Jesse Eisenberg has suggested that his stint as villain Lex Luthor actually ‘hurt his career’ after his film was panned.
The 41-year-old made his debut as the evil mogul in 2016 superhero movie Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, beside Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Laurence Fishburne and Amy Adams.
Despite raking in a whopping $873million at the global box office, Zack Snyder’s DC flick didn’t go down well with critics – it currently has a 29% Rotten Tomatoes score, compared to an audience ranking of 63$.
Unpacking the reception during an appearance on the Armchair Expert podcast, the Oscar-nominee shared: ‘I was in this Batman movie and the Batman movie was so poorly received, and I was so poorly received.
‘I’ve never said this before, and it’s kind of embarrassing to admit, but I genuinely think it actually hurt my career in a real way, because I was poorly received in something so public.
‘I’ve been in poorly received things that just don’t see the light of day, and for the most part, no one knows.
Jesse Eisenberg has opened up about his most panned role (Picture: Getty)
‘But this was so public, and I don’t read notices or reviews or movie press or anything, so I was unaware of how poorly it was received.’
Jesse explained that he took on a lot of the blame for the dismal reviews, during a ‘depressing’ time.
‘I loved my role, and I loved the movie, doing it and everything,’ he told host Dax Shepard. ‘So, I feel just myself is to blame.
‘I’m not like, “They did me wrong.” No. I’m like, “Oh, I guess I did something wrong there.” It did feel like I had to climb out again.
Jesse starred as Lex in the superhero flick (Picture: DC)
Henry Cavill played Superman in the 2016 movie (Picture: DC)
‘It was depressing but I’m depressed all the time. In some ways, it’s like, “Of course I had this great opportunity, of course it didn’t go well”. It’s pessimism.’
At the time, almost all aspects of Batman v Superman were slammed online, from the decision to cast Ben as Batman to the plot itself.
Dissecting Jesse’s performance, Todd McCarthy of the Hollywood Reporter wrote: ‘The villain here, Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor, is so intensely annoying that, very early on, you wish Batman and Superman would just patch up their differences and join forces to put the squirrelly rascal out of his, and our, misery.’
Critics weren’t too kind to Jesse’s efforts (Picture: Shutterstock)
Nick De Semlyen from Empire agreed: ‘Sporting a Banksy T-shirt, chomping on Jolly Ranchers and throwing random “Mmm!”s into his maniacal monologues, the character is going to be an acquired taste.
‘Less up for discussion are his schemes, which are both numerous and not massively well thought out, despite the fact he frequently appears to be omniscient.’
ScreenRant’s Craig Elvy wrote: ‘Batman V Superman’s story is an over-complicated and incoherent tangle of coincidence, convenience and assumption.
‘Lex Luthor’s master plan is perhaps the biggest culprit, leaving the audience to fill gaps and find connections that often simply don’t exist.
He suggested that his career was impacted by the portrayal (Picture: WireImage)
‘Jesse Eisenberg has shown himself to be a stellar actor on a number of occasions, and the issue here is purely one of suitability for the role, not helped by cringe-worthy dialogue.’
Although his portrayal attracted negative reviews, Jesse went on to reprise the role of Lex Luthor in 2017’s Justice League, and the director’s cut in 2021.
Last year, a piece by Collider implored viewers to rewatch the movie, describing the Zombieland star’s version of Lex as an ‘effective’ villain.
He blamed himself for the poor reception (Picture: WireImage)
‘Whatever else one might think of him, it’s hard to deny that Eisenberg’s Lex is a frighteningly proficient antagonist and the film’s tone, visuals, and score contribute greatly to making him a dread-inducing presence,’ Gregory Mysogland wrote.
‘Eisenberg’s work was criticized for being jittery and hyperverbal, with some arguing that his performance would be more fitting if he was playing other DC characters like the Riddler or the Joker.
‘But while it’s true that his Lex isn’t consistently imposing like Clancy Brown’s version of the character from the DC Animated Universe or Michael Rosenbaum’s from Smallville, this actually makes the moments when Eisenberg’s version asserts his power over the heroes even more unnerving.’
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.