'Batman v Superman' star Jesse Eisenberg claims he'd 'never seen a superhero movie' before joining the project
Jesse Eisenberg's portrayal of evil Lex Luthor in 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' will always be etched in our minds, even though the film won't. In a recent interview, the actor said he had only '90 minutes to read the script' and this was rather mind-boggling for him as he had never even seen a superhero film before.
The DC film was penned by 'Man Of Steel' writer David S Goyer and rewritten by Academy Award winner Chris Terrio. The film saw the evil Lex Luthor conspire and plot to kill the ever-invincible Superman (Henry Cavill). Luthor raved about mythologies and referred to figures such as Prometheus and Zeus. Eisenberg said he found the script "intellectually probing".
He said, "They gave me like an hour and a half to read the script. They said, 'Do you want to play this character? Here's the script. In about an hour and a half, it's going to be deleted from your computer. So I sat down to read it and it just took forever, because it was so dense. There were references to things I'd never heard of, I was shocked. Because I'd never seen a superhero movie, because I live in a bubble or whatever, and so I thought it was just going to be people flying around for a hundred pages."
He added, "I don't know how many people watching that movie know his references even if they stayed in the final cut of the movie. But that script was one of the most dense scripts I've read intellectually. Because this guy who wrote it, he's a genius. It was weird in that kind of a movie to have dialogue that is so sophisticated and like referencing Greek literature and philosophy and the great moral struggles of the world, but in this kind of superhero movie."
In another interview, Eisenberg said he would love to be brought back in the film. However, he's unsure whether Warner Bros really knows what they're doing with the films, as they had received heavy backlash from critics and fans alike. "For me it was exhilarating. I would love to play that role forever. I have no knowledge about what they’re doing with it. You can do anything [with the character] and it's right. You can be as funny, as dramatic, as crazed, as sensitive [as you want]. The character is open to any interpretation. It's not a prescribed, acceptable role that the audience feels they have to like or see themselves in, so that's the kind of freeing role that actors like," Eisenberg said, who had taken on the role briefly in 'Justice League', which was directed by Joss Whedon after Zack Snyder had to leave the film due to a personal tragedy.
'Justice League' was panned by critics and received an abysmal 40 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and had an upsetting run at the box office. DC's plans had to be shifted around, and several changes were made. Ben Affleck was replaced by Robert Pattinson and a 'Flash' film that was announced for 2018 was delayed and 'Cyborg' film never got made. The campaign to see the original Snyder film started, and rumors began to circulate that Snyder's version of the film was much darker. Snyder stoked the fire and started sharing unseen images from the film.
