Batman vs. Superman’s Jesse Eisenberg: What Kind of Lex Luthor Can We Expect?

 star Jesse Eisenberg has been cast as Lex Luthor in the forthcoming Batman vs. Superman film.Warner Bros. Announced yesterday that the actor, whose previous genre work includes the cult-hit Zombieland, will take on the role of the billionaire villain, who was previously described as a “Brad Pitt-meets-Richard Branson-type.”(You can see that video, with director Zack Snyder, below.)That certainly suggests that Eisenberg’s signature appearance as billionaire tech magnate and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg may have played a role in envisioning the actor for the part. In many of his other screen appearances, he’s much more humble and awkward.It also seemingly suggests a version of Lex who’s a peer to Clark Kent, as we’ve seen in the comics and on Smallville. Eisenberg, in fact, often has similar characteristics an actor to Michael Rosenbaum, who played Luthor on Smallville.Just how close to that philosophy they’ll play it remains to be seen, but certainly that’s about all we’ve got to go on right now. Snyder spoke again about Lex during a Yahoo! Fan Event with Kevin Smith in support of the Man of Steel Blu-ray release, and gave a tiny bit more insight.”Lex loves calling [Superman] an alien,” Snyder said, “I like that.”(You can see that video below, too.)That makes sense from a director who described his film as a “first contact story” more than a superhero origin. It also plays into a very specific vision of Lex Luthor that many fans have been hoping that we would get a glimpse of. Specifically, it plays into the same kind of depiction of the character from the comic book miniseries Lex Luthor: Man of Steel, in which he talks about Superman as an otherworldly threat from which he’s got to be the one to protect humanity at all costs.We’ve discussed in the past the fact that we could see his character springing from the pages of John Byrne’s The Man of Steel, as well; the powerful and wealthy tycoon who’s used to having whatever he wants, whenever he wants it, is a great counterpoint to somebody like Superman who is inherently selfless. The fact that Superman cannot be bought would irk that version of Luthor, and the fact that he’s the only one powerful enough not to let Luthor get away with whatever he wants to get away with is insult to injury.