Jesse Eisenberg will play Lex Luthor and Jeremy Irons is Alfred in Batman vs Superman.
Really? I mean… WHAT. THE. FUCK. These choices don’t even make any sense.
Eisenberg isn’t my idea of Lex Luthor, but what’s not to like about Jeremy Irons?
He seems too active to be Alfred. Especially the Alfred to an older, established Batman. I’d expect Jeremy Irons to play Commissioner Gordon, out there going toe-to-toe with The Joker, not sitting in Wayner Manor dusting the Batcomputer.
If this film wasn’t already doomed…
Someone in another thread recently pointed out that we kinda sorta think of movie stars the way we remember ‘em, as the decades quietly pile up in the background; long story short, Irons is now sixty-five, which is plenty older than even frickin’ Alan Napier was back when; I don’t think he’s still up for swashbuckling as one of the Three Musketeers the way he did in his forties.
Wait, this movie is now officially a “versus”? That goes well for about one page of a comic book, before the characters realize they’re on the same side and team up. But a whole movie?
I don’t really have an opinion on Eisenberg one way or the other - I’ve only seen him in Zombieland. He certainly has the right look for Luthor, once you shave his head.
I don’t really see the problem with Irons. He’s sixty five - how active do you expect him to be?
Irons is a good choice as he is at least a good actor. Eisenberg’s “range” (aside from Zombieland) is varying degrees of annoying. I don’t have high hopes for the project,especially in the wake of Man of Steel.
I think Jeremy Irons could be good. In my opinion, Eisenberg is much too young.
The movie’s still officially untitled. Batman vs Superman is just a working title.
Irons has disappointed me in all of one film- Dungeons & Dragons. Considering that the script sucked, the director sucked and especially considering the high level of performance Irons usually gives, I’m more than willing to give him a chance.
OTTOMH (Another geek will, I’m sure, correct me if I’m wrong) Alfred is a gentleman’s gentleman. Not quite concealed by his British reserve is a warmth and love for his friends and family. Buried so deep most people never know it’s there is that fact that Alfred was special forces in Her Majesty’s Army. If you hurt somebody close to him he is ready, willing and able to kill you.
I think Jeremy Irons is very capable of showing all that.
In some (most?) continuities, Alfred is a former British spy or member of the British military. Though he’s often still presented as more docile, it’s still touched on in the best known continuities. In TDK, he references his time in Burma, and in the TAS episode The Lion and the Unicorn, he’s kidnapped by Red Claw because he holds some information left over from those days.
So, I think it’s quite possible, and in fact likely, that they’ll perhaps play up that side of Alfred. After all, if Batman is going to compete with Superman, he’ll need all the help he can get, and I think playing up that aspect of Alfred’s character could help make Batman more of a badass. If this is the direction they’re going, and it is the one I think they should go, they could do a lot worse than someone like Jeremey Irons.
I’m also of the opinion that, generally, it’s important to get some big name talent in critical supporting roles, especially if they can’t be in the role of the hero and/or villain. This is why getting the likes of Russell Crowe as Jor’El, Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent, or in the Marvel world, Anthony Hopkins as Odin, Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury, etc. was important and worked well. Following in this, Alfred is the kind of character that I think really needs to have big name, top talent since he’s so pivotal to the Batman character, and I think Jeremy Irons is a name that fits that description.
As for Jesse Eisenberg… I don’t see it, at all. I get wanting to get someone a little younger so he can play the role for a while. Yes, Lex Luthor doesn’t need to me, and maybe even shouldn’t be, physically imposing, but he needs to excude that cold, calculating, super-intelligent businessman, and I just don’t see that there. I could have seen some of the other rumors for the role working, but not this one.
Before I get worked up though, does anyone know how reliable the sources are that are reporting all of this? There’s been TONS of rumors about castings for this film, many of which turned out to be false, so I’m going to be more skeptical any of these sorts of casting reports.
I saw him in The Social Network as Jeff Zuckerberg, so it’s hard to picture him as Lex Luthor. A super-rich evil genius? Come on!
Plus, it’s been useful shorthand even with no specifics in the comics: Alfred, who was in the military, knows how to handle a gun and can administer first aid.
So Alfred is going to be hawt.
Did you click the link? This is no rumor, it’s an official announcement from Warner Bros.
Cavill and Eisenberg are the same age, just like Clark and Lex back when their origin stories had them growing up together.
He’s the exact same age as Cavill/Superman.
I couldn’t, it’s blocked at work. I searched and ready another article before I responded, but it didn’t mention the source.
Lex Luthor should be physically intimidating as well. Not quite on par with Kingpin, but he should be pretty yolked. I could see Eisenberg playing an evil character, but he definitely doesn’t have it in the size department.