Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice promised to be the big one in 2016 – the blockbuster to cement the DC Extended Universe as the MCU’s biggest challenger. Now, eight years later, one of its stars believes his performance harmed his career.
The expectations for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice were through the roof. For the first time on the big screen, the Bat of Gotham and the Last Son of Krypton were going to square off. It would be the greatest cinematic crossover since Freddy Krueger and Jason Voorhees stabbed each other in Freddy vs. Jason, or the Xenomorph and Yautja fought for the right to be the best murderous extraterrestrial in Alien vs. Predator.
Unfortunately, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice received a critical beatdown that didn’t require any Kryptonite spears to do damage, receiving a 29% critical approval score and 63% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It also resulted in the infamous sad Affleck meme where poor Ben Affleck appears devastated to be involved in the press tour. The reception sent Warner Bros. and DC into crisis mode – a state they haven’t quite recovered from.
Audience and critics took many issues with the movie, particularly Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor. Now Eisenberg has finally spoken up about the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice backlash and how it affected his career. Appearing on the Armchair Expert podcast, the actor said:
“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, 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.”
Eisenberg’s comments did the rounds on X, with various users having their say. Some said it was his fault that he put in such a terrible performance as Lex, while others laid the blame squarely at Snyder’s feet. One commentator, in particular, didn’t hold back: “Snyder ruins everything he touches. Sad to see!”
Even if someone is a fan of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, there’s no disputing that Eisenberg’s version of Lex feels unfamiliar to the general audience. He comes across more like a caffeine-fueled Mark Zuckerberg from The Social Network mixed with the enigma of the Riddler than he does the Man of Steel’s greatest foe.
At the same time, the massacred theatrical cut did his character no favors, as most of Lex’s complex grand plan ended up on the editing room’s floor. If someone watches the director’s cut of the film, his scheme makes more sense. Maybe if that version of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice had been released in the first place, audiences would have reacted differently to Eisenberg’s Lex. Regardless, Eisenberg’s time as Lex is well and truly over. Let’s see how Nicholas Hoult’s version of the character fares in 2025’s Superman.