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Lex Luthor and Alfred Have been Cast in the Upcoming Superman/Batman Film

What do you think of this casting?

It's official. Lex Luthor will be appearing in the upcoming untitled Superman/Batman movie. He's not the only one, Alfred Pennyworth will be in the movie as well.

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Who will portray these two characters?

It's been announced that Jesse Eisenberg will play Lex and Jeremy Irons will be Alfred.

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Snyder stated, “Lex Luthor is often considered the most notorious of Superman’s rivals, his unsavory reputation preceding him since 1940. What’s great about Lex is that he exists beyond the confines of the stereotypical nefarious villain. He’s a complicated and sophisticated character whose intellect, wealth and prominence position him as one of the few mortals able to challenge the incredible might of Superman. Having Jesse in the role allows us to explore that interesting dynamic, and also take the character in some new and unexpected directions.”

The director added, “As everyone knows, Alfred is Bruce Wayne’s most trusted friend, ally and mentor, a noble guardian and father figure. He is an absolutely critical element in the intricate infrastructure that allows Bruce Wayne to transform himself into Batman. It is an honor to have such an amazingly seasoned and gifted actor as Jeremy taking on the important role of the man who mentors and guides the guarded and nearly impervious façade that encapsulates Bruce Wayne.”

What do you think?

You can read more HERE.

294 Comments

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CaptainMarvel4Ever

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Maybe their trying to portray Lex as a young prodigy genius for the film. I'm also guessing this Alfred will be a little more like a mentor to Bruce.

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spidermonkey2099

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I was a bit surprised about Jesse Eisenberg, but I think it's a great casting, as is Jeremy Irons as Alfred. Definitely looking forward to this movie!

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kidchipotle

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I have loved everything I have seen Eisenberg in. I think he is a great actor. With that said, he does not have any qualities, to me, that resemble that of Lex Luthor. Lex needs to have that intimidation, that presence, where you're powerful and intelligent and threatening and so many other things. I don't see any of that in Jesse. But. BUT. I will sit back and anxiously await for this movie and then I'll make a concrete judgment on it. He's an actor, his job is to be as versatile as possible.

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KryptonSabbath

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I'm starting to think X-Men's Quicksilver is looking better now... AND I DON'T WANT TO THINK THAT!

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MarcosVergara14

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I'm will give Jesse Eisenberg a chance i was one of the people who didn't think that Heath Ledger would pull off a good Joker

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RisingBean

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Edited By RisingBean

Interesting. Not who I would have expected but I'm going to roll with it. MoS didn't let me down at all so I'm going to have faith for round two.

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SmashBrawler

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Edited By SmashBrawler

Love this casting, and I especially love the reactions, heh.

@lordofthenorth said:

More people excited for jeremy irons dont forget he was also in D & D

And Michael Caine was in Jaws: The Revenge. Your point?

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Lvenger

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I have loved everything I have seen Eisenberg in. I think he is a great actor. With that said, he does not have any qualities, to me, that resemble that of Lex Luthor. Lex needs to have that intimidation, that presence, where you're powerful and intelligent and threatening and so many other things. I don't see any of that in Jesse. But. BUT. I will sit back and anxiously await for this movie and then I'll make a concrete judgment on it. He's an actor, his job is to be as versatile as possible.

His roles thus far don't indicate an ability to properly portray the villainous complexity that makes Lex a brilliant character. Not many, if any actors have achieved that on screen and Eisenberg, as talented an actor as he is, just doesn't seem right for the role at all IMO.

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Oy_the_Billy_Bumbler

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Very odd choice for Lex, but I'm sure they know what they are doing.

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M3th

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Edited By M3th

A young Lex LutHor wHile Kent is old?... I'm game.

