‘Batman v Superman’ Almost Cast Jesse Eisenberg in a Different Role
It’s time to play the speculation game! Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice director Zack Snyder and star Jesse Eisenberg recently sat down for an interview where they coyly revealed that the actor was almost cast in a different role in the film before he signed on to play Lex Luthor. And while they won’t tell us who Eisenberg almost played, they do offer a few more tidbits about his actual role in the film and tease a rather exciting sequence involving his hair.
As Snyder tells the LA Times, Eisenberg was almost cast as a different character, though this is all he would say about it:
Let’s call it a secret, but nevertheless, it was the exact opposite of Lex Luthor.
Hmm. Who could that be? Maybe the new government character played by Holly Hunter? Batman’s loyal butler, Alfred? Perhaps he’s speaking in the more broad sense of the DC movie universe — could Eisenberg have been the Joker? We may never know. Here’s what we do know: Eisenberg is putting his own spin on the character, and reiterates to the outlet that this version of Luthor has more of an emotional core —
[Lex 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.
As for that hair, Eisenberg is either being hyperbolic, or he’s sincerely teasing what could be the best moment in the film:
It’s the greatest scene that I’ve ever gotten to take part in. It accounts for the change in hair.
Given how bonkers and tonally erratic Snyder’s films tend to be, this is either going to be amazing, awful, or hilariously terrible, and we can’t wait to see the scene in question when Batman v Superman hits theaters on March 25.