Eisenberg Says His Luthor is 'Troubled, Competitive and Vengeful

[Catwoman]

http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/eisenberg-says-his-batman-v-superman-luthor-is-troubled-competitive-and-vengeful

This was really interesting and made me more curious and optimistic about what this character might be.

[Edd Grayson]

Well, he's no Max Shreck, but he can get better.

[The Dark Knight]

Sounds promising. I'm guessing the 'real' Luthor is what we see behind closed doors. I believe Eisenberg can bring a level of complexity and darkness to the character that some aren't expecting.

[thecolorsblend]

So this Luthor is "scary" in the right circumstances... which, I gather, don't include hosting a schmooze-fest party for the press and the 1%.

Gee, if only some colorful member of this forum would've said so sooner...

[Edd Grayson]

Still, Eisenberg has to be capable of that. If he convinces me, then no complaint.

[Catwoman]

So this Luthor is "scary" in the right circumstances... which, I gather, don't include hosting a schmooze-fest party for the press and the 1%.

Gee, if only some colorful member of this forum would've said so sooner...

If the colors have blended it's not exactly colorful

[The Laughing Fish]

Snyder and Zuckerberg spoke about Lex and the actor's approach a bit further.

Citing his intense and indeed award-winning turn as Mark Zuckerberg in the David Fincher drama, Snyder spoke to Empire recently about the qualities that Eisenberg can bring to such an iconic DC villain.

"Just from a pop-cultural viewpoint you can't pretend the movie doesn't exist. Because he has played Mark Zuckerberg, Jesse represents a very contemporary sort of business model. In the sort of post-dotcom world where fortunes can be made from your basement, it is not hard to image Jesse-as-Lex being as powerful as he is."

As for Eisenberg's take on the part, he championed the way in which the character was written – part dramatic intensity, part psychological. Through time, Luthor proved to be exactly the kind of complex character that the actor relishes, and here he teases that clash between intellect and insanity.

"It was written in a way I would say dovetails with my skills, it was written with a real psychological underpinning, it was written with a kind of humor that I knew I could do. And with a dramatic intensity that I enjoy. If there are some surface similarities to another role, an audience will tend to see that. An actor won't. He uses wordplay and very clever allusions to other stories and myths, but it never compromises what is scary about him... He is the guy who won't sleep to get something done."

Source: http://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/jesse-eisenberg-says-lex-luthor-is-a-warped-mix-of-intellect-and-insanity-in-batman-v-superman-dawn-of-justice/

If thecolorsblend is right about Lex being a chameleon in public, but is actually a madman inside, I'll happily stand corrected. And you can say that the trailers have hinted his manipulative fear-mongering i.e. "devils don't come beneath us...they come from the sky".

[johnnygobbs]

If thecolorsblend is right about Lex being a chameleon in public, but is actually a madman inside, I'll happily stand corrected. And you can say that the trailers have hinted his manipulative fear-mongering i.e. "devils don't come beneath us...they come from the sky".

I have no problem with the conception, but the problem still remains, and that's Jesse Eisenberg's casting and performance.

If, as some have suggested and as the entire article hints (there is reference to a big secret regarding the character), Lex turns out to be a younger clone of himself, then I will be much happier.  But so far the character just looks like a regurgitation of the whiny brat from "Smallville".

[Grissom]

I think we;ll see a progression of his dark side as the film goes along. We might get a truly despicable Lex by the end of the film and he could be the one to cause the "issues" that the Justice League will have to face in Justice League Part 1.

[johnnygobbs]

I think we;ll see a progression of his dark side as the film goes along. We might get a truly despicable Lex by the end of the film and he could be the one to cause the "issues" that the Justice League will have to face in Justice League Part 1.

I only want to see a 'truly despicable' Lex if there is a good reason for him being so despicable.  Otherwise he's just a two-dimensional moustache-twirling (figuratively-speaking) monster, and that's not Lex should be about.

That's partly why I wanted an older actor in the part because that experience and gravitas might explain why someone developed into such an evil being.  Having him as some whiz-kid doesn't have the same resonance, unless we discover that Lex is in fact a clone of his 'father'.