Warning! Contains spoilers for Superman #4!A stunning revelation has changed Superman lore forever as the hero discovers who protected Metropolis before he did: Lex Luthor. Superman finds out the secret past of his most iconic villain, and it's turning his entire world upside down.

In Superman #4 by Joshua Williamson, Jamal Campbell, and Nick Dragotta, Superman visits Lex Luthor in prison. Clark asks Lex what he knows about Dr. Pharm and Graft, two villains that recently experimented on Parasite and made him powerful enough to plunge Metropolis into complete darkness. Lex informs Superman that his history with the shadowy mad scientists goes all the way back to when Lex first came to Metropolis in his teenage years.

While in Metropolis, Lex began investigating the disappearances of the city's homeless, a mystery that led him straight to Dr. Pharm and Graft. Catching them in the act of kidnapping, the younger Lex takes on the mad scientists and even wears a more heroic prototype of his war suit. Lex claims the encounter with the evil duo was only the first of "many such battles". Lex even goes so far as to claim that he was Metropolis' hero years before Superman, a claim that Clark finds highly dubious.

Lex Luthor Was Metropolis' Hero Years Before Superman

Since he killed Superman's ally, Manchester Black, Lex Luthor has been imprisoned on Stryker's Island. But despite his captivity, Lex has been insisting that he wants to help Superman better defend Metropolis. He gave the hero the keys to Lex's kingdom and turned LexCorp into SuperCorp. And Clark's nemesis did assist when an upgraded Parasite was draining everything in sight. Superman decided to take a gamble on Lex and has been working with his oldest enemy, which is good as Dr. Pharm and Graft continue to make moves against the two of them.

Now, is it possible that Lex is lying about being a hero? With Luthor, there's always a chance, but there's evidence that he's not lying. Superman #1 showed a brief glimpse of a newspaper article in Dr. Pharm and Graft's base that refers to Lex as a hero. The end of Superman #3 also saw Graft express a desire to get revenge on Lex, claiming he had been "wronged" by Luthor. At the very least, the sinister duo are indeed enemies of Lex, but what does it mean for Superman if Luthor was a hero to Metropolis?

Has Superman Actually Been Wrong About Lex This Whole Time?

Lex has always said he's out to make the world better, and it's always been written off as his posturing. But if he was a hero, why did he stop? Did he feel inadequate as a hero after a man with powers emerged to protect Metropolis? Is the real reason Lex has held a grudge against Superman that he felt he had been replaced by the Man of Steel? This revelation puts the entire history of Lex Luthor into question and potentially changes the entire dynamic between him and Superman.

Superman #4 is available now from DC Comics.