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

As much as I like Eisenberg, his voice is noticeably shaky. On the other hand...

Note: There are spoilers in this if you have not watched the show.

I have faith in Jesse (no, not Pinkman) and his ability to act. It just seems that in a lot of movies he has a bit of fear in his voice. Maybe its just me.

Am I the only one who wishes they left Bats out of this movie?

I admit I was surprised by Jesse's casting. But hey they're never going to look at fan casting. But it'll be interesting to see an equally young Clark and Lex duelling it out. And Jeremy Irons is always a winner in my book.

Interesting

Jeremy Irons playing Alfred? Man, Alfred might be carrying a shotgun!! He's harder than Bruce! That's some serious casting!

Meh not to excited about the casting of this movie

Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor??? I'm not mad, just confused. Gene Hackman and Kevin Spacy played very over the top versions of Lex, I suppose they want to go with a completely different approach (as is in keeping with MoS). Actually when I think about it, I can totally see Eisenberg playing a unemotional Lex who is willing to order someone's death without a second thought. I could imagine him giving a smug speech about how great he is and how much he has accomplished at his young age, all in that montone he did in Social Network. Though, I'd like to see them bulk Jesse up; Lex is supposed to be a superior mind and body.

Jeremy Irons as Alfred ... F**K YEAH. He could pull off the former badass mercenary turned butler better than any previous Al actors.

Jesse better not f this up that is all

Great choices IMO.

Jeremy Irons is completely awesome. and I was hoping they'd go for a younger/upcoming actor rather than all the cliche fancasts that people were going crazy with (Cranston, Strong..etc)

Oh and. Jesse doesn't have to shave his head either.

Jesse Eisenbetg is a superb actor, but I just can't see him as Lex...

He is the love child of Michael Cera and Andy Samberg.

Jeremy Irons is basically the best Alfred choice around.

But come on, Cranston!

These both caught me completely off guard.

I think Jeremy Irons as Alfred is a great casting choice, he is a great actor and it is nice to see them making Alfred younger than he is normally portrayed in the movies.

As for Jesse, well at first I was completely shocked and wasn't really that keen, but the more I have thought about it the more I think it could be a really good piece of casting. Now I am not a big Jesse fan but I've generally enjoyed most of the movies he has been in, however in most of those movies he is typecast as an awkward teen. Even though Jesse has always been typecast this could be his chance to break free of that.Seems to me that this version of Lex won't be physically intimidating at all but it will be his mind that is intimidating with how smart he is, so a lot like how Lex was portrayed on Smallville, i think Jesse might be able to pull that kind of Lex Luthor off.

The funny thing is that Jesse is 30. Man, that kid looks young. I was hoping for Bryan Cranston or Joaquin Phoenix. Well, Marvel is gonna have a blast on their movies. Can wait for marvel and StarWars to kick butt. DC is a wait and see, for now...

I can't wait too see Ben Affleck 6'4'' getting it against Jesse 5' 7''. Man that gonna be a blow out...

Question...Any of you complaining even give a sh*t about Lex?

If you do, I'm pretty sure this guy will kill it.

Not a fan of Eisenberg... Strike 1 was the Affleck casting which I have since gotten over. This is Strike 2 though. I just can't see him as Lex. We will see I suppose.

He can play a smart guy but he's not intimidating...At all.

Yeah, I see Irons as Alfred too

Me too, but you never know.

Well this just became a net flicks movie for me.

i will reserve judgement until i have seen the film... but frankly i think eisenberg is an interesting choice

Anybody who thinks Jesse is a good choice has no idea what they're talking about.

He will botch Lex. Lex is supposed to be a charasmatic powerful man, someone who embodies what humans as a species are capable of.

He is not a nasally, scrawny kid that has the face of a 15 year old.

Not to mention he is not intimidating AT ALL. Any "speech" he gives will just come off as a teen venting off his messiah complex, rather than a man conveying his messiah complex.

I'll just wait to see the movie.

Yes! It's weird cuz he's so young but yes!!!! This guy is an incredible actor. His performance in all of his movies have been outstanding. I see him playing a great Luther, as for Alfred, should of stayed with the same actor from the Nolan movies, ill never see anyone play Alfred the same. But way more excited for this movie

Anyone and I mean anyone thinks he doesn't have it in him to play lex obviously has never seen any of hs movies. And your an Internet fanboy hater. There's always gonna be negative Nancy's

@superbat420: Did you even see "Now You See Me"? It was horrendous. His acting actually made me want to stop the movie, and I'm not exaggerating. What has he been so great in? The Social Network? An overhyped role that was nothing special. There is no range to his acting ability. His is a nasally teenage faced fast talking fidgeting actor, and is certainly NOT Lex Luthor.

