All 15 DC Movies & TV Shows Featuring Lex Luthor in Order

Every superhero needs a villain, and Superman is no exception as his archvillain is one of the most popular characters in fiction, Lex Luthor. This is why it doesn’t surprise us that Lex has been one of the most common characters in Superman’s stories, as over the long years of the character’s existence, he has appeared in 15 movies and TV shows. We decided to revisit Lex Luthor’s live-action past and summarize the perfect watch order for all of his live-action versions. 

Lex Luthor in Christopher Reeve’s ‘Superman’ 

Luthor appeared in 3 out of 4 ‘Superman’ movies played by Gene Hackman in Christopher Reeve’s ‘Superman’ movies. This in-universe chronology is fairly straightforward; all you need to do is follow the above-mentioned release date order.

Lex Luthor also appears in 2006 ‘Superman Returns’, played by Kevin Spacey but since the movie ignores the events that took place in prior movies of the franchise, we’re not sure where to place it regarding in-universe chronology. 

‘Superboy’ 

Luthor appears in all seasons of ‘Superboy’ series with a change of actors as Scott James Wells portrayed the character in the first season until the showrunners moved with Sherman Howard for all subsequent seasons. Lex Luthor is featured in 22 episodes from 1989 through 1992. 

‘Lois & Clark’ The New Adventures of Superman 

John Shea appears in all seasons of ‘Lois & Clark’ and is featured in 26 episodes from season 1 until the final season 4, so if you’re interested in Luthor’s character growth, you might watch this show as a whole since he is a pretty important character in it. 

‘Smallville’

Plenty of fans consider Michael Rosenbaum to be the best on-screen Lex Luthor in the history of his adaptations, and Rosenbaum delivered class-a acting in a whooping ten seasons of the show.

Lex Luthor was a regular part of ‘Smallville’ from season 1 until season 8. He wasn’t featured in season 9 at all and only appeared in 2 episodes of season 8 and one finale episode of season 10. So, if you’re only interested in Lex, the show’s latter seasons might not interest you. All in all, Luthor appears in 155 episodes. 

Lex Luthor in DCEU

Luthor was heavily referenced in ‘Man of Steel,’ but his first actual appearance was in ‘Batman v Superman’ played by Jesse Eisenberg. Even though a lot of people were disappointed with his portrayal of the character, he appeared in the post-credits scenes of ‘Justice League’ and Snyder’s Cut.

If you’re planning on re-watching the whole DCEU just to get a glimpse of Luthor’s story, you’re in for one long ride, and Luthor is technically only in one movie. However, the best chronology to follow is the release date order of DCEU films. 

Lex Luthor in Arrowverse 

Lex Luthor debuted in the Arrowverse in ‘Supergirl’ season 2 and was played by Aidan Fink as young Luthor. However, he got a lot more prominent role later on when Jon Cryer played him. He appeared in 20 episodes in total, being featured in seasons 4, 5 and 6.

Luthor also appeared in two crossover episodes in the Arrowverse: ‘Batwoman’ Season 1 Episode 9 ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Two’ and ‘Arrow’ Season 8 Episode 8 titled ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part 4.’

‘Titans’ 

Lex Luthor appears in 2 episodes of ‘Titans’ as a child in Season 2, Episode 6 and played by Titus Welliver in Season 4 episode 1. ‘Titans’ has its own in-universe chronology and it’s not connected to other major franchises on this list. 

‘Superman & Lois’ 

And the latest Luthor’s live-action appearance came in the so-far latest ‘Superman & Lois’ season released this year. Lex Luthor appears in Episodes 12 and 13 in Season 3 and is played by Michael Cudlitz.

Since ‘Superman & Lois’ is technically not a part of the Arrowverse, you can watch the show without catching up with the rest of the shows on this list.