Last week's news that Jesse Eisenberg would be taking the role of Lex Luthor in Zack Snyder's 2016 release Batman vs. Superman was inevitably met with cries of lamentation across the web, along with the usual sprinkling of those hopeful that the strange casting might just work, in the same way it did with Nolan's Joker. To be sure, even with months of internet speculation and hundreds of names thrown into the ring including Joaquin Phoenix and Bryan Cranston, no one came close to predicting Eisenberg as a candidate for the villainous role. While it's certainly a strange choice, that doesn't necessarily mean the role or the movie is automatically doomed. To paraphrase Jon Stewart's reaction to Batfleck on The Daily Show, it's not like Eisenberg is now Luthor in all of your comic books, too - these characters have the ability to bounce back from a poor onscreen portrayal. Just ask Spider-man. Still, it'd be great to see Eisenberg pull a Heath ledger and nail the performance unexpectedly, and to do that he and the writers for Batman vs. Superman are going to have to pay a lot of attention to earlier models of Luthor. There are essential character elements that must be incorporated into this version of the character, most of which are traits and qualities explored in the comics that built a strong foundation for Luthor as Superman's greatest adversary. But previous big screen versions - those of Gene Hackman and Kevin Spacey - and television incarnations - including the animated character and Michael Rosenbaum's role on Smallville - should be considered as well in Snyder and Goyer's grand vision for Luthor. Each of these touched on different pieces of Lex to varying degrees of effectiveness, and it would be exciting to see Eisenberg replicate the best of these and bring to life those that have thus far gone overlooked. Eisenberg certainly has his work cut out for him, so let's hope he's up to the challenge - here are 7 already established details that he should pay attention to before tackling Lex Luthor.