Interesting.

Not a big fan of the Lex casting. Eisenberg doesn't have the type of voice that commands power and respect that this character remands. I can dig a younger looking Lex Luthor, but I was expecting someone more intimidating to act as a opposing figure to Cavill's Superman.

I have to admit out of all the castings announced only the Alfred one really excites me,I'm not gonna criticize Gadot,Affleck and Jesse cause I all to well remember Ledger,Hardy,Hathaway,and Evans but I really have this bad feeling that I cant shake off for some reason.

With that said I have no idea why they're complaining about age,this guy and Cavill are the same age basically,Pre-52 canon incorporated the Superman/Lex childhood story from Smallville. People should really just shut up.

good call. Eisenberg will be a good younger Lex. hes got the face for it, i think. Also seeing him in The Social Network and Now You See Me gives me confidence that he has more in him than "awkward sarcastic weirdo"

I believe he will play Luthor in a flashback of the past...

Maintaining that the casting in these movies will be the least of the problems with them

@dougcl: Now You See Me was a trainwreck of some of the worst acting and script I've ever seen. Face for Lex? Maybe if Lex looked like a 15 year old child going through puberty.

I understand they can take Lex into whatever direction they want. I just hate the direction they are taking. I mean, is this really even Lex? Lex Luthor is a confident, charismatic, broad shouldered intellectual powerhouse. This is all wrong.

@imthedamnbatman: back to my orginal message your clearly a hater because now you see me was a great movie. Just stop. Go get high and rethink your life. The negativity is real unnecessary

@superbat420: Now You See Me was one of the worst movies of 2013. You can ask any movie critic worth their salt. I am not a "hater", the simple fact that a man-child like Eisenberg was cast as the charismatic Lex Luthor is enough to say this movie will most likely flop.

Respectfully mate, I am getting a bit tired of the Ledger defence. Ledger was already an experienced and proven versatile actor before getting the role of the Joker. Eisenberg is a relatively fresh new face in acting and doesn't have the experience for a role with real screen presence that Lex Luthor brings as a character into a film like this. That's my problem here with Eisenberg, his lack of roles with real presence and acting capability.

The problem with his versatility is that he lacks the presence or sinister malevolence in his performances thus far to properly pull off Lex. There's more to Lex than being a smug arrogant genius that Eisenberg has played on The Social Network and Now You See Me.

My real problem with seeing Lex again will be if Eisenbeg plays Lex like he acts in The Social Network and Now You See Me. If Lex Luthor is played as a squeaky voiced nerd, that'll annoy me to no avail.

@theacidskull: My views on Cavill have changed slightly. He only pulled off a decent performance IMO and whilst it could have been improved by the script, Cavill still didn't bring as much to the role as he could have. Thus, his potential for improving as Superman is slimming down IMO. His voice isn't the only problem as Lex Luthor has a sinister malevolence and presence in his role and Eisenberg has nothing in his repertoire that indicates he can pull this off like Hackman or Spacey could.

@g_man said:

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.

Who will portray these two characters?

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

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.

wtf why not this guy ?

Spacey had played and did a good job on evil roles before. That's why he was picked to play Lex most likely IMO. And in the case of some actors, it's not in their capability to play certain roles. You wouldn't pick Rickey Gervais to play Darth Vader in the new Star Wars films would you? That's because his roles are more centred on comedic and funny roles. And whilst it is obviously not possible to predict how he'll do, my first impressions are not that great given Eisenberg's history of acting and the way he plays his roles not being suitable at all for Lex Luthor in the slightest. I simply can't see him as Lex Luthor and that's bad for his performance. And Cavill lacked a great deal of emotion and proper characterisation as Superman, instead coming off as flat, monotone and nowhere near the friendly, kind or respectable figure that Superman is supposed to be. Cavill missed some real opportunities in defining the modern Superman role and my current view is that they aren't all down to the script anymore.

was really looking forward for Joaquin Phoenix as lex

It'll be interesting for sure, while the casting has been um very odd for this film. Who knows it could be good I hope that it is.

@theacidskull: I was going to say the same thing about our Cavill discussion. As for Eisenberg, let me show you an example of where my problems are coming from

I know this is a Johns scan :P but this is the kind of person Lex Luthor is. He's not only an arrogant, smug, self entitled jerk, he's also a sinister, sadistic sociopath who won't have any problems threatening or executing anything he wants to get his own way. Eisenberg hasn't been shown to pull off that level of evil presence in the roles I've seen with him and that level of malovolence is intrinsic with Lex's character and needs to be pulled off in order to make for a compelling Lex Luthor. This is where my problems with Eisenberg as Luthor lie.