Hero Blend #3: Reinventing Lex Luthor, Alfred Pennyworth And... Wasp?

Casting is always one of the most exciting parts of the production process in comic book movies. Fans spend so much time speculating about who should play their favorite superheroes and villains and building wish lists that when actors are officially announced it always sparks a great deal of debate and sometimes even controversy (I’m looking at you, Ben Affleck). At the same time it’s also fun to finally be able to close your eyes and suddenly get a very clear picture of what an anticipated upcoming movie may look like. Plain and simple, it’s a fun time to express opinion and fanhood, and this past week we got the chance to do a lot of that.

Since last Friday we have heard multiple exciting developments happening with the casts of both new DC Comics and Marvel Studios films. First it was officially announced that Jesse Eisenberg has been hired to play the new Lex Luthor in Zack Snyder’s upcoming Batman vs. Superman movie (becoming the first actor under the age of 45 to portray the character on the big screen), and that news was paired with the reveal that Jeremy Irons will be Batman’s new Alfred Pennyworth (a role made rather iconic by Michael Caine in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy). As though that weren’t enough, it was reported just yesterday that Evangelline Lilly is now in early talks to play the female lead in Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man - though it hasn’t been confirmed exactly who she will be playing.

The announcements all leave a lot to be discussed, and fortunately this week I had someone great to talk about it with. Joining me as my co-host for Hero Blend #3 is IGN Entertainment Editor Roth Cornet, and there’s a lot to talk about, so just hit play!

You can find more episodes of Hero Blend right here.

Eric Eisenberg
Assistant Managing Editor

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.