The decision to cast Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice came as a surprise to comic book fans, especially as the character has typically been portrayed as being quite a bit older (hence why Bryan Cranston was a fan-favourite choice).
While Zack Snyder’s version definitely shares some similarities with various takes on Lex’s comic book counterpart, it’s been clear from the start that we’re getting something new.
Well, a new piece of viral marketing in Fortune Magazine reveals that Eisenberg is playing Alexander Luthor, Jr. The article describes him as, “a 31-year-old wunderkind who transformed an aging petrochemical and heavy machinery dinosaur into a tech darling of the Fortune 500 in what some call a superhuman feat,” so he’s clearly responsible for turning his father’s company into the major force it’s become by the time we’re introduced to it.
After all, the article also mentions that unlike Wayne Enterprises, LexCorp has been taking on a lot of military companies, so he’s clearly got something planned. In fact, Batman v Superman’s Lex is apparently working on something he claims will change the world!
“It’s about safety This is a product that will protect you, and everyone, from threats you don’t even know about yet. I don’t want to scare anybody… much. But there are a lot of threats out there, and they’re here today.” That has to have something to do with Superman!
So, is Eisenberg’s Lex the son of the Lex we all know and love from the comic books? That doesn’t appear to be the case. We already know that the actor shaved his head for the role, and it instead seems far more likely that they’ve just made him a “Jr.” to emphasise the fact that he didn’t build the company himself; if he inherited it, it also makes him an interesting parallel to Bruce Wayne as their two companies are no doubt going to be in competition.
We’ll just have to wait and see, but let us know your thoughts in the comments section…
