DC Comics' live-action Titans series is going into its fourth season. The series follows Brenton Thwaites' Dick Grayson as he leads a group of young superheroes that call themselves the Titans.
Season 3 of the series ended on October 21, 2021, and the Titans were forced to go up against one of their own - Curran Walters' Jason Todd. Jason goes after the Joker in the first episode of the season and is ultimately killed. This leads to him being resurrected in the Lazarus Pit thanks to the Scarecrow, which turned Jason into the villain Red Hood.
One of DC's most popular villains is set to appear in Season 4 of Titans - Lex Luthor. The character, who is often associated with Superman, is connected to Joshua Orpin's Superboy. When Superboy was created in a lab, half of his DNA came from Superman, but the other portion came from Luthor.
The famous DC mastermind will be played by actor Titus Welliver, and an official image was recently revealed from the new season that featured the actor in full Lex Luthor mode.
The First Look at Titans' Lex Luthor
Entertainment Weekly recently released an image from Season 4 of DC's Titans series. The still features one of the show's newest characters that will be introduced in the upcoming season - Titus Welliver's Lex Luthor:
In the shot, Luthor is talking to Anna Diop's Starfire, who is one of the more established members of the Titans.
Titans showrunner Greg Walker spoke to the outlet and revealed how Welliver came to be cast as the supervillain. Apparently, the actor is a fairly large comic book fan, especially when it comes to DC, and didn't have to be convinced to take the part:
"You usually have to do this whole dog-and-pony show to get an actor to do the show, but when I called to kind of lure him in, I could barely get a word in. We were talking on the phone and he was just walking through his library, telling me about all his Wolfman/Perez Titans editions. He’s a giant, giant fan."
The showrunner also revealed that Welliver is a huge fan of the show as well. He has "watched every episode," which is something that Walker didn't see coming:
"He’d watched every episode of the show, and could tell me about certain stories, certain shots. It was the most unexpected call I’ve ever had."
Walker also went on to talk about how he views the character of Lex Luthor, saying that even though the character contains both "evil and power," he is also "personable." In the showrunner's eyes, that is what makes Luthor "very interesting:"
"He has a very sensitive, thoughtful approach to evil and power. You know what he’s done, what he’s capable of doing, except like many of those people, he’s personable. He doesn’t have a cat on his lap. Yeah. He’s curious, which I think is very interesting about his character. He wants to know about people and what makes them tick, and how they’re different from him. He sees the world through the lens both of his own power and his own inadequacy, and tries to compensate for both."
The Titans' showrunner also teased what is to come in Season 4, particularly when it comes to Joshua Orpin's Superboy, who actually contains some of Lex Luthor's DNA. Walker stated that Superboy "has never really explored his Lex self," which could really shake up the character's personality and make him different from what fans are used to:
"We’re really going deeper in all these characters and shaking them up. What shakes Conner up is an identity story. He’s explored his Superman self, but he has not really explored his Lex self. What does that mean when you do? What happens when you give that self the keys to the car? Does it start driving the wrong way at rush hour 100 miles an hour?"
It was also revealed that Season 4 of Titans will officially be released on HBO Max in November. A specific date wasn't shared.
How Will Lex Luthor Factor into Titans?
Lex Luthor will definitely be the biggest DC character to appear in Titans aside from Batman and the Joker. Since Joker didn't even show his face and Batman's role has been fairly limited up to this point, Lex may surpass them when it comes to screen time and how each character has affected the story.
Since the mastermind is so closely tied to Superboy, it is safe to assume that there may be a good portion of the upcoming season dedicated to the character's internal conflict with his roots. He didn't choose to have 50% of his DNA come from Luthor, but it is something that he has been forced to deal with.
Lex will, more than likely, come face-to-face with Superboy at some point in Season 4. Ryan Potter, who plays Gar Logan, is set to co-write Episode 7. Seeing as how his character and Conner are close friends, that episode could potentially be focused around the Lex side of Conner coming out and Gar having to deal with him.
If Titans stays true to Luthor's persona in the comics, he will no doubt become one of the most ruthless and challenging obstacles that the team has to go up against. It may be a long shot, but Luthor's involvement could even set up a possible appearance from the Man of Steel himself at some point in the show's future, especially if the Titans are unable to stop their adversary.