June'sVeryOwn

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kidchipotle

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@lvenger said:

@arturocalakayvee said:

I have loved everything I have seen Eisenberg in. I think he is a great actor. With that said, he does not have any qualities, to me, that resemble that of Lex Luthor. Lex needs to have that intimidation, that presence, where you're powerful and intelligent and threatening and so many other things. I don't see any of that in Jesse. But. BUT. I will sit back and anxiously await for this movie and then I'll make a concrete judgment on it. He's an actor, his job is to be as versatile as possible.

His roles thus far don't indicate an ability to properly portray the villainous complexity that makes Lex a brilliant character. Not many, if any actors have achieved that on screen and Eisenberg, as talented an actor as he is, just doesn't seem right for the role at all IMO.

I agree with what you're saying, I'm just trying out this new thing where I don't act like a "typical comic fan" and hate everything :P Instead of rejecting this right away..I'm going to wait patiently to judge.

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MannEffest

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Edited By MannEffest

I have loved everything I have seen Eisenberg in. I think he is a great actor. With that said, he does not have any qualities, to me, that resemble that of Lex Luthor. Lex needs to have that intimidation, that presence, where you're powerful and intelligent and threatening and so many other things. I don't see any of that in Jesse. But. BUT. I will sit back and anxiously await for this movie and then I'll make a concrete judgment on it. He's an actor, his job is to be as versatile as possible.

This is exactly how I feel. I'm a bit on the negative end of the spectrum but I will wait.

Batman:

Alfred, I don't think I'll need the glue grenade tonight.

Alfred:

But sir, it's best to…

BE PRE-PAAAAAAAARED!

Batman:

...

Lord, haha I nearly fell out of my seat laughing :p

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kilon

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a geek lex

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Cloakx14

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interesting, i Can't wait to see this now.

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RulerOfThisUniverse

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Interesting...

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LordoftheNorth

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@smashbrawler: i just think its funny the guy who was insanly actoring andhaming it up in D&D will be playing Alfred a mostly quite and reserved butler

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Sachmoo

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WOW, i think that is BRILLIANT casting.

Jesse Eisenberg pretty much already played Lex Luther in The Social Network. A rich pompous know-it-all.

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lightsout

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Have some reservations about Jesse, but thankful the rumor about Joaquin Phoenix turned out to be wrong.

Not to say anyone in the first MoS was bad, or that some of these new casting choices will be bad - and I may be being paranoid here - but sometimes it feels they're casting widely-known names (even for marginal parts) just to draw in viewers, when there might be relative-unknowns who would fit the characters better.

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Alertcircuit

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Edited By Alertcircuit

Young Lex Luthor? Well, Eisenberg is an excellent actor, so I think it might be good.

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SilverPool

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@chillinvillain said:

They should've got Idris Elba to play Lex.

He is already in a show called Luthor, and everyone wants him in EVERYTHING

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Lvenger

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@arturocalakayvee: I will too but my first impressions of this choice aren't exactly positive.

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El_Taza

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It might work.

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deactivated-60d8e8271946e

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@lvenger: I wanted Bryan Cranston for Lex, LOL.

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Barkley

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Edited By Barkley

out of the box.....love it

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spidershamrock

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I think Jesse can pull it off. Young actor, really talented. Could play an evil genius Zuckerburg role.

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elayem98

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Totally for Jeremy Irons although I think Timothy Dalton would have been way better, but im still happy about Alfred. But...

@lvenger said:

Jesse Eisenberg...there's nothing sinister about him. He doesn't have the greed or malevolence in his performances thus far that is intrinsically wrapped up in Lex Luthor's character. Even his arrogant roles aren't really the kind of arrogance Lex displays which is based on a superiority complex of his intellect and high standing place in society. I just don't see him as Lex Luthor in the slightest and this is another fatal casting error that could go drastically wrong. Eisenberg just doesn't have the acting chops to play Lex Luthor IMO.

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rob1157

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Edited By rob1157

Great moves WB, I like this a lot. Something new and fresh.

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deactivated-60d8e8271946e

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I wanted Heisenberg but I guess they heard Eisenberg.

He isn't intimidating and doesn't have the powerful presence that Lex Luthor should have.

