There has been a lot of speculation as to who the villain will be in the sequel to Man of Steel.  Based on the Easter eggs within the movie many people are speculating that Lex Luthor will make in appearance in the Zack Snyder and Christopher Nolan sequel.  There is no official news regarding the addition of Lex Luthor in Man of Steel 2, but speculation is fun so I’m joining in.

The folks over at Buzz Focus put together some interesting choices to play Lex Luthor, many of which I would love to see on screen.  Some of their picks were interesting such as Bryan Cranston or Jon Hamm to take up the role.  On Twitter one of the actors named on the list tossed in his two cents.

Can the Superman fans out there spread the word that there's really no other choice.Let Cranston stick to meth.Thankshttp://t.co/Sgv0XNugTA

— Michael Rosenbaum (@michaelrosenbum) June 26, 2013

For those that aren’t familiar, Michael Rosenbaum played the role of a young Lex Luthor on Smallville for 7 seasons before moving on.  Luckily he came back to reprise the role for the season finale.  Let me first admit I was a big fan of Smallville, especially near the end of its run where it became more of a superhero show instead of a teen drama.  Rosenbaum was one of the highlights of the show as viewers watched his portrayal of Lex Luthor try to be a good person before descending into villainy.

Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor

When Lex returned for the season finale Michael Rosenbaum portrayed him as I had always imagined the villain would act from the comics.  His confrontation with Clark in a destroyed Luthor mansion is fantastic to see on screen.  Luthor has a long monologue about great rivalries between heroes and villains in history stating that villains are only as great as their hero.  This echoes back to a line once said by Luthor during Smallville where he proclaimed himself the ‘villain of this story.’  Its a powerful moment and well done by Micheal Rosenbaum.

Even if you aren’t a Smallville fan take a look at the final confrontation between Clark and Lex on the show its great.

Do I see this happening though?  Not really.  Part of me thinks Rosenbaum’s response might have been mostly joking versus a genuine desire to play the character once more.  In part, I think this because Rosenbaum had said he was done with the character before when leaving the cast during season 7 of Smallville.  But, he did come back one last time for the finale.

But there’s other reasons I don’t see it happening.  Snyder and Nolan worked to reboot Superman and make him different from what has been seen before in comics, TV, or movies.  Bringing in the face of Lex from the Smallville TV show just wouldn’t fit with this new take on the character.  Maybe I’m grasping at straws with this reasoning, I just think its unlikely.  Its a shame, because I’d love to see Rosenbaum back as Lex Luthor, the villain of the story.