Page "Lex Luthor" Paragraph 77

John Shea portrayed Lex Luthor in the 1990s TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman as a charming and debonair philanthropist and polymath, the owner of the massive LexCorp.

He is established early on as " the 3rd richest man in the world ", behind Bill Gates and the fictional Arthur Chow.

However, he is secretly a ruthless and power-hungry individual involved in many criminal enterprises and obsessed with defeating and killing Superman and plotting to turn the public against him.

Unlike other versions of the character, Shea's Lex has a full head of hair for the majority of the series.

Shea addressed this by stating, " Hey, this is the ' 90s.

Do you think a billionaire like Luthor couldn't get himself a full head of hair?

Lex Luthor has got to be a modern villain.

" At the end of season one, he manages to acquire a rare piece of kryptonite.

He then devises a trap for Superman that almost kills him, but Superman narrowly escapes when Luthor leaves him to his fate.

Just as Luthor is about to marry Lois Lane, the truth about his evil nature is exposed and he takes his own life by jumping off a building rather than face imprisonment.

Ironically, due to exposure to Luthor's Kryptonite Cage, Superman's powers are too weak and he cannot save him.

Following the season one finale, Lex's corpse disappears from the coroner's office.

Later on, the body resurfaces in a lab where his ex-wife Arianna Carlin ( played by Emma Samms ) with the help of devoted scientist Gretchen Kelly ( played by Denise Crosby ) freezes Luthor's remains and labors to bring him back from the dead.

Blaming Superman and Lois for Luthor's death ( Superman for not saving him and Lois for " driving him to his death " by saying No to him at the altar ), Arianna uses subliminal messaging to turn part of Metropolis against Superman, and uses plastic surgery to make a henchwoman look like Lois.

Lois is then framed for several acts of law-breaking, and she tries to make it seem like Lois is having a mental breakdown.

Lois is then kidnapped after meeting her double, bound and gagged by Arianna, and drugged before Superman arrives.

Superman is shot by a Kryptonite bullet and the criminal places the gun in Lois's hands, hoping to frame her for the murder.

Superman uses his heat vision to send water from a fish tank onto the face of Lois, reviving her and enabling her to remove the Kryptonite.

Arianna and the double are then jailed leaving Gretchen behind to care for Luthor's body.

The scientist eventually succeeds, but as a side effect of his resurrection, Lex loses his hair ( thus bringing him in line with Luthor's usual look ).

However the effect was only temporary and a year later his hair grew back.

He is quickly disenchanted with the changes that have happened during his absence, particularly the emergence of Intergang as well as the loss of his personal fortune.

Lex hides underground again seeking Kryptonite.

But after kidnapping Lois in an attempt to reclaim her, he is traced to his sewer lair by Superman.

This time however, Superman prevents Lex from taking his own life again to " cheat justice " and sends him to prison to serve a double life sentence.