In keeping with the Superman mythos, Lex Luthor established himself as one of the Man of Steel's greatest enemies in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Even though Luthor was imprisoned for his crimes at the end of the movie, he was ultimately successful in eliminating Superman thanks to the creation of Doomsday. Jesse Eisenberg had been expected to reprise Luthor in Justice League later this year, but now there's word that the now-bald super villain may not appear in the superhero team-up story at all. According to one source regarding Eisenberg's role in the movie:
He doesn't have one. If he did prior to all the changes/reshoots, it was cut.
Back in May 2016, Jesse Eisenberg strongly implied that he would be stepping into Lex Luthor's proverbial shoes once again for Justice League, although he didn't provide any hints about how the former LexCorp mogul fit into the movie. However, according to Batman-On-Film, Luthor won't be present in Justice League. This hasn't been officially confirmed yet, but if the information is legitimate, then DC Comics fans shouldn't expect to see Luthor play any role in the conflict between the Justice League and Steppenwolf.
Justice League has been undergoing reshoots since last month under Joss Whedon's watchful eye. Reports have varied on just how extensive this extra filming has been, but since Warner Bros has officially announced Jesse Eisenberg as one of the movie's actors, it would seem that one of the many changes to hit the DC blockbuster in these later stages is Luthor's scenes being taken out. Whether or not these scenes would be included on the Justice League home release is unclear.
When we left off with Lex Luthor in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, he was languishing behind bars, and the Ultimate Edition of the movie revealed that Batman had arranged for him to be transferred to Arkham Asylum. Luthor didn't seem particularly fazed by the Caped Crusader paying him a surprise visit, though, as he started babbling about an unidentified figure coming. Another Ultimate Edition scene showed Luthor communicating with a hologram-projected Steppenwolf before being captured, and since Steppenwolf is Justice League's main antagonist, we now know this is who Lex was referring to.
Although Lex Luthor's exact involvement in Justice League was never made clear, some storyboard art seemed to show the super-genius speaking with someone who looked like Deathstroke, potentially teasing that Slade Wilson would break Luthor out of prison. Even if that wasn't the case, if Luthor has indeed been cut from Justice League, it's a shame we won't see his connection to Steppenwolf further explored, like if those two had planned to work together when the Apokoliptan general and his Parademon army arrived on Earth.
Justice League hits theaters on November 17.
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