Jesse Eisenberg talks Lex Luthor; was originally up for different BvS role

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

In just a few short months, Batman (Ben Affleck) and Superman (Henry Cavill) will throw down on the big-screen in one of the most anticipated movies of the year. Even with that super-heroic showdown, BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE won't arrive without a few iconic villains, including Superman's customary foe, Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg). We've already seen several great actors tackle the role of Luthor but Jesse Eisenberg spoke with The LA Times and revealed that he'll be bringing us something different with his portrayal.

When you're doing a movie like this and playing a character that's already been played, the further away it is from those previous incarnations the better, because chances are, especially with a guy like Gene Hackman or Kevin Spacey, you're not going to get favorably compared.

Jesse Eisenberg went on to discuss what drew him to the role of Luthor and how the character really views the Man of Steel.

[Luthor] has a back story that's tragic and an emotional inner life that's authentic. That's in the movie. It was my interest in playing the character with a real emotional core, and this writer, Chris Terrio's interest in creating a character that seemed viable in reality. To call him self-aggrandizing is to say that the Titanic was a sailboat, he is a narcissist of the first order but complicated in that way as well in that he is terribly troubled and competitive and vengeful. He looks at Superman not as somebody to destroy but as genuine threat to humanity.

I know that there are a few BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE fans out there who are still questioning whether Jesse Eisenberg was the correct choice for Lex Luthor, but I'm quite interested to see what he does with the role, especially if he really does give us something which stands apart from what Gene Hackman and Kevin Spacey did. One notable change with the character which we can already see is that Eisenberg's Luthor isn't quite as follicularly challenged as his predecessors, at least at first. Jesse Eisenberg hinted that we'll see that transition in the film, saying "when you see the movie, you'll see. It's the greatest scene that I've ever gotten to take part in — it accounts for the change in hair." Director Zack Snyder always wanted Eisenberg to be a part of the film, but he originally approached the actor with another part. Eisenberg wouldn't say what the role was, only that it "was the exact opposite of Lex Luthor." Jimmy Olsen perhaps? Eisenberg turned the role down so Snyder came back with something "cooler."

BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE hits theaters on March 25, 2016.