Gene Hackman credited as playing...
Lex Luthor
- Lex Luthor: [to Zod and Company, at the half-wrecked White House] ... Hi! Lex Luthor.
- [no reaction from the Super Villains]
- Lex Luthor: LEX LUTHOR! Possibly you've heard the name? the Greatest Criminal Mind on Earth!
- Ursa: I told you this was a puny planet.
- [moves menacingly towards Luthor]
- Lex Luthor: Whoa whoa whoa wait... why don't you get to know me better?
- [Ursa continues moving towards Luthor]
- Lex Luthor: WAIT! I can give you anything! The... the... the... the Brass Ring, unlimited freedom to maim and kill! PLUS! Lex Luthor's keen mind, Lex Luthor's savvy, Lex Luthor's school of career guidance...
- [Ursa begins crushing his hand]
- General Zod: We already have this without you. You cannot bargain with what you don't have.
- Lex Luthor: [sucking on his thumb to numb the pain] Oh Great One, what I am bargaining with is what YOU do not have: The Son of Jor-El.
- General Zod: The Son of Jor-El?
- Lex Luthor: [confused] I just said that.
- General Zod: Jor-El? Our jailer?
- Lex Luthor: [sarcastically] No, Jor-El the BASEBALL PLAYER...
- [Ursa and Non start moving menacingly towards Luthor]
- Lex Luthor: Yes, Jor-El your jailer.
- General Zod: The Son of Jor-El! On this planet!
- Lex Luthor: Perhaps you know him better by his nom de voyage, or the name he travels under: Superman.
- General Zod: So THIS is Superman! How do you know of Jor-El?
- Lex Luthor: Well, Your Excellency, as I explained earlier: I'm about the best there is.
- General Zod: Revenge! We will kill the son of our jailer!
- Ursa: Revenge!
- Lex Luthor: REVENGE! Now we're cooking!
- General Zod: He flies then?
- Lex Luthor: Constantly.
- General Zod: He has powers as we do?
- Lex Luthor: Certainly. But, oh Magnificent One, he is one, while you are three.
- [Non growls]
- Lex Luthor: Or four, if you count him twice!
- General Zod: Come! We will bring him to his knees!
- Ursa: Praying!
- General Zod: Yes, to ME!
- Lex Luthor: Wait!
- [the Super Villains turn to face Luthor]
- Lex Luthor: First you must find him... and Lex Baby is the only one who knows where he is...
- Lex Luthor: What am I gonna do with you people, huh? I held up my end, I delivered the blue boy. What do I get from my triple threat? "Bow! Yield! Kneel!" That kind of stuff closes out of town.
- General Zod: Why do you say this to me when you know I will kill you for it?
- Lex Luthor: Kill me? Lex Luthor? Extinguish the greatest criminal flame of our age? Eradicate the only man on Earth with...
- Ursa: Kill him!
- Lex Luthor: ...Superman's address?
- General Zod: Come. The three of us will crush the son of our jailer!
- Lex Luthor: [as he's strolling through the half-demolished Daily Planet, in the wake of General Zod's minions; to himself] ... Even with all this accumulated knowledge, when will these dummies learn to use a DOOR KNOB?
- [to everyone]
- Lex Luthor: Howdy, folks! You should see the White House; they'll be cleaning it for months.
- Superman: [at the Fortress of Solitude; whispering to Luthor] Try and get them all into this molecule chamber. It takes away their powers, see... and turns them into ordinary human beings. Now if you could...
- [Zod approaches]
- Superman: Shh, shh!
- Lex Luthor: [pauses] General, don't go in there. It's a trap.
- Superman: Luthor, you poisonous snake!
- Lex Luthor: That's a molecule chamber. It turns people like you into people like me.
- General Zod: [nods] You've done well, Lex Luthor.
- Lex Luthor: [pointing] The crystal there activates the mechanism.
- General Zod: Lex Luthor, ruler of Australia... activate the machine.
- [Non grabs Luthor and flies him up to the control panel]
- [Eve Teschmacher & Luthor are in a balloon over the arctic, after escaping the penetentiary & leaving Otis behind]
- Eve Teschmacher: Lex, how could you do that to Otis?
- Lex Luthor: What else is ballast for?
- Eve Teschmacher: [offscreen from a balloon] Psst.
- Lex Luthor: Did you do "psst?"
- Otis: No, but I wish I had before we left.
- Eve Teschmacher: Psst.
- Lex Luthor: Not that "psst", *that* "psst."
- Eve Teschmacher: Psst.
- Lex Luthor: Psst.
- Otis: Psst.
- Lex Luthor: Don't go "psst"; I'll go "psst"... Now, get on out there and find it.
- Otis: Okay... What am I looking for?
- Lex Luthor: You'll know it when you see it.
- Otis: [after just missing it twice, Otis bumps right into...] I think I've found it - whatever it is.
- Lex Luthor: What's it look like?
- Otis: ...A ladder?
