Zack Snyder Defends Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor Casting

[StewShearerOld]

Zack Snyder Defends Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor Casting

Man of Steel-director Zack Snyder says the sequel's cast is being chosen "according to what's happening in the script."

Zack Snyder's Batman/Superman crossover sequel to Man of Steel has been privy to a lot of criticism for a variety of reasons. Some took issue with the casting of <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/127114-Ben-Affleck-is-The-New-Batman>Ben Affleck as Batman. Others have been a bit peeved that Wonder Woman is being introduced as a <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/130239-Wonder-Woman-Is-Israels-Gal-Gadot>side character when, by all rights, she should have her own movie franchise by now. Most recently, however, many were taken aback by the film's <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/132059-Man-of-Steel-Sequel-Will-Feature-a-Street-Tough-Lex-Luthor>casting of Jesse Eisenberg (Zombieland, The Social Network) as Lex Luthor. One person not puzzled by the decision however, is Zack Snyder himself. Speaking about the issue recently, he stepped up to defend Eisenberg's participation in the movie.

"There are two ways to think about it. We know the material. Unfortunately, the fans don't know the material. So, we're casting according to what's happening in the script," said Snyder. "I think Jesse is going to be an amazing Lex. Let's not forget he was nominated for an Academy Award. It's not like I just grabbed my friend to play the guy! This guy's the real deal." While many would agree that Eisenberg is more than a decent actor, it's not hard to see why some could perhaps have a difficult time picturing him as Lex Luthor. In past films Eiseberg, even in his more powerful roles, has often played softer more understated characters. Luthor, comparatively, is arguably a tad more on the larger-than-life side.

Of course, it probably didn't help that supposed inside sources have pegged Snyder's version of Luthor as coming from wildly different origins than previous renditions of the character. Just personally, I could buy a more traditional version of Luthor played by a shaved-headed Eisenberg. One doesn't necessarily need the boom of Clancy Brown's voice to be intimidating, after all. <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/132059-Man-of-Steel-Sequel-Will-Feature-a-Street-Tough-Lex-Luthor>A tattooed former street tough though? That's another question entirely.

Source: <a href=http://herocomplex.latimes.com/movies/zack-snyder-man-of-steel-sequel-explodes-superman-batman-universes/#/0>LA Times


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[CJ1145]

Oh man. Oh man, Zack Snyder, I love you. I love you and that's why you have to learn. This is going to bite you in the ass so hard fans will call it the Chomp Hear Round the World. Even if you're following what's going on in the script have you considered the possibility you need a new script?

 

[Alpha Maeko]

The fans don't know the material? Really?

That's an odd thing to say.

 

[viranimus]

Honestly this bothers me very little. It is not as Lex Luthor really has much of a physically defining presence outside of the skin job. Eisenberg is not the worst actor in the world.

Now.. if this had been Eisenberg's doppelganger, Michael Cera, then yeah. That would be a death sentence for such an awful hackneyed excuse for an adult in a childs body pretending to act by behaving awkward and confused.

 

[EeveeElectro]

People could at least wait until a trailer before they start bitching. Honestly, if the movie looks shit from the trailer, ***** until the cows come home and don't go see it.

There's "I don't think he is right for the role" which is fine to think, but I've seen some people completely lose their shit over this and it's weird to see.

I know my quite positive attitude doesn't really have a place here but I think we can all name a few actors we were pleasantly surprised by in movies and maybe Eisenberg will be another one.

I don't think he particularly looks the role and his past movies have been a bit too much "awkward teenager/adult" but this might be his time to shine and break free from the type-casting.

Saying that, if Snyder makes a good movie he will receive all of my respect. It's going to be tough to pull this off.

 

[MrBaskerville]

The fans don't know the material? Really?

That's an odd thing to say.

Well, nobodys read the script except for the people making the movie .
The fans might complain that it's wrong for arbitrary reasons, but in reality they don't really know what's going on until the movie is out.

 

[CriticalMiss]

The fans don't know the material? Really?

That's an odd thing to say.

I think he means his script rather than the source material. At least I hope so because it might indicate he doesn't know who Lex Luthor actually is (he's the one who runs fast, right?).

 

[KazeAizen]

People could at least wait until a trailer before they start bitching. Honestly, if the movie looks shit from the trailer, ***** until the cows come home and don't go see it.

There's "I don't think he is right for the role" which is fine to think, but I've seen some people completely lose their shit over this and it's weird to see.

I know my quite positive attitude doesn't really have a place here but I think we can all name a few actors we were pleasantly surprised by in movies and maybe Eisenberg will be another one.

I don't think he particularly looks the role and his past movies have been a bit too much "awkward teenager/adult" but this might be his time to shine and break free from the type-casting.

