When Jerry Siegal and Joe Schuster created the character of Superman, they wanted to arrange a villain for Superman, a main villain for Superman, who was so powerful that he would never, ever be in danger.. they chose his name very carefully... “Lex” may mean “word” “lexicon”.. or perhaps.. “lex” means “law”.... they chose Martin Luther's last name.. spelt with an “o”.. “Lex Luthor” may very well have meant “The Law of Luthor” or “The Word of Luthor”....