There were a lot of issues with Zack Snyder’s Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice and one of the things people most commented on was Jesse Eisenberg’s portrayal of iconic bad guy Lex Luthor. Like many of Snyder’s choices with that film, people were left confused and a bit peeved at Eisenberg. Eisenberg’s take on the character was certainly novel, it was definitely different. But it seemed to rub people the wrong way.
Well, Eisenberg apparently had a great time doing it. Speaking with ComicBook.com, the Oscar nominee seemed downright jazzed at the thought of playing Lex Luthor again. Here’s his quote on the idea:
“I would very much like to because it’s such a cool character. Playing a villain in a superhero movie is the fun part. The good guys are fine, but the villains are the fun part because they get to be a little bit more flamboyant. Of course, the hero gets to, you know, survive. But, the villain has all the funny lines. I don’t know about the first part, but the second part is something that I could definitely be involved in, sure.”
Okay, let’s make one thing clear right now: Jesse Eisenberg will never play Lex Luthor again…not unless he does it as some joke on SNL or something. It just isn’t happening. Warner Bros is trying to distance itself from Zack Snyder’s take on their heroes and anything related to it. They’ve greatly shifted gears with Batman, they’ve put Superman on the back burner and they’ve completely nixed any chance at a Cyborg film. Yes, Aquaman 2, Wonder Woman 1984 and The Flash (supposedly) are happening but those are the exceptions. They’re the survivors of the Zack Snyder DCEU experiment. The idea that they’d revive Eisenberg as Luthor, a move that many people didn’t like in the first place, is just bonkers. It isn’t happening.
At the same time, I love his enthusiasm! I thought it was inspired casting and ultimately an interesting approach to the character. It just didn’t pan out the way they planned. It came across as downright silly in the end and I really couldn’t see a franchise being built around him as the ultimate nemesis. Still, it was a nice attempt at something new.
I do hope that we get another proper on-screen representation of Lex Luthor at some point in the future. He’s a wonderful character and obviously a huge part of the Superman mythology. So hopefully when Warner Bros decides to once again fire up the Superman series, Luthor is a part of it. But there’s no way in the world Jessie Eisenberg will be.