Originally published February 13, 2014. Updated April 11, 2018.
Last month, it was announced that Jesse Eisenberg had secured the role of Lex Luthor in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel sequel Batman vs. Superman, and now long-time Lex voice actor Clancy Brown has shared his thoughts on Eisenberg’s casting during an interview with Comic Book Resources to promote his latest movie Sparks:
“I think Jesse Eisenberg is a great choice. I think he’s a really sharp choice, and I know a lot of people don’t agree with that, but I think he could be spectacular. I liked [Michael] Rosebaum’s take on it, but that was kind of a WB show. But I just love the idea that the Facebook guy is Lex Luthor. That’s just perfect.
“He’s a pretty specific actor. He’s not a chameleon like [Gene] Hackman or [Kevin] Spacey. He has a similar smugness the way that Spacey does — that highly-intelligent, super-smug, almost effeminate kind of smugness about him — but he’s way more current. I just watched Now You See Me, which I thought he was terrific in. He has a really specific persona engrained that is super-smart. You don’t necessarily like him, but you don’t dislike him. You don’t necessarily think he’s a good, fun guy — you see him as a real quirky, weird dude. You don’t completely trust him, although he’s kind of adorable in his nerdy way.
“I think Lex has that. Lex is attractive in all the things that shouldn’t be attractive — or aren’t traditionally attractive in comic books — his intelligence and his ambition and his ego and all the rest of that. Jesse carries that really well. Plus, I hear he’s a really nice guy, which helps. It’s why I think it shines through, why his attractiveness shines through, because deep down he’s a good guy. But he also has this kind of intellectual persona that’s unsettling. It’s almost reptilian, which is something I think Lex carries with him.“
Batman vs. Superman is set for release on May 6th, 2016 with a cast that also includes Henry Cavill (Superman), Ben Affleck (Batman), Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman), Amy Adams (Lois Lane), Diane Lane (Martha Kent), Laurence Fishburne (Perry White), and Jeremy Irons (Alfred Pennyworth).
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