We’re still 18 months away from the premier of Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice, but Warner Brothers must be feeling pretty confident with the performance of Jesse Eisenberg as Superman’s longtime nemesis Lex Luthor as Deadline is reporting that the studio is in talks with the actor to reprise the role in their other 2016 scheduled comic book feature film Suicide Squad.
Based out of the Louisiana prison, the Suicide Squad us a group of supervillains pressed into service by the government to perform dangerous black ops missions with the incentive of winning pardons if they succeed. As a follow-up to Batman V Superman, this seems like an odd choice instead of going with a solo film for some of the other superhero characters being introduced into that film like Aquaman (Jason Momoa) or Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot). It is possible that writer/director David Ayer’s screenplay might be the only one in strong enough shape to go into production. Maybe more will become clear when we see the film and how it relates to the other comic book adaptations on Warners slate.
Reportedly the likes of Will Smith, Tom Hardy and Margot Robbie are also being pursued for roles in the picture, but Eisenberg would be a good fit for the film as it adds a major character whom audiences have already seen into a film featuring numerous characters non-comic book fans might not be that familiar with.
Warners did not comment when asked by Deadline for confirmation, so we should take this with a pinch of salt. It should be noted that the studio is working quickly to get the film cast and in front of cameras by next spring in order to meet its August 5, 2016 announced released date. However, Eisenberg does have a lot on his plate already including him possibly headlining director Todd Phillips’ Arms And The Dudes as well as returning for Now You See Me 2, which has also been stated to be a priority 2016 release for the studio.
What’s interesting about this report, and unremarked on in Deadline’s story, is that if Eisenberg is in talks with Warners for a further appearance as Lex Luthor, it suggests that the studio did not secure the actor with options for multiple films in the way that Marvel Studios has signed their leads for numerous film appearances for their shared cinematic comic book universe. We know that the likes of Henry (Superman) Cavill, Ben (Batman) Affleck and Gadot have definitely signed contracts with sequel options, so the idea that the studio just forgot to do so in Eisenberg’s case doesn’t hold much water.
