Jesse Eisenberg reflects on playing Batman V Superman’s Lex Luthor and his possible return to the role

Among the bevy of criticisms about Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, one seemingly universal critique by fans was the questionable casting of Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor. Luthor is often portrayed as older and more physically intimidating in addition to his intellect, but Eisenberg was able to put his own spin on the character. Superman purists looked to have never fully embraced this interpretation.

Jesse Eisenberg recently screened his directorial debut, When You Finish Saving the World, at the 28th Sarajevo Film Festival and presented a Q&A afterward. Here, Eisenberg had spoken about a wide range of topics. When asked about how he felt about the response to his Lex Luthor portrayal, he was understandably disappointed, saying,

“I felt very personal about it. The writer, Chris Terrio, is a very serious writer, and he’s a very emotional person. He thought a lot about my character, and I thought a lot about my character too. I talked with my acting coach about the character a lot, about his backstory with his father and his emotional life—and then people hate me.”

Deadline reports that even though it wasn’t received well, he enjoyed playing the character so much that he would return if asked. Eisenberg adds, “I’d be shocked if I wound up in a DC movie, but it would be a pleasant shock. Listen, I’m not a comic book fan. To me, it was not playing a role that I’d envisioned since childhood. To me, it was a chance to play this great character that this great writer wrote, and I loved doing that. So, to play it is a joy, and to not play it isn’t something that I’m going to be ashamed to tell my kids about because that is not an important genre in my life, even though I loved doing that movie.”

However, he is open to doing another superhero movie, no matter what company it’s with, “Yeah. Because as an actor, you do all kinds of different things, and sometimes great roles show up in really commercial things, and sometimes terrible roles show up in independent films.”

In the meantime, Eisenberg is set to shoot his next film, titled A Real Pain, co-starring Succession actor Kieran Culkin.

What do you think? Did you enjoy his portrayal and want to see him back in DC?