The Best Actors Who Played (Or Voiced) Lex Luthor

Ranker Entertainment
Updated October 19, 2023 24 items
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Vote up the actors who brought your favorite iterations of Lex Luthor to life!

Can you imagine what it must feel like to be a diabolical genius when your arch-nemesis is literally the most powerful being on the planet? As one of the most popular supervillains of all time, the best Lex Luthor actors have to bring a certain charisma to their role. Even though he’s pretty evil, Lex is one of the most enduring characters in all of comic books, having gone through numerous iterations throughout the years. Sometimes, he's a calculating madman; other times, he's the freaking president of the United States. 

A vast array of actors have played Lex Luthor over the years. Naturally, Gene Hackman was Luthor for many years in the public eye, playing the lead supervillain in the Richard Donner Superman movies. Jesse Eisenberg played a very different version of Lex Luthor in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. And that's not even getting into all of the actors who have portrayed Luthor on television.

Michael Rosenbaum famously played Lex Luthor in Smallville. Many actors have also voiced Lex Luthor on television series such as Justice League and Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. There's a lot of fun to be had playing a super genius villain, so it's easy to see why so many fine actors have been drawn to the role. 

Vote up your favorite Lex Luthor actors below. Then check back to see which one has the best chance of ruling the world. 

Most divisive: Jon Cryer
Over 500 Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of Every Actor to Play (Or Voice) Lex Luthor