Man of Steel‘s Batman vs. Superman sequel just can’t catch a break. First it was Ben Affleck playing Batman, then people were angry about Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, and then it was announced that Jesse Eisenberg would play Lex Luthor. Well, the Internet has shouted loud enough, and Zack Snyder has admitted to being aware of their concerns but says they’d understand if they saw the script.
Speaking to the LA Times, Snyder said,
Unfortunately, the fans don’t know the material. So, we’re casting according to what’s happening in the script. And we’re hoping that leads to enough originality, enough perspective on what we’re doing that you get something fresh and exciting. I understand the canon. I’m not crazy.
This is an important point to remember not just on this movie, but for all casting choices that people don’t understand. If you don’t know what’s in the script, you’re basing your opinion largely on what a character has been in the past and not how they’re going to be portrayed in the future. There are a million possible reasons to cast a specific actor, and you can’t know until the movie comes out.
Instead of getting upset and insisting someone is horrible for a part, it might be more constructive to instead try to theorize what they might do with the character with that actor. Of course, Snyder is in touch with reality, and he understands that the fans want certain things and don’t have a window into the script like he does. He said that he’s keeping an eye on what the fans say and that the feedback is, “reassuring and frustrating at the same time.”
While I agree with him, I’m not 100% sure that he’s right that people would change their tune if they saw the script. The majority of the backlash seems to be over the fact that no one can take Ben Affleck seriously anymore, which I’m guessing has a lot to do with Gigli (which is bizarre in itself, because I’m pretty sure I’m the only person who saw that movie and survived to tell about it).
They can’t seem to see Jesse Eisenberg as anything other than Mark Zuckerberg, either, which is probably a little more unreasonable than the Affleck hate. I may not agree with all the Affleck hate, but at least he had a fairly long career for people to watch and evaluate and get a sense for what kind of actor he is.
Eisenberg is comparatively new, and people are unwilling to believe that he can play anything aside from the roles he’s been typecast in so far, despite that he’s never really been given the chance. If I’d seen Eisenberg try to play a character similar to Lex Luthor and didn’t like how he handled it, I might be concerned, but some people don’t even want to see him try.
Snyder wants you to have faith that he can do it, saying, “I think Jesse is going to be an amazing Lex. Let’s not forget he was nominated for an Academy Award. It’s not like I just grabbed my friend to play the guy! This guy’s the real deal.”
Hear that, Zack Snyder’s friends? You’re poor actors. That’s the correct take-away from that, right?
(via Breathecast, image via Gage Skidmore)
- Some details have come to light about how Lex Luthor will be portrayed
- This is what animated Lex Luthor is like with Eisenberg’s voice
- We had our own ideas on how to handle Eisenberg as Luthor
