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In Batman vs Superman Lex Luthor apparently wants to kill Superman. Initially his reasoning appears to be that the Superman is too dangerous and could turn on humans, however later he creates a creature that he hopes is even more powerful (would need to be in order to kill Superman) and is already not too fond of humanity.

So what was his actual reason for wanting Superman dead, even if it came at the expense of humans as a whole?

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    I am not 100% sure since I last saw it in the movies, but I think he was under the illusion he would be able to control Doomsday, wasn't he?
    – LeonX
    Commented Jul 25, 2017 at 19:50
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    He has a god complex, he is always the smartest, richest and most powerful man in the room. Superman is arguably a God, and otherwise undermines his ego. That's Lex Luthor's classic motivation to be the villain to Superman's story. Toppling him is not only removing that challenge, but is even a test that proves even further and affirms even more that he is Godlike. Commented Jul 25, 2017 at 19:50
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    I think you may be a little confused with your first statement, Batman wants Superman dead because he is too dangerous and could turn on humans. Later, superman fails to kill batman as Lex comanded, so Lex creates Doomsday to kill Superman as revenge. Commented Jul 25, 2017 at 19:51
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    @GustavoGabriel You're confused. You contradict yourself in your own comment. Commented Jul 25, 2017 at 19:53
  • @GhotiandChips editted to make a little more clear... Commented Jul 25, 2017 at 19:57

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The reason Lex Luthor wants to kill Superman will always be the same. He does not trust an alien to protect human kind. (Xenophobic much?) He thinks humans should be able to do that themselves and he wants to be the one to do it.

Hope this answer from Quora clarifies even more this part as he elaborates it a lot. Although this very strongly related to the comics, a huge part of it also works for the movie.


Now, for why he created Doomsday... Well, with some research, I found out that not even Jesse Eisenberg is really sure why this happened, although he thinks it made sense for the character.

In his own words:

"I think Lex becomes increasingly unhinged throughout the movie. I also think he’s a guy who has 40 back-up plans and so when one thing doesn’t work out he has another and if that doesn’t work out he has another, which is why I think he never feels that threatened by Superman and Batman because he knows he always has the leverage and his final act, in my opinion; and this is now thinking back a year-and-a-half – was this kind of like last-ditch effort to leave it all on the table." - Jesse Eisenberg, to IGN as seen in Cinema Blend

So according to this, basically what he believes is that Lex Luthor as a master planner, probably had a contingency backup plan behind Doomsday's creation. It could be true, since he created him from his own blood. Maybe it just wasn't clarified in the movie.

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    That's what I find confusing, if he didn't trust super powered aliens he probably shouldn't be making super powered aliens. I may have missed it, but I didn't remember seeing anything that implied that Lex controlled Doomsday, and I did watch the director's cut.
    – Maxim
    Commented Jul 25, 2017 at 21:57
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    @Maxim Yeah. I didn't assure that he did control Doomsday. I'm just saying that maybe he had a back-up plan. At least that is what Jesse Eisenberg thought.
    – LeonX
    Commented Jul 26, 2017 at 10:53
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    He purposely let Batman steal many pounds of Kryptonite but he probably didn't let it all go. He might have some left to contain Doomsday. I guess ? Commented Jul 26, 2017 at 15:58
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    And am I the only one who finds it funny that he's named Jesse (H)Einsenberg ? Commented Jul 26, 2017 at 15:59

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