November 24, 2025<\/a>
<\/p>\nIt was a great moment between an actor and his audience, but… I have to succumb to my inner primitive nerd, and say that, as much as I enjoyed seeing Hoult have fun with fans, it also reminded me of how much the command plot device bothered\u00a0me. Let me get this out of the way before I start complaining: I know Superman and the DCU as a whole are embracing the far-fetched sci-fi nature of comics of old. That’s well understood, and I don’t just like that. I love it. Yet, the way this particular plot point was handled didn’t sit right with me.<\/p>\n
My main issue comes from the fact that the idea of Luthor controlling Ultraman was somewhat grounded\u00a0in reality. Luthor created a clone and trained him to obey certain coded orders. It made sense.\u00a0In the opening minutes of the movie, as Superman fights the Hammer of Boravia, it’s explained that Lex spent years studying the hero\u00a0to be able to create suitable countermeasures for him in a fight. However, my suspension of disbelief is not that great\u00a0to\u00a0where I can buy that Lex, who, despite having a way-above-average intelligence, still obeys the laws of regular human reflexes, could keep up with the Man of Steel’s reaction time.<\/p>\n
It’s something that’s been regurgitated mutliple times, but it’s worth mentioning nonetheless. Think about it: Lex has to give out\u00a0the\u00a0command, his henchpeople then have to acknowledge it and type it in. Then, the\u00a0computer needs to process it, Ultraman has to understand it, and then he can carry out the command. There are a good four steps that need\u00a0to\u00a0be trimmed\u00a0from that before Lex’s method of stealing Clark Kent’s lunch money is actually viable. Given all the processing points in one command, it really shouldn’t matter how much Lex has studied Clark, Ultraman’s\u00a0moves\u00a0should be way too slow to work on Superman.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Here, try something out with me. Ready? Blink. Did you do it? Great. Superman can react that\u00a0fast. This isn’t about\u00a0Lex knowing how Superman moves. That’s totally possible, and it’s believable for Luthor\u00a0to sit in his office, incessantly consuming videos of Superman to learn\u00a0his every movie. The issue is that their brains work at completely different speeds.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now, you might think, “Well, he’s smart, so he probably thinks five steps ahead.” The movie clearly showed him shouting out the commands to Ultraman in real time. What made\u00a0this more bothersome to me is the fact that, when Lex became\u00a0unable to control Ultraman, the clone\u00a0was\u00a0capable of holding his own against Clark. Yes, he lost\u00a0eventually, but he had little issue\u00a0going against his adversary without Lex sending out orders.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With all of that said, does my very minor grievance\u00a0matter in the grand scheme of things? No. Does it ruin Superman to the point of making it unwatchable? No, not\u00a0at all. This, my wonderful comic book consumers, was just a detail that raced into my mind as I saw Hoult recreating the scene in question.\u00a0Let’s be clear: This is a fun discussion on a movie, and I feel thankful that we have wonderful projects like Superman, The Fantastic Four and Thunderbolts*\u00a0to get both amazed and frustrated by, and discuss until we get tired.<\/p>\n
It’s part of the fun of being a geek way too involved in comic book media. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go back to watch Superman again. It’s only been around 100 rewatches. That’s fairly okay… right?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lex Luthor and Superman will return in Man of Tomorrow, scheduled for release on July 9, 2027.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Did you enjoy Nicholas Hoult’s interaction with his fans? What did you think about Luthor’s Ultraman commands? Drop your thoughts in the comments!<\/p>\n