Saying that, if Snyder makes a good movie he will receive all of my respect. It's going to be tough to pull this off.

If nothing else we can at least expect top flight action scenes. He doesn't use shaky cam a whole lot like most action movies do these days. Say what you will about his films but in almost every single one they have some pretty damn engaging action scenes. Hell Suckerpunch proved that is someone wanted to make an anime into a live action movie and actually use anime style battle cliches and make it work they can. The Owls of Gahoole, Man of Steel, Suckerpunch all had great action beats. Plus the heroes can actually move in their costumes in the live action ones thus allowing them to actually do engaging combat sequences, unlike some other heroes I know. *looks at Batman franchise*

 

[BrotherRool]

I'm still excited about this. All the castings decisions for the film have made me excited because they are terrific prestigious actors and they suggest that someone somewhere has a vision for this thing because they're not the obvious choices. If everyone was in lazy mode they'd have cast the first bald person to walk on stage. We'd have ended up with Jason Statham as Lex.

And whatever else might have happened, casting wasn't a problem Man Of Steel had.

 

[Covarr]

"I think Jesse is going to be an amazing Lex. Let's not forget he was nominated for an Academy Award. It's not like I just grabbed my friend to play the guy! This guy's the real deal."

Zack, are you stupid? Nobody was suggesting anything of the sort. People don't take issue with Jesse Eisenberg because they think he's a bad actor. They take issue with Jesse Eisenberg because they've seen the other films he's done, and he's never given the impression he's a good fit for this role. Really, there are only three possible outcomes:

• [li]Jesse Eisenberg plays the role all wrong[/li][li]Jesse Eisenberg plays the role as written, and it works because you shit all over the source material (likely)[/li][li]Jesse Eisenberg plays the role unexpectedly well (unlikely)[/li]

After Man of Steel, I'm putting my money on the second. It's not that I don't think Jesse Eisenberg is a good actor, but this role is so far outside his norm that the only way he can possibly do well is if the script itself gets the character wrong.

P.S. Thanks

P.P.S. Morgan Freeman was also nominated for an Academy Award too, why didn't you cast him as Lex?

 

[Insideout Ink Demon]

glad i'm not a big DC fan, this is all sounding awful too me. this can go with Fantastic 4 in the "wait for bargin bin" part of my wish list

 

[shogunblade]

I'm still in support of this. I think the intimidation of a small man with big ideas is scarier than a big man with big ideas. It's not a horror movie, I know, but I have a script in my mind, and if it follows it in any sort of way, I should be on board for this.

Even if it is not, I'll still end up seeing it. I'm not going to just avoid a Justice League movie, nor will I pass on Man of Steel 2 (I still need to see the first Man of Steel)

Glad Snyder finally addressed it so we aren't just speculating on it.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

I think he is going for a Zuckerberg kinda billionaire than a mature businessmen billionaire. ME? I would prefer an older and successful business than some kid that got lucky. As an actor, you can be awesome but if you act older than your face, then you fail. An older actor would seem wiser onscreen.

 

[WhiteTigerShiro]

So basically, Zack watched MovieBob's Robocop review, saw the endcards, and then pointed to them and said "What he said".

 

[Ldude893]

And now I'm assured that the Justice League movie is never going to surpass The Avengers, and this is coming from someone who was only familiar with DC superheroes before The Avengers came out.

 

[medv4380]

The fans don't know the material? Really?

That's an odd thing to say.

Given comic book fans, I think those are fighting words.

Given DC's track record? I think this means giving me Kyle and calling him Hal was acceptable for the Green Lantern movie because "They knew the material". I have lost all hope for this film.

 

[DustyDrB]

An actor known mostly for his roles as the male lead in teen-oriented romance movies was cast in the role as the villain in an upcoming comic book movie. Fans of the source material generally scoffed at the choice of him in the role. He was the pretty boy who gets the girl, not some sinister madman. It was bound to fail.

Spoiler: Boy, didn't they end up looking like a bunch of jackasses.

 

[faefrost]

Why does Warner Brothers insist on getting people that want to wildly change, or even almost have disdain for their source material to make their movies? I know Nolan has a huge fan following. And yeah Dark Knight was a good movie. But as a whole his Batman movies were trying to stay as far as they could from the actual source material and still be able to more or less call it Batman. And don't get me started on Man of Steel. I don't know what was going on there, but it sure as hell was not knowledge of or love and respect for the source material.

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

For my money, something pretty out of left field is going to have to happen to make me look at Jessie Eisenberg and think to myself "He's Lex Luthor". As an actor he tends to play character are come across as smug, self satisfied arseholes but lack the charm and sophistication to make it look good.

Better bring your A-game, Jessie. Christ knows you'll need it.