YMMV / Lex Luthor: Man of Steel

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• Alternate Character Interpretation:
  • The entire point of the series is that Lex Luthor believes himself to be a hero fighting a dangerous humanoid abomination to protect and uplift humanity, whereas the remainder characters think he is a deluded hypocritical megalomaniac, and the story ultimately proves he does not care for or even like humanity at all.
  • Do the final words "I am a man, I hope." mean that Lex thinks his hope makes him a man? Or do they mean that in the face of all the evil he has done Lex is clinging to hope that he is still a man? Both interpretations are valid. Keep in mind, he had Hope self-destruct.
  • The story has produced some differing interpretations over exactly how responsible Luthor was for everything that happened including the destruction of the jewelers/daycare center that drives the final act of the plot. Less responsibility would make Luthor a Well-Intentioned Extremist who perhaps tips over into Knight Templar territory, while more would make him a delusional mass-murdering lunatic. The story itself is somewhat ambiguous on several points, but suggests that the sheer depth of Luthor's Machiavellian personality makes it highly unlikely that he was completely unaware of what was going to happen even if he wasn't responsible.
• Awesome Moments: Superman, The Voiceless for the entire story up to that point, utterly destroys Lex's justifications for his despicable actions with six words:
  Superman: You're wrong. I can see your soul.
• Draco in Leather Pants: The story's understanding of Luthor's worldview, coupled with some ambiguity over exactly how responsible he was for everything.
• Misaimed Fandom: Some fans have been persuaded by Luthor's arguments that humanity must always fear aliens (by which he means Superman). However, Lex has always had less of a problem with actually malevolent aliens, like Brainiac, (even teaming up with them at many points), and the point of the story is that Lex Luthor, a human being, is about as big an enemy to humanity as humanly possible.
• Moral Event Horizon: Lex's 'great contribution to humanity', his charity towards his janitor's son, and everything else — ends in tears. Lex still feels guilt, though — or, at least, he tells us he feels guilt. Specifically, it's heavily implied that he is behind the bombing of the daycare, where the family of the scientist whom he saved before— and the scientist himself— is. Blowing up Hope, an android whom he built and had sex with counts too.

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