Jesse Eisenberg Hadn’t Seen A Superhero Movie Before Batman V Superman

Before signing onto Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Jesse Eisenberg had never seen a superhero film. In the four years since its release, Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman has become one of the most divisive comic book movies. Upon its release, the film was slapped with negative reviews and gained an unfavorable reputation. However, it has found its fair share of supporters in the years that followed, with some praising Snyder’s choices. Batman v Superman brought two of DC’s most iconic characters into conflict with each other while also laying the foundation for 2017’s Justice League.

One of the more heavily-debated aspects of Batman v Superman was Eisenberg’s performance as Lex Luthor. At the time, Eisenberg’s casting drew criticism from fans who felt he wasn’t right for the part. However, Snyder defended the casting by saying he decided to take the character in a new direction. Eisenberg’s take on Luthor proved to be a bit polarizing among fans, with some praising his performance as Superman’s (Henry Cavill) enemy and others thinking he was too quirky and different from the comics. Eisenberg later appeared in the post-credits scene for Justice League, which seemed to indicate more was planned for his character. However, at the current moment there aren’t any plans for Eisenberg to return to the DCEU.

Eisenberg recently got the opportunity to reflect on his time playing Lex Luthor during an interview with Konbini. He described the first time he ever read the script for Batman v Superman, during which he actually didn’t get to finish it. Eisenberg explained he was given an hour and a half to read the script before it would be deleted off his computer, but he was unable to make it to the end because “it was so dense.” He then revealed that the script surprised him mainly because he’d never seen a superhero film before. According to Eisenberg, “There were references to things I’d never heard of, I was shocked. Because I’d never seen a superhero movie, because I live in a bubble or whatever, and so I thought it was just going to be people flying around for a hundred pages.”

Despite playing a role in one of the biggest comic book franchises out there, Eisenberg’s interest in superhero films hasn’t appeared to grow since then. Recently, Eisenberg suggested he didn’t have much interest in the famous Snyder Cut of Justice League, which fans have been campaigning for throughout the past few years. Since his time as Lex Luthor seems to be at an end, he likely won’t have to worry much about Snyder’s future plans.

Batman v Superman (and, to an extent, Eisenberg’s performance) will likely always be debated among DC fans. In a sense, Snyder has created a lasting piece of media that has inspired many conversations over the years. Eisenberg at least seems to look back on his experience with Batman v Superman fondly; only time will tell if more fans will do the same.

Source: Konbini

About The Author

Rachel Labonte
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Rachel LaBonte is a news, feature, and movie review writer for Screen Rant with a deep passion for film and television. A graduate of Emerson College, she majored in Media Arts Production while specializing in screenwriting. She’s been a writer ever since high school when she realized she was rather good at it and joined as many entertainment news clubs as she could while in school. Most notably, she wrote for Emerson’s website Emertainment Monthly, and one of her film reviews won an Evvy (Emerson’s student awards) for Best Review. Her deep love of movies led to her working at a movie theater for five years, which she loved despite the angry customers. An avid reader who constantly buys books before reading the ones she already owns, Rachel is a huge fan of superheroes (especially of the Marvel variety) and wizards and will likely never be able to catch up on all the movies/TV shows she longs to watch.

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