Good deeds Superman vs. bad deeds Lex Luthor is the latest movie meme sweeping social media
Superman’s kind smile and Lex Luthor’s evil glare are taking over X in a new wave of viral memes.
The Superman Good Deeds, Lex Luthor Bad Deeds meme trend took off shortly after the release of Superman (2025), directed by James Gunn and starring David Corenswet and Nicholas Hoult.
Folks on X began pairing stills of Corenswet’s Superman with wholesome captions about doing good in the world, while others took the opposite approach with Lex Luthor, highlighting petty or malicious behavior.
Superman spreads kindness, Lex Luthor does the opposite
Released on July 11, 2025, Superman quickly inspired all kinds of internet content, from memes to people posting about how the film is the epitome of hopecore. In particular, one serene image of Superman lying down and smiling, taken from the movie’s ending scene, became the face of the "good deeds" trend. Fans paired it with captions about everyday acts of kindness, like holding the door open for a stranger or helping neighbors.
Meanwhile, a disdainful, scowling image of Hoult’s Lex Luthor in an office setting became the standard image for the meme's evil twin: the "bad deeds" meme.
The earliest known post in this format came from X user @frickyuu on July 12. They captioned Superman’s image with, "On the way home from Superman I stopped my car to let a squirrel cross the road." That wholesome moment earned over 4.8 million views and 147K likes in just three days.
However, the format didn’t stay sweet for long. Just two days later, @RawbertBeef flipped the script. Using the Lex Luthor GIF, they wrote, "Hit a squirrel with my car today," earning over 966.7K views and 44K likes. The contrast between the two characters became the meme’s driving force.
@jaydenscomics followed up on the back and forth of these two memes with their own squirrely tweet.
Viral meme examples
From there, variations exploded. On July 14, X user @CQuill97 posted the Superman image with the caption, "Helped my neighbour carry her groceries today," which racked up over 92,000 likes.
That same day, @dyingscribe used the Luthor image with a darkly funny twist. "Watched my neighbor trip and spill her groceries today," they tweeted, earning over 19,000 likes.
The format even made room for more ironic or self-deprecating takes. X user @CBMovieFan shared the Superman version. They wrote, "Repeated someone else's joke in class and got a bigger laugh." This tweet pulled in over 18.8 million views and over 12K likes.
@Superherotalk18 took their idea and ran with it, however, by quote-retweeting their post with the exact same image and caption. This meta post became the most viral of the bunch, with over 20.6 million views and 814K likes.
User @CBMovieFan responded to their post with a link to the QRT and a Lex Luthor screaming GIF.
@BatSource1 followed up on @CBMovieFan's original tweet with the Lex Luthor GIF meme. They wrote, "Keep repeating them, maybe one day people will laugh at something you actually said."
From helping friends with homework to lying about assignments, no one is safe from this tongue-in-cheek Superman vs. Lex Luthor meme.
The internet is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here to get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.
Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.
The post Good deeds Superman vs. bad deeds Lex Luthor is the latest movie meme sweeping social media appeared first on The Daily Dot.