The superhero genre is the biggest in all the land. Whether or not you agree that superhero fatigue exists today, there is no denying that when the studio, marketing, and writing teams get it right, a good superhero movie has all the potential in the world to become one of the biggest movies of all time at the box office.
DC knows a thing or two about that, as its characters have dominated the genre for years. Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and more have all stunned us on the big screen (and sometimes on the small one too) over the years. And that is one of the reasons why those characters - along with so many others within their lore - remain such coveted roles in Hollywood.
However, sometimes it can go wrong. For DC, that was unfortunately the case with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which brought all three of those characters - and more - together for the first time. Though the movie was a box office success (even if it slightly underperformed in some people's eyes), it didn't launch the DC Extended Universe in the way that many had hoped it would. For one actor, the chance to play a legendary character resulted in what he has described as a role that hurt his career.
Jesse Eisenberg says that Batman v Superman role as Lex Luthor hurt his career
Jesse Eisenberg has opened up about playing Lex Luthor in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in a new interview on Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard. The actor reflected on his career and spoke of the backlash that his performance as the infamous Superman villain received, adding that, although it was "kind of embarrassing to admit", he feels that it hurt his career, saying:
"I was in this 'Batman' movie and the 'Batman' movie was so poorly received, and I was so poorly received. I’ve never said this before and it’s kind of embarrassing to admit, but I genuinely think it actually hurt my career in a real way, because I was poorly received in something so public."
The Zombieland star also admitted that he wasn't aware of how poorly received it was at first, adding that it was somewhat overwhelming to experience as he had never been in such a high-profile project that received such a negative reaction.
"I’ve been in poorly received things that just don’t see the light of day, and for the most part, no one knows, but this was so public..."
Eisenberg's performance in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is certainly strong and committed, and he did the best with what he was given, but the iteration of the character was so far and away from who Lex Luthor is in the comics that it just didn't sit well with audiences. The character often came off as whimsical and unhinged in a very Joker or Riddler kind of way - a gleeful anarchist - instead of the reserved, calculating, businessman capable of performing in front of the camera.
He did resurface in a post-credits scene in 2017's Justice League, and even though he felt much more in line with who Lex Luthor was here, the film was reviled by audiences and underperformed significantly at the box office. An alternate version of the scene appeared in 2021's director's cut Zack Snyder's Justice League, which received a far better reception, but the streaming release is not considered canon to the now-defunct DCEU.
Different interpretations of characters can work; look no further than Superman and Lois' grittier adaptation of Lex Luthor himself, portrayed by Michael Cudlitz. That one was different in its own ways, but the aura of Lex Luthor remained alive and well. The DCEU version strayed too far from the source material, much as it did with Jared Leto's version of The Joker.
Eisenberg is an incredible actor and it's sad to hear that the film impacted his career, but there is no doubt that he recovered from it and his talent continues to speak for itself.
Nicholas Hoult will now play Lex in James Gunn's upcoming Superman movie, which will reboot the DC Universe.