Batman V Superman: Ranking The Characters By Anticipation

4. Lex Luthor

As mentioned before, Lex Luthor has turned up in the flesh in every Superman film except Man of Steel, and absolutely no one was surprised when it was announced he'd be a part of Batman v Superman. He's Superman's most important enemy and easily neck and neck with the Joker as DC's most recognizable villain, as people who know nothing about Superman could still tell you who Lex is thanks to decades and decades of his conflict with the Kryptonian being embedded in pop culture. What did come as a surprise, though, was the casting of Jesse Eisenberg in the role, with the timid, neurotic roles he's been mainly attributed to being far removed from the type of imposing persona typically associated with Lex. Between the actual casting and the footage released since, it seems opinions are still pretty mixed, with just as many people holding out cautious optimism as there are people already dismissing it. Ideally, he'll subvert all the negativity - much in the same way Heath Ledger proved all the naysayers wrong with his turn as the Joker in The Dark Knight - and prove to be a highlight of the film, but no one can judge it until we've seen it in full. Many fingers are crossed to see the end result, and it's hard not to look forward to finding out whether everyone can finally breathe sighs of relief instead of disappointment.