Jesse Eisenberg recently talked about how playing Lex Luthor in Zack Snyder’s 2016 movie Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice affected his acting career. He said he enjoyed the role personally, but it got a lot of negative feedback, which hurt his public image. This backlash was more noticeable because the film was widely released and highly publicized, unlike some of his earlier roles that didn’t get as much attention.
Although the film made over $850 million worldwide and broke box office records initially, it eventually didn’t perform well because ticket sales dropped significantly after the first week, and critics panned it. This perceived failure harmed how people viewed Eisenberg’s performance. The end of the Snyderverse and the launch of James Gunn’s new DC Universe further added to the context of Eisenberg’s comments, as his Lex Luthor is now part of a film series that is no longer active.
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Eisenberg told Armchair Expert, “I’ve never said this before and it’s kind of embarrassing to admit, but I genuinely think I genuinely think it actually hurt my career in a real way,” Eisenberg noted. “I was poorly received in something so public. 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.”
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Some fans did not like the performance because Eisenberg didn’t act like Lex Luthor at all. The performance seemed more like a Riddler or Joker character. Eisenberg has not had trouble finding work, but he clearly wasn’t as high profile after his role as Lex Luthor.
With James Gunn’s Superman movie coming out in July 2025, the current state of the DC Universe marks a big change from the previous version that included Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor. So maybe now he can shake off the bad attention he got.
Published: Dec 19, 2024 3:53 PM UTC