Today is the day you can point to when the Internet blew up. We were close to it when they announced Ben Affleck as Batman in the upcoming Batman vs. Superman, but the surprise casting of Jessie Eisenberg as Lex Luthor is probably going to destroy everything. Deadline has the press release in which the casting is announced along with Jeremy Irons playing Bruce Wayne’s dutiful butler Alfred.
I can live with Irons as Alfred. He’s old and looks good in a tux so those boxes are checked.
Eisenberg as Luthor is a bit harder to swallow. This is mostly because of his age, which is far younger than I ever pictured Luthor being. In fact the casting seems entirely out of left field, but if you think about it a bit it maybe could work. Eisenberg can definitely pull of megalomaniac as we saw in The Social Network, and he’s almost always cast as a self centered genius thanks to that role. He’s also a really great actor.
Still, he’s so much younger than Luthor and we haven’t really seen him take on a role as big and bombastic as Luthor should be. It’s hard to wrap my mind fully around it, though I’m not entirely against it. It will definitely be interesting to see what direction they’re taking the character after this news. One does wonder why they didn’t force Brian Cranston to take the role at gun point, though.
[via Deadline]Full Press Release
BURBANK, CA, January 31, 2014 – Warner Bros. Pictures announced today that Jesse Eisenberg has been set to star as Lex Luthor and Jeremy Irons will play Alfred in the upcoming Zack Snyder untitled Superman/Batman film. The dual announcement was made today by Greg Silverman, President, Creative Development and Worldwide Production, and Sue Kroll, President, Worldwide Marketing and International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures.
Snyder stated, “Lex Luthor is often considered the most notorious of Superman’s rivals, his unsavory reputation preceding him since 1940. What’s great about Lex is that he exists beyond the confines of the stereotypical nefarious villain. He’s a complicated and sophisticated character whose intellect, wealth and prominence position him as one of the few mortals able to challenge the incredible might of Superman. Having Jesse in the role allows us to explore that interesting dynamic, and also take the character in some new and unexpected directions.”
The director added, “As everyone knows, Alfred is Bruce Wayne’s most trusted friend, ally and mentor, a noble guardian and father figure. He is an absolutely critical element in the intricate infrastructure that allows Bruce Wayne to transform himself into Batman. It is an honor to have such an amazingly seasoned and gifted actor as Jeremy taking on the important role of the man who mentors and guides the guarded and nearly impervious façade that encapsulates Bruce Wayne.”
Snyder’s film stars Henry Cavill, reprising his role as Superman/Clark Kent, Ben Affleck as Batman/Bruce Wayne, and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince. The film also reunites “Man of Steel” stars Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne and Diane Lane.
The new film is currently being written by Chris Terrio, from a screenplay by David S. Goyer. Charles Roven and Deborah Snyder are producing, with Benjamin Melniker, Michael E. Uslan, Wesley Coller, David S. Goyer and Geoff Johns serving as executive producers.
The film is set to open worldwide on May 6, 2016, and is based on Superman characters created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster, Batman characters created by Bob Kane, and Wonder Woman created by William Moulton Marston, appearing in comic books published by DC Entertainment.
