Entertainment

Meet Lex Luthor, Because He’s Not Just a Fictional Character from an Upcoming Movie

Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment have been doing something interesting with one part of their marketing for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. They’re treating Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor as a real person and not a fictional character.

It started last October with this tweet:

 

We learned two things from this tweet. One, Eisenberg is not playing Lex Luthor, but Lex Luthor’s son. Or if he is playing the Lex Luthor we know, he’s playing a younger version of him, as a son and before he really becomes the Luthor we do know.

And two, his character is in an important part of their marketing campaign.

Any news or interview done with Lex Luthor is not done under the guise of being from BvS, though we all know he is. The articles never mention Eisenberg’s name, or Zack Synder’s, or DC’s.

Luthor is instead treated as a fully realized person, and it’s a fascinating way to both build a character and a world that’s different from the usual interview where an actor or director tells us what this character or world is like. We instead get to see it for ourselves – it’s a great example of show, don’t tell.

The latest interview is with Wired and the full thing can be found here.

It’s a compelling piece of journalism, at least in terms of the character they’re trying to carve out for Luthor. Check out this snippet:

RON TROUPE: Would you say you’re a man who’s always gotten what he wants?

LEX LUTHOR: Nice pivot. Here’s mine: What I want is to leave the planet in better shape for the next generation. To make the world and its children safer. I want it. And I bet you do too, Ron.

RON TROUPE: You sound like someone running for political office.

LEX LUTHOR: If that matches their rhetoric, then maybe I should pay more attention to the candidates; I might want to back a few of them. The world is changing faster than we anticipated; we’ve all seen it. More than ever, we need leaders who not only comprehend the new threats facing us, but who will seriously and thoughtfully address them.

RON TROUPE: You’ve been very vocal about that. About the new superhuman threat.

LEX LUTHOR: Well I don’t know where you got that term. I think to be a super human, one should begin by being, you know, from this planet.

RON TROUPE: Bad choice of words?

LEX LUTHOR: We should all be careful when we elevate anyone, human or alien, to “super” status.

RON TROUPE: Because we’re all equal.

LEX LUTHOR: Well that’s just absurd. No – I’m saying we need to be selective and elevate the right people. The right human people.

He goes on to talk about Batman and vigilantism and it’s such an interesting take on Luthor’s character, and shaping him for this film. He might have been the most awkward part of the recent trailer, but this interview paints BvS’ Luthor as calculating, cold, and harsh.

I’ll admit I’m still very much on the fence for this movie, but I can say they’ve successfully piqued my interest re: Lex Luthor, and that’s not something I expected.

Wired is also doing a special print edition and they just released the front cover:

Special January issue of #wired here at #ces2016 #batmanvsuperman

A photo posted by Cheryl Vuong (@cherylvuong) on

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, directed by Zack Snyder and starring Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Diane Lane, Jeremy Irons, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, and Laurence Fishburne, is set to hit theaters on March 25, 2016.

What do you think of this version of Lex Luthor and how they’re creating him? Let us know in the comments!

Source: Wired

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