People weren’t too happy with Batman v. Superman: Dawn Of Justice. I consider myself literally one of the biggest Batman fans on earth, and even I thought it was very, ehhh. I liked it, just not as much as I wish I had. My biggest issue with the film, BY FAR, Jesse Eisenberg’s portrayal of Lex Luthor. It was overly campy, corny, and a downright confused performance. He was essentially the mad scientist version of Mark Zuckerberg.
Well, DC may have bought themselves an out. Via Cosmic Book News:
A new scene between Lex (Eisenberg) and Senator Finch seemingly reveals that Lex Sr. may be alive. That’s right, Eisenberg is playing Lex Jr. in the movie.
“Maybe if I keep everything the same, Dad will come back,” Lex Jr. tells Senator Finch.
A Tumblr fan who has seen the footage describes the scene as: “He talks about his Dad almost as if he’s not dead.”
So what does any of this mean? Well, DC actually built themselves quite a sly backdoor. With the foresight to see that Eisenberg’s portrayal may bomb, they made his character Lex Luthor JR, leaving open the door for a potential switcheroo.
It was first thought that Lex Sr. was dead due to a joint promotion between WB and Fortune magazine. A promotional “interview” with Lex Jr. revealed that Lex Sr. had “passed away unexpectedly in 2000.” But does that mean Lex Sr. actually died? Or did he disappear and was presumed dead? We can even speculate that the promo interview may simply have nothing do with the movie as it’s just a part of a viral marketing campaign (or even incorrect).
Now, all the sh*t you just read only matters if Cranston wants the role. At first, he showed hesitation, not wanting to be typecast as “the evil bald guy”, as he was fresh off the heels Breaking Bad. However, in 2016, three years removed from the legendary show, his tune has changed:
The good news is that if WB does decide to bring back Lex Sr., that quite possibly Bryan Cranston may want the role. Cranston changed his tune in regards to playing a villain as last October saw Cranston make mention he would like to play a “big superhero villain,” though at the time he mentioned for a Marvel movie (as possibly he thought he dropped the ball in regards to DC’s Lex?).
Man oh man, can you imagine Cranston as Lex Luthor. It would bring immediate cache to the franchise. Had they brought him in for BvS, I can guarantee the fan reaction would have been at least twice as positive.
We can only hope.
[h/t Cosmic Book News]