12 Most Surprising Revelations In 2016's Comic Book Movies

Not what we expected.

Jena Malone Batgirl
tumblr

For better and for worse, 2016's comic book movies sure as Hell surprised us, both in terms of their content, and in the case of the DC Extended Universe, their quality also.

Sure, not everything worked out quite how every fan wanted it to, but 2016 didn't want for "Holy s***!" reveals, from epic moments torn straight from the comics, to outlandish plot details, questionable alterations to the source material, and some revelations that just weren't quite as thrilling as we'd hoped.

It can't all be great, of course, but these moments definitely provoked a reaction from viewers one way or another...

12. Jesse Eisenberg Was Actually Lex Luthor Jr. - Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice

Jena Malone Batgirl
Warner Bros.

The Revelation: Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor is in fact a second-generation incarnation of the supervillain, the son of Lex Luthor Sr.

Why It Was Surprising: It was widely expected that Eisenberg would simply be playing a Mark Zuckerberg-esue reinvention of Luthor, but in fact a more traditional Lex Luthor figure did actually exist in this continuity, dying long before the movie's events and leaving LexCorp to his son.

In fairness, it mostly felt like a half-hearted attempt to defend against criticisms from purists that Eisenberg's take was too radical and different from both the source material and previous cinematic portrayals of the character.

Lex Jr's daddy issues clearly fed into his cloudy motives for engineering the titular battle, and while this aspect of the film was basically a mess, at least it was more interesting than yet another goofy real estate plot.

Some viral marketing for the movie did actually state that Eisenberg was playing Lex Jr. ahead of time, but for most, it was a huge surprise when they sat down to watch the movie.

Contributor
Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.