Like everything about Zack Snyder’s DC movies, Jesse Eisenberg’s idiosyncratic take on Lex Luthor has undergone something of a reappraisal in the years since Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice first came out. While his kooky portrayal of the Man of Steel’s nemesis was the butt of many jokes at the time, a legion of DCEU fans now praise the Zombieland actor for taking the well-worn villain in a different direction.
We just saw Eisenberg back as Lex in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, however, this restored scenes he originally filmed for the team-up movie back in the day and the star didn’t actually shoot any new footage for the HBO Max release. But would he be willing to shave his head again to play the belligerent bald billionaire once more? Eisenberg told Comic Book Movie that he would very much be up for that, although he can’t say if it’s something the studio is interested in.
“Umm… I’m probably the last person to know the answer to that question because I don’t know how they make those decisions,” Eisenberg said. “You know, my background is in theatre where you do a play 200 times and you feel like you’re just getting the hang of it by the last performance. I would love to play any character again. After a movie ends, the actors usually turn to each other and say, ‘Oh, now I finally know what I’m doing and I understand what my purpose [was].’ Actors, in my experience, do like playing roles again but that particular one is just not up to me. I’m sure I could do a one-man show somewhere but no one would, you know…”
In Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Lex was shown to reveal Batman’s real identity to Joe Manganiello’s Deathstroke, which would’ve set up Slade Wilson’s conflict with the Dark Knight in Ben Affleck’s version of The Batman. In this same interview, Eisenberg was quizzed on whether he could’ve featured in Affleck’s film, too. Again, however, the actor admitted that he didn’t know about it either way.
“Oh, yeah. Yeah, of course. Also, if there were [plans], I didn’t know about them. Otherwise, I’d have some great material, but I didn’t know about it!”
Eisenberg’s comments echo what he’s said various times before now. It’s clear that he would always be open to portraying Lex Luthor again and feels that he has more to give as the character, but it’s all in WB’s court. With the Superman mythos being rebooted in the movies, though, it’s looking less likely as the DCEU continues to evolve away from its Snyderverse origins. But stranger things have certainly happened in this franchise, so never say never.
