In the DC Comics universe, Lex Luthor is the world’s smartest man. Well, it might actually be Batman or Mister Terrific. But Lex Luthor is definitely somewhere in the top three when it comes to the world’s smartest people. But if he’s so brilliant that he’s amassed billions of dollars and become one of the world’s most powerful men, why can’t he figure out that Superman is really mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent? Well, DC Studios head and Man of Tomorrow director James Gunn tackled this question head-on recently on Threads. Here’s what he had to say:
Lex doesn’t know who he is but I don’t know how he would. A) Lex thinks Superman is a disconnected alien who wants to take over the world, so I’m not sure why he’d assume he has a “secret identity.” B) Hypno Glasses are real. Clark looks like another person. C) Being a genius in some ways (in Lex’s case, genetics, electrochemistry, nanotechnology, nuclear & quantum physics, to name a few) doesn’t mean you are a genius in all fields. Like many scientists (& artists!) he can miss basic things.
All of this gels with the comics. No one suspects David Corenswet’s Clark is Superman, because no one knows Clark has a secret identity. Unlike Batman (or any other masked character), Superman shows his face to the world. So that means the average citizen of Metropolis has no idea that he’s anyone other than Kal-El of Krypton, sent to Earth to protect it. Most people think being Superman is enough of a full-time job in all likelihood. Also, as Gunn pointed out, the hypno-glasses actually work. As long as Clark is wearing them, people see anyone but Clark Kent. For all we know, to everyone else, Clark looks more like Justin Bieber.
In the comics, back in John Byrne’s ’80s Superman run, Luthor once had a computer program tell him that Superman was actually Clark Kent. But the CEO of LexCorp simply refused to believe it. He couldn’t conceive that someone as powerful as Superman would ever “lower” himself to live his life as an ordinary person. It went completely against how he would be if he had the powers of a god. We can imagine that the DCU version of Luthor has much the same mentality when it comes to his Superman. We can already picture Nicholas Hoult’s Lex having the biggest tantrum ever if and when he ever finds out.