Jesse Eisenberg Cast as LEX LUTHOR

Now that sure came from nowhere.  Warner Bros announced today that Jesse Eisenberg has been cast as LEX LUTHOR in the Man of Steel sequel coming out in May 2016.  Along with the announcement of Eisenberg’s casting is that Jeremy Irons has been cast as ALFRED PENNYWORTH. 

The casting rumors for Luthor have been focused on several actors, but Eisenberg was never one of them.  Outside of Smallville, he has always been played by older actors, but it seems that Zach Snyder is wanting to go in a different direction.  Now that I’ve had time to digest the news, I’m actually kind of excited about it.  I can picture them having Lex as kind of a “whiz kid” and that is a fresh take. 

Alfred has played many roles over the years.  He’s been Bruce’s surrogate parent, doctor, friend and even the Batcave control center.  There have been attempts recently to make him more of a badass in some stories and the new Beware the Batman cartoon.  I think them casting Irons is showing that they want Alfred to follow that path instead of the caretaker/mentor role that was shown in the Nolan films. 

With both of these, Snyder has shown that he has a specific vision for this film and he is taking everyone by surprise with his casting choices.  Let’s hope they pay off.