Stephen Colbert gets raw with ‘supervillain’ Tesla founder Elon Musk

Stephen Colbert says Elon Musk wants to bring the future to you. But first “The Late Show� host and the electric-car pioneer had to get over an awkward encounter in the present.

Musk, the inscrutable South African-born billionaire behind Tesla and SpaceX, visited Colbert’s second “Late Show� episode on CBS Wednesday, after 6.6 million viewers turned up for Tuesday’s premiere.

“I thought Scarlett Johansson was glamorous,� Colbert said after greeting Musk onstage. (Johansson had been Colbert’s first guest Wednesday.) “You’re wearing a tuxedo jacket just as casual wear.�

Referring to Musk’s various business ventures, Colbert wondered, “Are you sincerely trying to save the world?�

“I’m trying to do good things, yeah,� Musk replied matter-of-factly.

But he’s a billionaire too, Colbert said. Didn’t that make him, as the host put it, either “a superhero or a supervillain�?

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“I’m trying to do useful things,� Musk repeated.

Things got a little testy when Colbert referred to Musk as “one of the CEOs� of SpaceX, a space transport company. Musk said he was the one and only CEO.

“I’m sorry,� Colbert said, as the studio audience laughed nervously. “Struck a raw nerve.�

Musk went on to correct Colbert after the host said that a SpaceX rocket would land on a “barge.� It was in fact a ship, Musk said; ships have engines and barges don’t.

“Everything I say seems to be insulting you this evening,� Colbert observed, a comment that drew little reaction from Musk. (No hard feelings, apparently: During a commercial break after their talk, Colbert reportedly told the audience that Musk should run for president.)

Maybe Musk’s mind is on Mars. The billionaire said Mars is a “fixer-upper of a planet� that could be made Earth-like by warming it up. Unfortunately, in his view that would entail either exploding thermonuclear bombs on its poles -- which Colbert said sounded very supervillain-y -- or polluting the Martian atmosphere with greenhouse gases.

But the hard-to-faze Musk did reveal a sense of humor at one point. Colbert showed video of a Tesla contraption that automatically recharged an electric car with a robotic arm that bobbed and weaved like a cobra before finally landing on its target.

“For the prototype at least,� Musk said drily, “I would recommend not dropping anything when you’re near it.�

Did you catch Colbert’s second show? What did you think?

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