Lex Luthor is a major supporting character within the Superman mythos and has appeared in many of Superman's adaptations into other media. Traditionally, he is depicted as an evil scientific genius. Since the mid-1980s, he has often been portrayed as a wealthy business tycoon in control of (or heir to) a major conglomerate based in the city of Metropolis. His depiction in the Superman feature films are rather different- as that of an incredibly vain criminal interested in real estate development.