Jesse Eisenberg a questionable selection as the next Lex Luthor

If you thought Zack Snyder and company would have learned from last year’s disappointing Superman reboot “Man of Steel,” think again: Jesse Eisenberg — best known for playing Mark Zuckerberg in “The Social Network” — has been cast as notorious supervillain Lex Luthor in the sequel.

For those unversed in their Superman literature, Lex Luthor is Superman’s archrival, as well as a figure of power and intellect who even becomes president of the United States in the series.

Eisenberg joins a well-known club of actors who have portrayed the villain, whose most notable members include Kevin Spacey in the equally awful “Superman Returns” (2006), Gene Hackman in “Superman” (1978) and Michael Rosenbaum in the popular television series “Smallville.”

Although I can — surprisingly — picture him without any hair, Eisenberg isn’t half as intimidating as any of his predecessors. Nor does he fit the bill physically. IMDb.com has him listed at 5-foot-7, whereas Henry Cavill, who will reprise his role as Superman, is 6-foot-1. Did anyone mention to Eisenberg yet that Luthor is bald? 

Apart from his portrayal as Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg in “The Social Network” (which got him an Academy Award nomination for best actor), his resumé is composed of mostly typecast roles as an awkward, curly-haired dude. These include angsty teen-dramedy “Adventureland” (2009), “Zombieland” (2009) and the woefully unfunny “30 Minutes or Less” (2011). His thin frame and nerdy, laid-back style would be better suited to play craftier roles, such as the far more innocuous Riddler, than one of DC’s powerhouse evil villains. 

So far there doesn’t seem to be much to look forward to in this movie, apart from seeing Superman fight Batman. That’ll be awesome. But this is the second surprising (and disheartening) casting decision that has been made for this film. Popular actor and Boston native Ben Affleck playing Bruce Wayne is like Roger Moore and his red hair playing James Bond: Big names don’t necessarily make good characters. I thought we already learned this lesson when George Clooney tried his hand at the Dark Knight in “Batman & Robin” (1997). 

Perhaps what makes this choice more confounding, apart from Eisenberg, himself, is the fact that apparently both Bryan Cranston and Joaquin Phoenix, who turned down the role, were also considered to play Lex Luthor. So how did the scrawny, blank-faced Eisenberg land the job? 

According to Entertainment Weekly, the producers wanted Superman and his archrival to be the same age (about 30), as they appeared as teenagers in “Smallville.” 

This eliminates Cranston, who looks every bit of his 57 years. But why not pursue Phoenix further? He’s only 39, looks younger than that and also has villain experience as Commodus in 2000’s “Gladiator” (as well as general acting wizardry). 

Both Cranston and Phoenix have a sense of confidence about them that Eisenberg lacks. He is unassuming and relaxed when Luthor is strictly driven by his ambition — and not in the screw-over-your-best-friend-for-Facebook kind of way — Luthor corrupts and kills for world domination, not social media. 

Is the age-difference justification enough to pass on Phoenix or Cranston, who has just proved to the world that he can play complex, evil characters such as Walter White in AMC’s “Breaking Bad”? It’s hard not to curse Snyder’s name in frustration at this missed opportunity. 

Who knows? Maybe Eisenberg will pull it off. I’m sure we’re all thinking back to the reaction of when Heath Ledger was cast as the Joker in “The Dark Knight” (2008), which resulted in an Academy Award-winning performance for best supporting actor. 

Eisenberg’s best-actor nomination matches Ledger’s from his portrayal of a gay cowboy in “Brokeback Mountain” (2005) before his drastically different role as the Joker. Before “The Dark Knight,” Ledger was a typecast actor like Eisenberg, only instead of appearing in cheap comedies, he did romance flicks such as “10 Things I Hate About You” (1999) and “Casanova” (2005). 

There are similarities between the two actors going into this currently unnamed Superman-versus-Batman project, but their situations are indeed different.  

For one, Snyder and company are under serious pressure to make this film a hit. Ever since Christopher Nolan left the DC Universe, Marvel Comics’ film adaptations have proved superior to any DC-character-related movie not named “Batman.” 

Plus, unlike Nolan’s debut bat film, “Batman Begins” (2005), “Man of Steel” tanked. Superman fans are demanding some retribution for this next installment (myself included), which is supposedly leading up to a “Justice League” film or three. How are they going to do that if Lex Luthor is a lean, pimple-faced pushover? 

I hate to preemptively dismiss this film, because a Superman-versus-Batman feature has some real potential. However, casting Eisenberg as a confident, ambitious killer doesn’t make sense right now. Hopefully it will by the time the movie premiers in 2016.