DC fans point out a huge plot hole in James Gunn’s Superman, suggesting villain Lex Luthor is not as smart as he seems

Weeks after Superman hit screens, one fan has spotted a huge plot hole in the James Gunn movie, and it looks like the movie could have turned out a whole lot differently if Nicholas Hoult’s villain Lex Luthor had paid more attention.

Whilst visiting Superman’s hidden icy hideout in Antarctica, Luthor instructs The Engineer to hack Superman’s database and retrieve the lost half of his Kryptonian parents' message. Once he finds out that Kara and Jor-El had nefarious intentions for their son, Luthor uses it to turn the public against the hero. However, the villain misses a huge chunk of information that could have led to him unmasking Superman.

As pointed out by Twitter user Seba, The Engineer could have instead found the home video of Clark Kent’s adoptive parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent, that we see at the end of the movie. "I just realized she hacked the Fortress of Solitude but just missed the whole home video of Clark's upbringing," said the fan.

Whilst the villain has Superman (David Corenswet) captive, we find out that Luthor doesn't know anything about where Superman was raised or who he really is. In fact, the villain even threatens to kill Superman’s buddy, Clark Kent (which is impossible as Superman is Kent). With the home video, Luthor could have tracked Kent’s Earth parents down and used them as bait, just as he uses the hero’s friend Malik Ali.

This wouldn't be out of the ordinary for Superman, as in Zack Snyder’s DCEU movie, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Jessie Eisenberg’s Luthor kidnaps Martha Kent in order to force Superman (Henry Cavill) to fight Batman. However, this type of storyline may have been a little dark for Gunn’s Superman, which kicks off the movie portion of DCU: Gods and Monsters.

However, another fan pointed out a flaw in the theory, writing, "It obviously hadn't been uploaded yet. That's kinda the point of the movie. Superman replaced the footage of his Kryptonian parents with his Earth parents because they were morally good people who he loved more."

There is no way of really knowing if Luthor could have gotten his hands on Superman’s Earth parents’ identities via The Fortress of Solitude. But it is pretty impressive that the hero was able to keep it a secret from the supergenius for such a long time.

Superman is out in cinemas now. For more, read our Superman review, check out our guides on Superman ending explained and Superman Easter eggs, and keep up with the upcoming DC movies that are currently in the works.