain.

    There are a few responses to this. The first, and weakest, is that 2011 (season 10) is not an election year. Whatever, if they don't show Lex winning the white house they can show him running seriously. Additionally, it's a parallel universe, so maybe they're having elections in 2011.

    Another one, more substantial, is that the president is perhaps just a lackey of the system, a figurehead, and that neither Bush or Obama have any power. That is true, they are both expert followers of the wind. I do not believe Lex Luthor would be that kind of president. I think he would be the smartest man in the room, the most well-connected, and that would allow him to access the constitutional powers of his office in a way that recent presidents have not been able to. A good example of this would be Cheney. I believe Lex would command authority in the office, he already knows the generals from his work as a defense contractor, and he already has some connections in Washington.
    Last edited by DA_Champion; 03-16-2010, 04:06 PM.

  • #2
    Lex Luthor for President for Season 10!

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    • #3
      Well, that was a fun read!

      I like the idea. And I do believe that given how many times this show has insinuated that Lex's path to power will be through the government, it makes sense that he'd pursue the highest office in the land.

      That said, I don't think the primary villain for Season 10 should be Lex Luthor. I think Amanda Waller and Checkmate should be the main entities that Clark has to deal with, because I think they could have everything to do with Clark contemplating his debut. While Lex's (ideally, six- or seven-episode-long) possible return could have something to do with Waller and Checkmate, I think his eventual power grab should only be suggested. Meaning, if he's gonna try for the presidency, I think that should only be alluded to in the final episode.

      By the way, I loved this line:

      Lex Luthor, supervillain and CEO, does not make sense in a world with no Henry Fords.

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Britas15
        That said, I don't think the primary villain for Season 10 should be Lex Luthor. I think Amanda Waller and Checkmate should be the main entities that Clark has to deal with, because I think they could have everything to do with Clark contemplating his debut.
        I think there would be really good synergy between a checkmate storyline and a Luthor presidential run. We might also have Senator Kent as a recurring cast member.

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        • #5
          I like that idea alot and hope that happens in the movies too.

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          • #6
            There would have to be a time jump for that to be possible (and before anyone asks, yes, I believe they said that "Apocalypse" was a look into the future in a time when Clark never existed). You have to be at least 35 to be President of the United States, and Lex isn't 35 yet.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by BrandonR
              There would have to be a time jump for that to be possible (and before anyone asks, yes, I believe they said that "Apocalypse" was a look into the future in a time when Clark never existed). You have to be at least 35 to be President of the United States, and Lex isn't 35 yet.
              True....but its a tv show, so in SVU, maybe you can be a president from your mid 20s up.

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              • #8
                Are we sure Lex isn't 35? He was an adult in season one. Of course, then you'd have Ollie pushing 40.

                I don't see him as president at the end of the run, though. Perhaps on the way there, to give the Superman story some ominous foreshadowing. But a show about the beginning of Superman needs to finish on a high note, meaning Lex can't have that kind of power present in the finale. And to wrap up such an arc within season 10 seems a bit quick to me, especially since it would end up being a Batman-free version of the tale. We'll see.

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Last Son of Vern
                  Are we sure Lex isn't 35? He was an adult in season one.
                  He was 21 (he mentions in one episode, that he was nine years old, at the time of the first meteor shower. Making his birth around 1980), making him 29-30 (depending on which month, he's born in) by now. Thus preventing him, from running for president, until the 2016 (he'll only be 32, at the time, of the next election, in 2012) presidential election.

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                  • #10
                    What a young executive! In most ways that works for me, though. While I fully agree with DA's idea that Lex is headed for the White House in his creepy white suit, black glove and green ring, I see it as being a few years onto the horizon.

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by jon-el87
                      He was 21 (he mentions in one episode, that he was nine years old, at the time of the first meteor shower. Making his birth around 1980), making him 29-30 (depending on which month, he's born in) by now. Thus preventing him, from running for president, until the 2016 (he'll only be 32, at the time, of the next election, in 2012) presidential election.
                      Yeah, and he's also bald, a three-time divorcee and single, do let the details get in the way of a good story.

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Last Son of Vern
                        Are we sure Lex isn't 35? He was an adult in season one. Of course, then you'd have Ollie pushing 40.

                        I don't see him as president at the end of the run, though. Perhaps on the way there, to give the Superman story some ominous foreshadowing. But a show about the beginning of Superman needs to finish on a high note, meaning Lex can't have that kind of power present in the finale. And to wrap up such an arc within season 10 seems a bit quick to me, especially since it would end up being a Batman-free version of the tale. We'll see.
                        STAS had a much darker ending than I could ever come up with.

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                        • #13
                          I think they can only really show something as a stepping stone. What I could see happening is Lex announcing that he is running for a vacant senate seat. Say the senior senator from Kansas is retiring or something, which would mean if Lex won, he and Martha Kent be both senators from Kansas in the US Senate. Have a mention of Pete now taking political science in University and in several years down the road, we are set .

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                          • #14
                            i really like this idea, lets just hope the writers like it and are able to come up with this idea

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                            • #15
                              It would take most if not all the episodes of Season 10 to get him to that point. Next season, I want him in it, but heading up Cadmus or Checkmate to face off against Darkseid. It was bad enough most of the Smallville seasons were dedicated to Lex especially season 7. No need to go make that mistake again.

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