Jesse Eisenberg First Turned Down Batman Vs. Superman

Batman Vs. Superman Trailer #2

We already know Jesse Eisenberg was up for a different role in Batman Vs. Superman and the script was tweaked to accomodate Eisenberg’s version of Lex Luthor, now Zack Snyder touches upon the subject once again while speaking with the LA Times where it’s learned Eisenberg first turned down the movie before getting offered Lex.

“Let’s call it a secret, but nevertheless it was the exact opposite of Lex Luthor,” Snyder said, taking a break on the phone from drawing “Justice League” Aquaman in his storyboards. After Eisenberg declined, Snyder went back and offered him something “cooler,” the role of Luthor.

“I feel like once [Eisenberg] found out who Lex was he embraced it,” Snyder said. “Once you kind of start digging into Lex, it’s a bit of a scary thing to be that guy. I don’t think he just goes ‘Oh, I’ll just be that guy and then when I go home I’m not him.’ I think the thing with Jessie is he wasn’t immune to the reality of playing a super-scary character.

Jesse Eisenberg also eases some fans’ fears online about what they saw in the recent trailer, teasing he will become the Lex most are familar with from the comics (bald).

“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.”

And Eisenberg describes Lex as:

“To call him self-aggrandizing is to say that the Titanic was a sailboat,” Eisenberg said. “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.”

Snyder also recently responded to the Batman Vs. Superman trailer and potential prescreening spoilers.

“Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” has a March 25, 2016 release starring Ben Affleck as Batman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Laurence Fishburne as Perry White, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Jeremy Irons as Alfred, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Ray Fisher as Cyborg with Callan Mulvey, Holly Hunter as Senator Finch and Tao Okamoto as Mercy Graves. Justice League is to follow directed by Zack Snyder as well.

Synopsis:

Fearing the actions of a god-like Super Hero left unchecked, Gotham City’s own formidable, forceful vigilante takes on Metropolis’s most revered, modern-day savior, while the world wrestles with what sort of hero it really needs. And with Batman and Superman at war with one another, a new threat quickly arises, putting mankind in greater danger than it’s ever known before.