We are now more than 24 hours into this strange new universe in which Jesse Eisenberg is our new Lex Luthor. What kind of mixed up world is this where Lex Luthor is now a scrawny, curly-headed arrogant little twerp whose every line of dialogue ends with you feeling the overwhelming urge to punch him in the mouth? This must be a herald of the apocalypse meaning just around the corner we can expect (as the poet Bill Murray once proclaimed) “human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together… mass hysteria!”
It’s horribly inconvenient, then, that Eisenberg is actually a very intriguing choice for the role. Lex Luthor has been re-contextualized in the comics on multiple occasions to better reflect the prevailing anxieties of the era, beginning as a basic mad scientist, becoming a wealthy industrialist, and then morphing into a Gordon Gecko type in the 1980s. Making him Mark Zuckberg seems like a natural evolution. ScreenCrush thinks Eisenberg is the perfect choice for the role, NPR’s Linda Holmes agree, and we’re frankly more concerned about the fact that Jeremy Irons wants to be in this movie as Alfred plus the fact that why should we get too worked up when Man of Steel wasn’t even that good to begin with.
Forget that noise for a second, though. This article is not about presenting any further cogent analysis on the subject (since we already devoted 1600 words to that yesterday), but to simply point out just how angry and/or bemused this casting has left Twitter. As compiled by HeroComplex over at the LATimes, here are some of the best responses from Twitter users, both random fans and actual Hollywood and comic book industry personalities:
Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor!? You can breathe easy now Ben Affleck… The internet has found its new target.—
Johanna Fuentes (@jfuentes) January 31, 2014
Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor in the Batman vs Superman movie?? Please tell me Joker is the casting director & this is just a sick joke.—
Victoria (@VictoriDrink) January 31, 2014
Jesse Eisenberg officially cast as Lex Luthor. Pissed I shaved my head for NOTHING! #Luthor—
Brad Meltzer (@bradmeltzer) January 31, 2014
Asked about the absurd decision to cast Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Zack Snyder said "Keep talking, and it'll be Michael Cera."—
Raul Pudd (@mhargrave) January 31, 2014
I love the outrage over Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor. Like, HOW DARE this Oscar-nominated actor be given a role that he will easily crush?—
Andy Swift (@AndySwift) January 31, 2014
Ok, I had my doubts about Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor but this leaked production still changed my mind (SPOILERS!): http://t.co/I46lmWQE2O—
Jon Blair (@okjonblair) January 31, 2014
Fellow blogger Ashley Epidemic (soipondered.wordpress.com) sums it up nicely for those who can’t fully embrace Eisenberg nor can they completely dismiss it either:
I'm not sure how I feel about Jesse Eisenstein being cast as Lex Luthor—
Ashley Dominique (@AshleyEpidemic) January 31, 2014
My favorite reactions might be from NPR’s Glen Weldon, who writes about books and comic books for NPR’s pop culture site. He’s best known as one of the four regular panelists on the NPR podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour. As a noted Superman superfan, this is the guy who spent an entire year going through every single aspect of Superman’s history, including comic book, radio, TV, film, Broadway, etc., and lovingly chronicled it in last year’s excellent book Superman: An Unauthorized Biography (Amazon.com). What did he think?
Somewhere in the Hollywood Hills, Sean Young reads today's casting news, tears off her bald cap, and weeps.—
Glen Weldon (@ghweldon) January 31, 2014
Jessie Eisenberg to play same smug prick he always plays, but bald.—
Glen Weldon (@ghweldon) January 31, 2014
That’s pretty much my assessment of Eisenberg as well except I don’t think they’ll make him bald. Why radically change the character in every way possible other than his hair? Just go full on and let him have that unruly mop of hair, possibly losing it by the end of the movie if you want to throw the comic book fans a bone.
Get a jump on Zack Snyder by watching THE SOCIAL NETWORK again, imagining the Winklevoss Twins as Superman-Red & Superman-Blue. It works.—
Glen Weldon (@ghweldon) January 31, 2014
In response to Linda Holmes he said this:
@nprmonkeysee Complete agreement. Luthor/Superman is brains/brawn, head/heart. This casting makes sense. Wish someone else were making it.—
Glen Weldon (@ghweldon) January 31, 2014
That about sums it up for us as well.
Lastly, what did Glen Weldon think of Jeremy Irons as Alfred?
If you were Batman, and JEREMY IRONS was like, "I've made you …. your tea, Master Bruce," would YOU drink that noise? Cause I? Would not.—
Glen Weldon (@ghweldon) January 31, 2014
Alfred will now have the same voice as Scar from The Lion King. That presents some hilarious opportunities for fan-made fun with audio where you take scenes from the Dark Knight trilogy and overdub lines from the Lion King in place of Michael Caine’s dialogue. Get on that, internet!
