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Lex Luthor is repeating his most recent mistakes by masquerading in another hero’s symbol, and it may jeopardize the multiverse.
WARNING: The following article contains spoilers from Batman #120 by Joshua Williamson, Jorge Molina, Mikel Janin, Tomeu Morey, and VC’s Clayton Cowles, on sale now.
In Batman #120, Lex Luthor donned a suit of armor with the bat symbol on it. Ostensibly designed for Batman should he ever have agreed to work for Luthor, the suit now found itself protecting Lex. It may seem to be another example of Lex’s ego driving him to co-opt another character’s iconography, but it could be hinting at a much more ominous future. The last time Luthor did something like this, wearing the symbol of a hero that he in no way earned, it nearly led to the destruction of the entire multiverse.
Shortly after the events of the “Darkseid War” (by Geoff Johns and Jason Fabok) when Superman was believed dead by the world, Luthor “stepped up” and designed a suit of battle armor with the Superman shield. Luthor’s goal was to replace Clark Kent as the world’s new Superman. It marked a genuine attempt by Lex to be a true hero instead of trying to fulfill a self-serving agenda. Unfortunately for him, Superman did return and could not overcome the decades of bad blood to give his trust to the reforming Luthor. This lack of trust pushed him to renounce the shield and go back to his villainous roots, leading to Luthor freeing Perpetua which almost allowed her to permanently rewrite the multiverse in her image.
While it does not seem that Luthor is trying to become Batman here, he is very much trying to bring the hero into his organization. The purchase of Batman Incorporated earlier was the first step, providing Luthor with a small army of elite soldiers. However, donning the suit he designed for the original Batman could indicate that he is ready to forgo a partnership with Bruce Wayne in favor of taking over the bat symbol himself.
The concern here is that this could lead to a repeat of the situation from before. Luthor seems to have learned his lesson after being betrayed by Perpetua and watching as she lorded over the multiverse, but Luthor’s ego always finds a way to make him forget the most important lessons, no matter how painful they were. His attempt at using Batman to his advantage, while undoubtedly selfish, might actually be another genuine attempt to do some good in the world. The only problem is that he chose to use the symbol of perhaps the least trusting hero in the entire DC Universe. It is significantly harder to gain Batman’s trust than it is Superman’s and that’s just when meeting him for the first time.
Batman has known Luthor for years. He’s been on the receiving end of some of Luthor’s worst plots and in no way believes that he has any good intentions for Batman Incorporated. This could lead to another rejection, one even harsher than when Superman turned Luthor away.
That in turn could result in Luthor seeking out a higher power to get even. He already managed to unlock the greatest secrets of the multiverse when he felt betrayed, if Batman rejects this latest attempt at being a hero, it could once again push him over the deep end. Powers are rising within the infinite frontier, the Great Darkness at the center of it as forces rally to claim its power. Luthor has the intelligence and will to beat all of them, especially if claiming such power would put him over all others within the cosmic order. In doing so, he would unleash another threat to the entire multiverse.
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