Jesse Eisenberg is Lex Luthor, and it doesn't fucking matter.
I don't mean that in some big-picture, people-are-starving kind of way. (Although they are. C'mon guys, it's the price of a cup of coffee...in 1983.) No, I mean it makes no difference for the film. Before I explain why, let's discuss the thing people are (wrongly) focused on about the Man of Steel films. Right now, the only notable thing about the upcoming Batman/Superman movie is who they've cast in the--
Hang on. Wait.
Okay, first off, let's stop fucking kidding ourselves. This isn't the next Man of Steel movie. It's the first Justice League movie. It's got Superman, of course. Or Hope-man, or Symbol-on-the-chest Man, or whatever they're going to call him now that they got all that smirky, winking bullshit out of their system last time. And it's got Batman...sort of. Wonder Woman is in there somewhere too. There's even talk of possibly adding Martian Manhunter. And please, good lord please, tell me they'll include DC's longest-running punchline, Aquaman.
Everyone knows that The Avengers raised the stakes -- and the erections -- at the studios with film rights to major comics properties. Fuck's sake, they're making a fucking Ant-Man movie just to help establish more backstory for Avengers 2! So DC fanboys have been waiting on the edge of their folding chairs for the announcement of an official JLA movie. Never mind the fact that, unlike Marvel, the DC films haven't earned it yet by building film characters who stand out in their own right. Who cares? With each new leak about League favorites joining the crew, it gets clearer and clearer that, whatever the movie's title, it's going to at least introduce the future team. Neckbeards, rejoice!
But -- and I'm getting back on point now about the
wrong thing people focus on -- each time they announce a new character, whipping fans into a frenzy of casting speculation, they quickly turn around and dick-punch the audience with a baffling choice of actors. We still know nothing of the story (that
early tease, where we were led to believe we'd finally see the famous Frank Miller Batman vs. Superman cage match in a live-action film, has since been walked back), so all we have to fuss and fight over is the casting.
Batman! Photoshopped images flooded the internet, people copy-pasting countless actors' heads onto Batman's body. Many guesses were posted on blogs, many denials were issued by actors' agents, and many friendships were tested. Me, I was kind of partial to the Josh Brolin version myself, even though I knew that
it wouldn't matter.
Then we learned that the part was being given to Ben Affleck, and there was a weeks-long period of mourning. Much sobbing, much bile, much support for Ben from that fat director who bought his old house. Even now, people console one another, recalling where they were when they heard the news that the guy from Reindeer Games was going to be the new Batman. But it didn't really bug me, because
I knew it didn't matter.
(Oooh, hushed silence.)
After a time, word leaked out that Wonder Woman would join the roster. Holy shit! FINALLY! Sweaty palms dusted off old jpegs of Megan Fox in digital WW gear. Trembling fingers scoured Google Images for the perfect blend of beauty (tits) and strength (bigger tits) to fill the breastplate of the Amazon princess. But then little-known Gal Gadot, from the "Fast & Fuckall" series, was tapped for the role. Once again, people lost their shit. "How could they not cast (insert just about any fucking name)", they cried. Was she too cutesy? A little too slender for the part? Maybe. Maybe not.
But it still didn't matter.
(How can he be so calm about this shit?)
And then came yet another soul-crushing blow. Jesse Eisenberg will play Lex Luthor? How dare they cast Mark Zuckerberg in that crucial role? The one that was first made so non-threatening by Gene Hackman, and then so non-human by Kevin Spacey! Why were they doing this to us? Why, God, why???
*sigh*...
You're just not getting it.
It doesn't fucking matter!
(But why doesn't it matter? How could the cast of a movie full of long-standing icons not matter?)
Because Zach Snyder, that's why.
Snyder has a great eye for visuals. He makes beautiful commercials and music videos. But it's the human element that's lacking from his work. The production design is intricate and gorgeous. Costumes, environments, special effects, all come together to paint a stunning picture, which is probably why we're forced to watch half the fucking thing in slow motion.
But Snyder does't connect with his characters. Not even a bit. He doesn't understand what motivates them, or how to convey their personal story to the audience. It may well be the reason his casting choices are often so inscrutable (Ozymandias, anyone?). How do you match actors to characters when you don't understand either? Audiences walked out of Man of Steel not knowing how to feel, other than maybe a little pissed, because the movie never gave them a chance to feel
anything. Amazing musical score aside, and despite the best efforts of a huge VFX team, the film as a whole had no heart. Just like every Snyder film, everything was superficial. No real people. No sense of humanity, no matter how much of the dialog was devoted to that very fucking thing. Just 'splosions. But that makes for great trailers, and great trailers get butts in seats.
I'm not a loyalist to Marvel or DC. In fact, I couldn't possibly care less. I don't even read these characters comics, not since I was a teen, and that's an embarrassingly long time ago. I'm just a fan of good storytelling, and that's why it's frustrating to watch people pretend that the films from each camp are on equal footing. They're not even close. Avengers followed a large ensemble cast as their individual arcs interwove through an engaging story with a clear conflict and decisive goal. Man of Steel followed one dude, the most well-known superhero
on the fucking planet, and couldn't figure out what the hell it was trying to say. I would listen to Joss Whedon, for ten goddamn hours, describe a shockingly bad stomach flu before I'd ever sit through Man of Steel again.
Start with the characters, then build their story, THEN create amazing visuals to support it. DO NOT start with a bunch of effects-based tentpole scenes, then attempt to bridge the space between them with flimsy plot points, and then eventually get around to the characters as an afterthought. When you do that, no actor in the world can destroy your film, because it's ruined already.