By Julie Catherine
It’s an uncertain time for DC movies and shows as new Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav takes charge. The controversial cancellation of Batgirl sent shockwaves through the industry and signal that anything and everything is possible in the world of DC right now.
A particularly unlikely, but not improbable, possibility is the return of Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor. At a Q&A at the 28th Sarajevo Film Festival, Eisenberg spoke about a potential return as the iconic Superman villain.
“I’d be shocked if I wound up in a DC movie, but it would be a pleasant shock. Listen, I’m not a comic book fan. To me, it was not playing a role that I’d envisioned since childhood. To me, it was a chance to play this great character that this great writer wrote, and I loved doing that.”
Eisenberg debuted as Luthor in the divisive Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, before making cameo appearances in the theatrical cut of Justice League and Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Eisenberg’s eccentric portrayal of the character was met with mixed reception from fans and critics alike, but the return of Ben Affleck’s Batman to the fold in The Flash and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom suggest key elements of Zack Snyder’s DCEU are sticking around.
Eisenberg spoke about the impact of the initially poor reception to Batman v Superman.
“I felt very personal about it. The writer, Chris Terrio, is a very serious writer, and he’s a very emotional person. He thought a lot about my character, and I thought a lot about my character too. I talked with my acting coach about the character a lot, about his backstory with his father and his emotional life—and then people hate me.”
Whether Eisenberg returns as Lex Luthor remains up in the air, but the future of DC films is more in flux than ever, making anything and everything possible.