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buttersdaman000

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Wait.....whaaa???

Jesse Eisenberg??? I'm gonna need some time to wrap my head around this......jesse eisenberg....

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W3BST3R

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Edited By W3BST3R

I don't know what you guys are all going on about, but Eisenburg is really good at portraying someone who sips way too much Haterade.

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Hawkguy

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Edited By Hawkguy

Eisenberg? But he's so quirky and cowardly... Bryan Cranston would have been perfect! I just can't see Jesse looking superman in the eyes telling him to tread lightly. Doesn't matter how skinny or old Cranston is, he plays one hell of an intimidating badass

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buttersdaman000

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I just hope he doesn't play him like he did Mark Zuckerberg....please....Lex Luthor needs to have a strong, confident, superiority about him. And Jesses voice....it's gonna be a problem...

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SaintWildcard

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Well only one thing left to do.....

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DoomGuy

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Edited By DoomGuy

LMFAO Jesse Eisenberg?

I was just starting to accept Ben as Batman, but this? Back to crap.

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Joygirl

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Edited By Joygirl
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dernman

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Edited By dernman

Too many things I have heard about this movie has made me lose interest in it.

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SaintWildcard

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Im guessing the casting was made based on who had the most twitter followers.

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amazing_webhead

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PopRock123

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Jeremy Irons as Alfred is a great. While Jesse is a good actor but I don't know if I can see him as Lex but I'll give him a chance. I am just hoping this turns out to be better then man of steel( It was a pretty mediocre film imho).

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SaintWildcard

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We wanted Heisenberg NOT Eisenberg!

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the_stegman

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the_stegman  Moderator

@hawkguy said:

Eisenberg? But he's so quirky and cowardly... Bryan Cranston would have been perfect! I just can't see Jesse looking superman in the eyes telling him to tread lightly. Doesn't matter how skinny or old Cranston is, he plays one hell of an intimidating badass

Cranston would have been a great choice, but Eisenberg is good at being the smug/arrogant genius.

Loading Video...

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Joygirl

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SanoHibiki

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If this isn’t a joke, then it looks like they are going with Smallville-like Lex – not self-made milliarder, but heir to Lionel Luthor. Hmm… Curious.

Well, once I was pleasantly surprised by Heath Ledger’s performance, so I am willing to give Jesse a chance.

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sledgemeyers

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Edited By sledgemeyers

I see no negative to this decision. The crazier the casting choices and plot leaks, the more in I am. If I wanted to see the same, old Batman story I'd go back and re-watch those existing movies. If I wanted my favorite characters portrayed exactly how I want them to be I already have stories where my favorite writers do that perfectly.

What I want is something completely new that will make me say, "Wow, I really didn't think they could do it that way." Whether it's the injection of some modern material or some new directions for the characters, (in my opinion) this is looking up to be a pretty cool version of the DC universe.

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Mandrewgora

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Huh.. ok.

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buttersdaman000

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So, actually thinking about it.....this could work. My initial shock almost made me punch my computer but that's because I was expecting a.....more traditional Lex Luthor. A Lex more like the pre-52 version. But thinking about it, Jesse could play an awesome Lex. I still don't want him to play Lex like he did Zuckerberg, but elements of that role could easily transfer over. I'm imagining Jesses Lex Luthor as the CEO of a huge tech company. He'll be more of a genius tech wizard then he is a scientist IMO. The basic air of lex will stay the same (Smug, superior, narcissistic, confident) but the way he's presented will be different' Regular Lex is bold and commands attention as soon as he enters the room. Jesses' Lex will be detached....seeing himself as so superior that he doesn't even need the attention.

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Protoflash

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Oh god… Does DC just get off to hearing hate from the internet?

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ganon15

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Edited By ganon15

Oh god… Does DC just get off to hearing hate from the internet?

LOL

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deactivated-5e3255e75dae4

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Maybe if he shaves his head it will look right. I don't know.

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Michael Rosenbum looks nothing like him with hair, but without it he looks fine.