Justice League, Season Two

[The Justice League is attacking the White House, with Luthor in the Oval Office]

Lex Luthor:
[to himself] They couldn't see the beauty! No imagination! They'd rather fight!

[Superman bursts into the office]

Superman:
Even this wasn't enough for you, was it? You had to have it all. Now we're on the brink of a war that could destroy the whole planet!

Lex Luthor:
... Could've been so perfect... paradise...

Superman:
And I let it get this far because of the law. And the will of the people.

Lex Luthor:
[laughing] The people?! This is all their fault! And they're gonna burn for it! Burn!

Superman:
You're nothing but a mad dog now, aren't you?

Lex Luthor:
Ooh, a threat! But this old dog still has a few teeth!

[Pulls out a drawer with a control box, and poises his finger above a red button. There is a pause.]

Superman:
There are at least six different ways I can stop you right now.

Lex Luthor:
But they all involve deadly force, don't they? And you don't do that. [Superman is silent] No. You need me. You wouldn't be much of a hero without a villain, and you do love being a hero, don't you? The cheering children, the swooning women - you love it so much, it's made you my most reliable accomplice!

Superman:
Accomplice?! What're you--

Lex Luthor:
You could have crushed me any time you wanted. And it wasn't the law or the will of the people that stopped you - it was your ego. Being a hero was too important to you. You're as much responsible for this as I am! So go ahead, fix it somehow. Put me on trial, lock me up - but I'll beat it. And then we'll start the whole thing all over again.

Superman:
... I did love being a hero. But if this is where it leads... I'm done with it.

[Superman's eyes begin to glow]