I never felt Lex needed to be scary... Gene Wilder... I never really look at and feel fear... 

I mean I always felt Lex needed to look like someone you trust at first. And you wouldn't really be scare of him until it came to corporate take overs or something along those lines. I just felt he needed to be the intellectual type. the type that's just like... Yeah I don't need to get my hands dirty to deal with you. He'll belittle you, make you look like nothing and ruin your life all the while making himself out to be the hero of city of Metropolis until/unless he's exposed for the tyranical bastard he really is. 

Honestly like I said. My personal favorite incarnation of the character was Michael Rosenbaum. From Smallville.