why does Lex Luther Hate Superman?

Answer 1

In the original comics, no reason was given (1938 or so.)

Luthor (note correct spelling) was just a criminal, but he was almost unstoppable. However, note that in the first Superman story, "The Reign of the Superman", the Superman was a bald villain! So it seems like Superman's creators didn't want to waste one of their good concepts, and found a way to work them both in. (If you ever get a chance, read some of those great old stories, like the one with the Powerstone, which allowed Luthor to steal Superman's powers!)

Okay. The back-story for Luthor's origin was that Lex and Clark knew each other in Smallville, and Lex and Superboy were pals. Even without super powers, Lex was a genius, and Superboy didn't have anybody else on his own intellectual level, who could understand him.

Lex had developed a Kryptonite antidote for his buddy Superboy, and was on the verge of developing an artificial life form, when some chemicals in his lab (the lab which was built for him by Superboy!) caught fire. Superboy blew out the fire, but he accidentally blew the fumes onto Lex. The fumes of the burning chemicals made Lex's hair fall out instantly. He was so angry that he thought that Superboy had done it deliberately to mock him, and resolved never to give Superboy the Kryptonite antidote.

He hated Superboy after that and decided to kill him. As Superman once remarked (in the story "The Luthor Nobody Knows") hatred is not all Luthor ever had going for him. "But it's all he's got left."

After Crisis on Infinite Earths, when DC rebooted their universe, the new Superman never had a career as Superboy and had never met Lex Luthor until they were both in Metropolis. Luthor was an unscrupulous businessman; not a scientist himself, but he was a billionaire and had a big corporation with lots of scientists working for him. (Similar to Kingpin in Marvel Comics; in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if Kingpin and Luthor were suing each other for copyright infringement.)

At a party on Luthor's yacht, the mayor of Metropolis learned that he had violated some city ordinance which had caused the yacht to be endangered. (Superman rescued everybody.) The Mayor was infuriated that Luthor had avoided compliance with the law, and wanted someone to arrest him. However, Luthor was sly and already had most of the police force in his pocket with bribes and kickbacks. He knew that no ordinary cop would arrest him, because of his wealth and connections. They would find themselves economically ruined, their mortgages foreclosed, hit with all sorts of specious lawsuits, etc.

The mayor offered to deputize Superman as a police officer if he would arrest Luthor. Luthor offered Superman a job that would make him rich. Superman turned down the job offer and arrested Luthor, the first time this had ever happened. Luthor hated Superman as a result, and determined to destroy him. He just couldn't stand the idea that here was someone he couldn't corrupt with a bribe.

Really, the motivation is the same-- pride and the belief that it was a personal betrayal.

Answer 2

At least the old story goes

Lex was working on an experiment as a young man or teenager that would make Superman immune from kryptonite. Superman, or Superboy, saw fume comming from Lex's lab and thught something was going wrong. Superman, uses his super breath to blow out the alleged fire but in so doing wrecks Lex's experiment and exposes lex to fumes that alter his personality and cause him to lose all his hair. He blames Supes for this and becomes his mortal enemy. Pretty pathetic huh

Answer 3

because long ago they were both chasing the same chick and lex thinks superman got her.

However unbeknowest to lex, what really happened was when superman went outside to put money in the parking meter, chuck norris came in and had his way with the chick who then took off leaving the both of them for good. when superman tracked norris down, he was roundhouse kicked so hard he forgot the whole incident and just assumed that lex was right.

Answer 4

Lex is jealous of superman and despite all of Lex's wealth he can never become the man that superman is. Its just something that money cant buy.

Answer 5

Lex does not Like CK as a results of fact: Clark is protecting secrets and techniques, Lex does not be attentive to 'What' only that they exist Clark tried to renounce the LexCorp venture in Aqua Clark had Lana, and broke her coronary heart(in undemanding terms as a results of fact in yet another timeline Lex gets her killed) Clark consistently comes finding for favors, yet is often first to accuse. Clark dislikes Lex as a results of fact: Lex is the recent love in Lana's lifestyles, Clark knows the replace timeline wherein he brought about her death Lex become his pal, yet wasted little time in hooking up with Lana Clark knows approximately Lex's under criminal activities The rapid hook up has Clark questioning how plenty of their friendship become Lex biding time for Lana to coach 18

Answer 6

Lex is a bad lad. He does bad things.
Superman doesn't like Lex doing bad things, so he stops him from doing them.
This makes Lex unhappy, and he expresses this unhappiness by trying to kill Superman.

Answer 7

that, buddy, is a damn good question.
the answer lies in the graphic novel "Lex Luthor : Man of Steel" which provides a wonderful insight into the mind of Luthor.

if u wanna download it, search for it in www.projectw.org