Career Blow: Actor Regrets Playing DC Super-Villain 8 Years Ago

Oscar-nominated actor Jesse Eisenberg recently discussed his “poorly received” role as Lex Luthor in Zack Snyder’s Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Justice League (2017), describing the negative impact it had on his career.

“I was in that Batman movie, and the Batman movie got such terrible reviews, and I was reviewed terribly,” he revealed on Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast (via Deadline). “I’ve never said this before, and it’s kind of embarrassing to admit, but I really think it hurt my career because I was badly received in something so public.”

Although Batman v. Superman was panned by critics – holding a 29% rating on Rotten Tomatoes – it soared at the box office, earning $874 million globally. Justice League followed with a slightly better rating of 39% and worldwide earnings of $661 million. However, both films remain critically unacclaimed.

“I’ve been in poorly received films that just disappear, and mostly, no one knows about them,” Eisenberg continued. “But this was so public, and I don’t read reviews or film press, so I wasn’t aware of the bad reception.”

Regardless of the impact the DC films had on his career, Jesse Eisenberg seems to have bounced back, having recently received two Golden Globe nominations for his film A Real Pain, which he wrote, directed, and starred in alongside Kieran Culkin – nominations for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy and Best Screenplay.

Eisenberg previously told Deadline that he hasn’t ruled out a return to the DC Universe on screen. “I would be shocked if I ended up in a DC movie again, but it would be a pleasant shock,” he said in 2022.

“Listen, I’m not a comic book fan. For me, it wasn’t about playing a role I had dreamed of since childhood,” he added. “For me, it was a chance to play this great character that this great writer had written, and I loved doing that. So, playing him is a joy, and not playing him isn’t something I’ll be ashamed to tell my kids about, because it’s not an important genre in my life, even though I loved making that movie.”

Thus, a positive experience during filming but bittersweet in its reception for the actor, who will soon be seen in A Real Pain, set to hit screens on February 26, 2025. AlloCiné has previewed the film and highly recommends it!

Check out the trailer for the film below: