Superman Animated Star Clancy Brown: Jesse Eisenberg is Quirky, Weird, Almost Reptilian

Longtime Lex Luthor Clancy Brown, who has portrayed the character in numerous animated movies, [...]

jesse-eisenberg-lex-luthor

Longtime Lex Luthor Clancy Brown, who has portrayed the character in numerous animated movies, animated series and video games for almost two decades, says he's "dying" to see Jesse Eisenberg take on the role in Zack Snyder's upcoming Man of Steel sequel, tentatively titled Batman vs. Superman. "I'm dying to see the new one. I think Jesse Eisenberg is a great choice," Brown told Comic Book Resources. "I think he's a really sharp choice, and I know a lot of people don't agree with that, but I think he could be spectacular. I liked [Michael] Rosebaum's take on it, but that was kind of a WB show. But I just love the idea that the Facebook guy is Lex Luthor. That's just perfect." The actor, currently appearing on Sleepy Hollow and voicing Red Hulk on Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., said that as a performer, Eisenberg brings a number of Lex Luthor-like characteristics to the screen.

African American Lex Luthor

"Well, he's a pretty specific actor. He's not a chameleon like [Gene] Hackman or [Kevin] Spacey," Brown said of Eisenberg. "He has a similar smugness the way that Spacey does -- that highly-intelligent, super-smug, almost effeminate kind of smugness about him -- but he's way more current. I just watched Now You See Me, which I thought he was terrific in. He has a really specific persona engrained that is super-smart. You don't necessarily like him, but you don't dislike him. You don't necessarily think he's a good, fun guy -- you see him as a real quirky, weird dude. You don't completely trust him, although he's kind of adorable in his nerdy way." The actor added, "I think Lex has that. Lex is attractive in all the things that shouldn't be attractive -- or aren't traditionally attractive in comic books -- his intelligence and his ambition and his ego and all the rest of that. Jesse carries that really well. Plus, I hear he's a really nice guy, which helps. It's why I think it shines through, why his attractiveness shines through, because deep down he's a good guy. But he also has this kind of intellectual persona that's unsettling. It's almost reptilian, which is something I think Lex carries with him."

0comments