If you do not already know, there is a challenge on Vero and Twitter for fans of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice to post the Easter eggs, hidden references, and interesting insights of the film they may have. Once the challenge ends on April 22nd, Zack Snyder will choose the three best posts to feature on Vero. Since my post was much too long to fit onto Vero or Twitter, I decided the best place to share my favorite allusion from BvS was here on Cinema Cure. My BvS reference is simple, yet complex: the character of Lex Luthor is an allegory to Satan from John Milton’s epic poem, Paradise Lost.

We all know the painting behind Lex is literally named “Paradise Lost,” but what I find equally as interesting is the items on the table behind him. As well-documented on Vero, the horse is symbolic for death and is prevalent in the film often. The two bigger statues, for me, reference the two devils at the gates of Hell (or Tartarus as it’s referred to in the poem) – which, oddly enough, are Satan’s children.

The second set of comparative photos draw the parallel between Lex and Superman, and Satan and God. In Paradise Lost, Satan is kicked out of Heaven and down into a Hell by his father, God. The rooftop scene in BvS exemplifies this idea. We see Lex physically below Superman – our worldly angel. Lex also brings up his father issues quite a bit, but none more important than this scene and the scene with Senator Finch involving the painting.

During the rooftop scene, he says to Superman: “God is tribal; God takes sides. No man in the sky intervened when I was a little boy to deliver me from Daddy’s fists and abominations. No, I learned way back: if God is all-powerful, he cannot be all-good; and if he is all-good, then he cannot be all-powerful.” He then continues his comparison of God to Superman: “They need to see the fraud you are.” Milton’s Satan is written from a much more sympathetic point-of-view than normally associated with the Satan / Lucifer in Christianity and Lex is no different. He views the worshipped as the true evil.

As for the scene with Senator Finch, there are two lines of dialogue in which Lex refers to his father. The first happens right away as he says: “Maybe one day Dad will come back if I keep everything the same.” We see his cynicism bubbling to the surface as he continues by adding: “That is silly – the magical thinking of orphan boys.” The orphan line is how Lex feels being abandoned by his father. The second line of dialogue occurs at the end of the scene: “You don’t think Dad would mind if I change just one thing in this room? ‘Cause that should be upside down,” referring to the “Paradise Lost” painting. “We know better now, don’t we? Devils don’t come from Hell beneath us: they come from the sky.” From Lex’s perspective, that “devil” is Superman since he came down to Earth from the sky and is all-powerful, which links the two scenes together.

The final two comparative photos further tie Lex with Milton’s Satan. Just before Lex meets Superman on the roof of LexCorp, he is up there with Lois Lane. That scene is an allusion to a major plot point in Paradise Lost involving Satan and Eve. As most know, the particular moment from the poem is the fall of man. Satan has taken up the shape of a snake and is the reason for Eve’s fall from grace. The rooftop scene between Lex and Lois directly parallels that moment. Lex embodies the snake. He circles her just as a snake would do to curl around its prey. When he is behind her, he almost looks like he is hissing in her ear and it is an unsettling moment. Lex then caps off the scene by pushing her off the edge, which sees her literally free-falling to Earth – just as Satan did to Eve in Paradise Lost, although not physically. The connection is further cemented when Superman shows up to save her and confronts Lex. It ties together with Paradise Lost because, in the poem, Adam’s love for Eve leads him to eat the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge after he learns of her fall. Superman does the same thing conceptually in the film by quickly coming to Lois’ aid and then feeling forced to fight another hero, Batman, by Lex. Did you also happen to catch Lex’s reference to it? He sneaks it into a small monologue, saying, “Ripe fruit his hate,” to Superman on the roof.

In the ending of Paradise Lost, Satan is punished by the “good” angels in Hell and is turned back into a snake, having no limbs. Lex suffers a similar fate in the end of BvS. He is taken into custody, confined in prison under heavy surveillance, and loses his hair (snakes do not really have visible hair either, obviously). In essence, Lex suffers the same kind of fate that Satan does at the end of Paradise Lost.

Even if this does not officially count towards the #BvSReference challenge, it is still something I find fascinating about the incredibly rich, layered approach to the film and wish to share with all of you. Chris Terrio and Zack Snyder made a film that will be kept in discussion for years to come – as it has already – and hopefully it can continue to grow in popularity as time goes on and, ultimately, become a cult classic.

Catch me on twitter @DarynKirscht16