Jesse Eisenberg is Luthor, Jeremy Irons is Alfred

[The Joker]

If you check the full fake article on the 'Fortune' magazine website, it says Sr. died in 2000, so I don't think it had anything to do with the Superman/Zod battle.  In fact, I'd say it was heavily implied that Jr. killed pops himself.

What a Post-Crisis' thing to do.

[johnnygobbs]

I've read a theory, that I like and would go some way to redeeming this apparent version of Lex Luthor for me, and that is that Lex Jr. is in fact a (young) clone of Lex Sr. which would explain the former's 'unexpected entrance' and the latter's 'unexpected' death.  Maybe 'Lex Jr.' could explain it all by stating that he was in a foreign boarding school or kept away from the public with private tutors for the early parts of his life (i.e. pre-2000).

But would this 'gritty and realistic' version of the DC Cinematic Universe go for such an outlandish plotline?

[The Joker]

I've read a theory, that I like and would go some way to redeeming this apparent version of Lex Luthor for me, and that is that Lex Jr. is in fact a (young) clone of Lex Sr. which would explain the former's 'unexpected entrance' and the latter's 'unexpected' death.  Maybe 'Lex Jr.' could explain it all by stating that he was in a foreign boarding school or kept away from the public with private tutors for the early parts of his life (i.e. pre-2000).

That's ... pretty much Lex Luthor II. Not sure if you're referring to a clone who may or may not have retained the memories of Senior, but yeah, that would be another Post-Crisis thing to do.

But would this 'gritty and realistic' version of the DC Cinematic Universe go for such an outlandish plotline?

Probably. With Justice League, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, Shazam!, ect, being scheduled/considered, the whole DC Extended Universe, or whatever it's called, is just going to get more and more fantastical as it goes. A clone should be easily acceptable.

[The Laughing Fish]

Here is another piece of viral marketing: a corporate video from LexCorp promoting its new operating system.

[The Laughing Fish]

Here's another fake interview of Lex speaking to Ron Troupe. 

It shows good insight of Lex's attitude and explores his sense of responsibility of the world around him. The reference to a video game in the beginning feels like the kind of dialogue that Joss Whedon would write.

Source: http://www.wired.com/brandlab/2015/12/lexical-analysis-lex-luthor-on-disrupting-the-vigilante-industrial-complex/

[Edd Grayson]

I like Jeremy Irons as Alfred... better than the one on Gotham, anywyay, so far.

So, they did get one part right out of the thread title. 

[The Laughing Fish]

Looking back at the fuss over Eisenberg as Lex in BvS, I got to admit that like a lot of people, I kinda wished we saw a more traditional, Post Crisis corrupt businessman.

The problem is we already had that kind of villain, with Jeff Bridges starring as Obadiah Stane in Iron Man.

Stane might not have been in charge of Stark Industries, but he was seen as the respected businessman who was doing a lot of manipulation behind the scenes. The difference is, Stane's agenda focused on war profiteering, whereas Lex in BvS projecting his hatred of deity onto Superman, making it more ideological.

Eisenberg gets a lot of flack for overacting, but I found his Lex to be rather manic than silly for the most part. I only thought he was overacting in the helipad scene, i.e. the way he mocks Superman by saying "We've got big problems up here". It didn't fit to me. Otherwise, I thought he was a far more menacing villain than he's given credit for, i.e. manipulating Batman and Superman to battle each other, how he chose the troubled Batman as his champion to defeat Superman etc. Sure, he's not perfect, but what is?

[thecolorsblend]

Looking back at the fuss over Eisenberg as Lex in BvS, I got to admit that like a lot of people, I kinda wished we saw a more traditional, Post Crisis corrupt businessman.

The problem is we already had that kind of villain, with Jeff Bridges starring as Obadiah Stane in Iron Man.

Stane might not have been in charge of Stark Industries, but he was seen as the respected businessman who was doing a lot of manipulation behind the scenes. The difference is, Stane's agenda focused on war profiteering, whereas Lex in BvS projecting his hatred of deity onto Superman, making it more ideological.

Eisenberg gets a lot of flack for overacting, but I found his Lex to be rather manic than silly for the most part. I only thought he was overacting in the helipad scene, i.e. the way he mocks Superman by saying "We've got big problems up here". It didn't fit to me. Otherwise, I thought he was a far more menacing villain than he's given credit for, i.e. manipulating Batman and Superman to battle each other, how he chose the troubled Batman as his champion to defeat Superman etc. Sure, he's not perfect, but what is?

The corrupt businessman thing had also been done really with Smallville. That version of Lex was icy cool and detached. Probably about as close as Lex will ever come to being portrayed as a Michael Corleone figure.

On that basis, an unhinged and kind of manic Lex who clowns a bit in public but goes off the deep end in private is pretty innovative. It's a pretty original way to play Lex Luthor that hadn't been done before. I'd wondered when Lex would be portrayed as the head of a tech company along the lines of Google or something and here we are. I've got very few problems with Lex as shown in BVS. And I dig how it leads to Lex as a criminal mastermind, which hasn't really been done in live action (unless those serials from the 40's count).

[The Dark Knight]

I've enjoyed Hardy's Bane in recent years due to the extensive damage he inflicts upon Batman and Gotham. But my choice for best DC villain, especially in recent years, is EisenLex. I think he's more intelligent than Hardy's Bane, and perhaps even more ruthless. He's a true strategist and string puller.

Strong likelihood of killing his father
Orchestrates the Africa frame job on Superman with the bullets and flamethrower
Smuggles in krypronite
Had metahuman data
Gets access to Zod's corpse and creates Doomsday, who kills Superman
Orchestrates a prison murder
Knew both Batman and Superman's identities
Manipulated Batman to kill Superman
Uses a cripple, giving him a new wheelchair covered in lead and containing a bomb
Using said bomb to kill everyone at the hearing, including Mercy
Has the whistleblower killed by an oncoming train
Has Martha kidnapped, and pushes Lois off a building
Awakens Steppenwolf

Just look at the sheer volume of plotting there. Very impressive. Plus, his hair is similar to mine.