- Lex Luthor: Bingo. Hold it for me.
- [climbs up to join Eve T]
- Otis: How're we gonna get over that wall?
- Lex Luthor: How'd we get in here?
- Otis: We flew in, doncha remember?
- Lex Luthor: That's how we're gonna get out.
- General Zod: Did you think we would give up our advantage? No! The son of Jor-El will be my slave, forever. If not, the millions of Earthlings you protect shall pay for your defiance... beginning with this one.
- [indicates Lois]
- General Zod: I sense the presence of Jor-El here. Destroy this place.
- Lex Luthor: Hi, guys. Sorry I'm late.
- General Zod: We have no more use for this one. Kill him.
- Lex Luthor: Me? Lex Luthor? General... I helped you through the tough times, remember? You came to me with nothing, and I gave you Superman!
- General Zod: Silence!
- Lex Luthor: Well, look -
- [Non shoves Luthor from behind]
- Lex Luthor: Watch it, don't touch me!
- [to Superman]
- Lex Luthor: Guy's a clod... Promises were made, gifts exchanged. I gotta hand it to you, you know... You always told the truth. A guy always knew where he stood with you. You kept everything pure and simple. I've always respected you for that.
- Superman: ...I guess there's some good in you after all, Lex Luthor.
- Lex Luthor: Oh, yeah... I'm full of good. I just don't get to use it very often.
- Superman: [whispering] All right, I guess we'll have to take that chance... We need to get them all into this molecule chamber; it takes away their powers, see, and turns them into ordinary human beings. Now, if you can...
- [Zod approaches]
- Lex Luthor: Don't go in there, General; that's a molecule chamber. It makes people like you into... people like me.
- General Zod: You've done well, Lex Luthor.
- [he motions to Ursa, who prepares to break Lois's neck]
- Lex Luthor: General, the crystal there activates the mechanism.
- [Zod motions for the Man of Steel to enter the chamber]
- Lois Lane: [choking] No... Please, Superman, don't!
- Superman: ALL RIGHT! Leave her alone, Zod!... You win.
- General Zod: Lex Luthor, ruler of Australia, activate the machine.
- [Non grabs Luthor and flies him up to the control panel]
- Lex Luthor: Thank you.
- [takes a crystal]
- Lex Luthor: With your permission.
- General Zod: Of course.
- [Lois cries as Superman enters the chamber and the red lights turn on]
- General Zod: [Superman exits the chamber] And now, finally...
- [motions for the Man of Steel to kneel before him, which Superman does]
- General Zod: ... Take my hand, and swear eternal loyalty to Zod.
- [Superman grips Zod's hand... and crushes it! As Zod groans in agony, the Man of Steel lifts him off the ground and throws the villain across the chamber into a wall. Zod slides into a chasm below. Then Non tries to fly at Superman, but finds himself unable to do so; he, too, falls into the chasm below]
- Lex Luthor: He switched it, did it to them! That's whey the lights were on out here... while he was safe in there!
- [Superman nods and gives Luthor a "You guessed it" sign]
- Lois Lane: You know something? You're a real pain in the neck!
- [Lois punches Ursa into the chasm below]
- Superman: [Lois goes to Superman, who hugs her] Are you all right?
- [she nods]
- Superman: ... I knew you'd double-cross me, Luthor. A lying weasel like you couldn't resist the chance.
- Lex Luthor: Me, are you kidding? Hey, I was with you all the time! That was beautiful! Did you see the way they fell into our trap? Ha ha!
- Superman: Too late, Luthor! Too late.
- Lex Luthor: Look, Superman, I got a proposition for you. Now, don't stop me until you've heard this, because... I know I owe you one, but we're in the North Pole, right? Let's wipe the slate clean. If you give me a ride back, I promise I'll turn over a new leaf - a whole forest, while I'm at it! How's this sound to you: we'll say you were killed in the battle, you lie low at my place for a few months, and then we'll make a name for you as a professional boxer. I can see it now: The Smallville Strongboy. No, better yet: the Metropolis Masher! I ask you, is that a plan or is that a plan!
- Eve Teschmacher: Oh, you must be wrong, Lex. This couldn't be his home way up here.
- Lex Luthor: "Wrong, Lex". Miss Teschmacher, those are two words we do not use in the same sentence.
- Eve Teschmacher: Well, it's funny there's no front door.
- Lex Luthor: Miss Teschmacher, "funny" is a person trying to smile without any teeth.
- General Zod: [to Superman] Your powers are identical to mine. But we are three. We could tear you limb from limb.
- Lex Luthor: Do it, Your Grace. Just grab a leg and just make a wish.
- Lex Luthor: This is how it ends for the greatest criminal mind of our time. Not with a whimper, not with a bang. How do they choose to reward Lex Luthor... the greatest genius in this worid? Do they give him glory or treasure? What, matter of fact, do they give him?
- Prison Warden: Life plus 25, Luthor. Get to work.