'Justice League' Plot and Cast News: Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor Is Absent in First Test Screening?
After years of trying to unite the members of Justice League for the group's upcoming movie, Warner Bros. has finally realized its vision and recently held a test screening of the film. The screening drew mixed reactions from fans, but one report that stood out after the event talked about the absence of Lex Luthor.
According to reports, Superman's archenemy, who was portrayed by Jesse Eisenberg, was not featured in the "Justice League" cut that was screened for test audiences a few days ago. Fans last caught a glimpse of Eisenberg's take on Lex Luthor in the previous DC flick "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," which was helmed by Zack Snyder.
Eisenberg's character's absence in the recent screening was first reported by the website Batman-News.com, which took to Twitter to announce: "Batman News can confirm that the current cut of #JusticeLeague does NOT include Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor scenes."
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In "Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice," Eisenberg's performance was critically acclaimed for being one of the most polarizing aspects of the movie. His portrayal of the character was reminiscent of his take on Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who he portrayed in David Fincher's Academy Award-winning movie "The Social Network." Since it was announced that he would reprise his role as Lex Luthor in "Justice League," many fans were left to wonder how the actor would give justice to his role as Superman's adversary in the new film.
There are speculations that Eisenberg's non-appearance in the recent "Justice League" test screening suggested the considerable alterations that director Joss Whedon had done to the movie since replacing Snyder. It can be recalled that after the latter stepped down as director, Whedon was brought on board to helm the movie and even tweak the original script. Although it is unlikely that Lex Luthor is now totally out of the picture, it is possible that the character has been sidelined due to Whedon's rumored decision to give more focus to the other bad guy, Darkseid.
"Justice League" will open in U.S. movie theaters on Nov. 17.
