The DC Extended Universe is known for its twists, both on and off the screen. Warner Bros. recently made some bold swings when scrapping the Batgirl movie altogether, despite it already being filmed for a reported $70- 90 million budget. Amid these DC shakeups, would Jesse Eisenberg ever play Lex Luthor again on the big screen?
When the DCEU was still being formed, Zack Snyder cast Jesse Eisenberg to play Lex Luthor in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. He was the main antagonist of that big crossover film, before making a brief appearance in Justice League. According to Deadline, Eisenberg was asked about possibly putting the bald cap back on for another appearance while appearing at the 28th Sarajevo Film Festival. He responded honestly, saying:
I’d be shocked if I wound up in a DC movie, but it would be a pleasant shock. Listen, I’m not a comic book fan. To me, it was not playing a role that I’d envisioned since childhood. To me, it was a chance to play this great character that this great writer wrote, and I loved doing that. So, to play it is a joy, and to not play it isn’t something that I’m going to be ashamed to tell my kids about, because that is not an important genre in my life, even though I loved doing that movie.
Well, there you have it. It looks like while Jesse Eisenberg would be willing to play Lex Luthor again in the DC Extended Universe, he doesn’t think that’s going to be happening. It sounds like he hasn’t had much contact with the powers that be at DC since appearing in his Justice League cameo. After all, Zack Snyder’s planned sequels were scrapped after the theatrical cut’s poor box office and critical performance.
Jesse Eisenberg’s comments make a great deal of sense for those of us following Warner Bros.’ ever-changing strategy for the DCEU. His role as Lex Luthor was ultimately a vehicle for Zack Snyder’s five-film vision for the shared universe. So once that vision was no longer directing the shared universe, there hasn’t been a reason to bring back Eisenberg’s villain. Or even Henry Cavill’s Superman, for that matter. Although fans are still holding out hope for a Man of Steel sequel.
While Jesse Eisenberg doesn’t think that he’ll be playing Lex Luthor again on the big screen, would he still be willing to do another superhero movie? That very question was also asked of the Zombieland actor, who offered some good news to hardcore fans of the genre. Eisenberg said,
Yeah. Because as an actor, you do all kinds of different things, and sometimes great roles show up in really commercial things and sometimes terrible roles show up in independent films.
Touche. The size of a movie’s production is no way to judge its merit, and as such Jesse Eisenberg isn’t in the habit of ruling out entire genres of the film industry. Although this begs the question: what comic book character should he jump into in either the MCU or beyond? There’s a seemingly endless pool of choices.
Jesse Eisenberg has a number of exciting projects coming up, including a movie Manodrome and an upcoming miniseries Fleishman is in Trouble. In the meantime, check out the 2022 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.
