Just nine episodes in, Superman & Lois is already establishing itself as one of the Arrowverse's best offerings. Superman has many enemies and it appears the series will explore a couple instead of focusing on a single one. In that regard, Captain Luthor's tenure as a baddie appears to have already come to an end after he came to an understanding with Lois and the Man Of Steel.
Plenty of questions have surrounded the character, given that he has a name that's similar to the iconic villain Lex Luthor. Some early fan theories suggested that he was Lex Luthor in disguise but this has been proven to not be the case. But there are a couple of connections between the two though.
10 Why Is Captain Luthor Hellbent On Destroying Superman?
Captain Luthor's motivations are not senseless. In his earth, he starts out as an army officer known as John Henry Irons. He, instead of Clark, is married to TV reporter Lois Lane. The couple has a daughter named Natalie.
Things take a dark turn in his world when Superman turns evil. Backed by an army of Kryptonians whose bodies have been altered by X-Kryptonite, he destroys everything in his path. When Lois reveals to the world that Superman's weakness is Kryptonite, Superman kills her. Quickly, John Henry Irons flees to Earth-Prime (where the Arrowverse is set) with his daughter. Since his Earth's Superman was once good too, he believes Earth-Prime's Superman might turn evil too. He, therefore, wants to kill him before that happens.
9 Is Captain Luthor Related To Lex Luthor?
Captain Luthor isn't related to Lex Luthor. So, how did he get the name? After Superman goes evil in his Earth, Henry and his father-in-law General Sam Lane team up to try and fend off the threat.
Henry builds an advanced Warsuit to enable him to fight Kryptonians. The problem is that the suit was built from parts manufactured by Luthorcorp and as such, the AI can only recognize the name Lex Luthor. Irons thus adopts the name "Captain Luthor" so that the AI can recognize him.
8 Is Captain Luthor In The Comics?
Captain Luthor isn't in the comics but John Henry Irons is. In the comics, John is a skilled weapons engineer for AmerTek Industries. After Superman gets killed by Doomsday, Henry builds a mechanized suit that replicates Superman's powers and also has his logo. His aim is to replace Superman as Earth's new hero.
John becomes known as the hero Steel. When Superman is brought back to life, he accepts Steel as his sidekick. Like Thor, both the comic and TV versions wield a hammer. At no point in the comics does John become an enemy of Superman.
7 Which Earth Is Captain Luthor From?
The series never mentions which exact earth Captain Luthor escaped from. During Crisis On Infinite Earths, an anti-matter wave destroys the multiverse, with the Paragons being the only survivors.
The Paragons and the Spectre restore the multiverse after the Crisis events, but things aren't as they have always been. Earth-1 merges with Earth-38 and Black Lightning's unnamed earth to form Earth-Prime. It should be presumed that Captain Luthor comes from one of the other Earths that were not merged.
6 Where Is Captain Luthor's Earth-Prime Version?
Since the current version of John Henry Irons belongs to another earth, where is Earth-Prime's version of the character? Lois becomes suspicious of John when he introduces himself as "Marcus Bridgewater." She gets his fingerprints and runs them through the database to establish who he is.
It's then revealed that the fingerprints match army veteran John Henry Irons who died on July 7, 2015. This leads to Lois and Clark discovering that the current John is from another world. Not much else is known about Earth-Prime's version of the character. The cause of death isn't revealed either.
5 Who Portrays Captain Luthor?
John Henry Irons aka Captain Luthor is portrayed by Wole Parks in the Arrowverse. Parks has mostly focused his efforts on the small screen rather than the big screen.
He is best known for portraying the creator of hell Arcadius aka Cade in Vampire Diaries. He also portrays a butler and chauffeur in the soap opera Devious Maids.
4 Does Captain Luthor Have Any Special Powers?
In the comics, John Henry Irons has powers identical to those of Superman. This is all thanks to the suit he builds. When he is without the suit, he is a normal human like Tony Stark.
The version seen in the Arrowverse doesn't have powers similar to those of Clark Kent? The only major abilities he has demonstrated are flight and hand-to-hand combat. Unlike in the comics where his suit can blast lasers from the eyes, Henry's suit is only equipped with special wrist-mounted blasters in the series.
3 Has The Character Appeared In Live-Action Before?
NBA legend Shaquille O'Neal portrays John Henry Irons in the 1997 movie Steel. Though Superman makes no appearance, this version is a little more loyal to the one in the comics.
In the movie, the villain Nathaniel Burke causes an accident that paralyzes John's partner. He also begins a business selling advanced weapons to criminals. In order to stop him, Henry creates a special armor suit and becomes the hero known as Steel. The movie was panned by critics and only has a 12% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
2 Will Captain Luthor Return?
It appears unlikely that Arrowverse fans will get to see John Henry Irons as Captain Luthor again. However, there is a possibility that he might still show up as Steel down the line, now that he is on good terms with Superman.
After trying to kill Superman, John is made to understand that this version is not the enemy. He also accepts that Earth-Prime's version of Lois is not his wife. He says goodbye to her and programs the AI to recognize him as “John Henry Irons” going forward, instead of “Captain Luthor.” This means the Captain Luthor era is dead but John Henry Irons might still show up.
1 What Inspired The Character?
The character is inspired by American folk hero John Henry. John was a railroad worker tasked with hammering steel drills into rocks during the construction of tunnels. The DC version of John Henry Irons was created by writer Louise Simonson and artist Jon Bogdanove. He first appeared in The Adventures of Superman #500.
Like the folk hero, DC's John Henry Irons' weapon of choice is a sledgehammer. In the comic issue Super Friends #21 Clark Kent even gets to meet the real John Henry after the Queen of Fables transfers him to a world of folk tales.
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June 17, 2021 at 12:00AM
