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Why Jon Cryer is an odd choice to play Supergirl's Lex Luthor

posted 5 years ago by TMC-4 (19411)
13 replies | jump to latest

https://www.themarysue.com/jon-cryer-lex-luthor/

"Lex Luthor works as a villain because he genuinely believes he can outwit Superman and the forces of good," says Chelsea Steiner, pointing to Lex Luthor portrayals like Gene Hackman's in the original Superman movies. "I picture Lex Luthor as someone who is more Dick Cheney than Mark Zuckerberg." She says Cryer's casting as Lex: "The actor’s onscreen persona leads me to believe that he will be another in the current trend of nebbishy, nerdy Lex Luthor portrayals. The trend started with Jesse Eisenberg’s portrayal of Luthor in the DCEU as a criminally insane nerd whose lust for power is belied by his skittish, nervous mannerisms. But this (like nearly everything else about Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice) rubs me the wrong way. Call me old school, but I prefer a smooth-talking, self-possessed Luthor in the vein of Michael Rosenbaum’s portrayal in Smallville. In addition to being a genius, Lex Luthor’s greatest power is his ability to manipulate the people around him to do his bidding. Luthor’s lethal charisma is his chief weapon, which allows him to hide in plain sight as a billionaire businessman of Metropolis." ALSO: Cryer's casting means no one's age makes sense on Supergirl. https://io9.gizmodo.com/cws-supergirl-casts-lex-luthor-and-now-no-ones-age-make-1830500535

[–] PaladinNJ (20310) 5 years ago

Looks like they're continuing the Jesse Eisenberg model? Too bad. He was the worst Luthor ever.

[–] TMC-4 (19411) 5 years ago

Jon Cryer: Even I was skeptical about playing Lex Luthor on Supergirl

https://www.vulture.com/2019/03/jon-cryer-supergirl-lex-luthor.html

Hollywood has a history of getting Lex Luther wrong, so Cryer's casting as the iconic villain came with some skepticism. "I was one of those skeptical people!" laughs Cryer, who makes his debut on The CW series on Sunday. "To this day, I’m not 100 percent sure why they asked me. But I’ve really loved the scripts so far, and I get what they’re doing. This Lex is a lot closer to the comics than Gene Hackman’s was. This guy is a sociopath, so it’s actually a darker play, and I think they were trying to find somebody who could find a twinkle in the eye of that. Which is hard! And I have to say, it only took me a few minutes before I was 100 percent comfortable and was like, 'Oh, yeah, I’m exactly the guy for this.'"

https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/a26835404/supergirl-lex-luthor-jon-cryer/

[–] AP (5258) 5 years ago

I'm wondering if they're paying homage to Cryer playing Lex's nephew in the old movies?

[–] PaladinNJ (20310) 5 years ago

I had forgotten about that. Good catch.

[–] Xcalat3 (3701) 5 years ago

I hope that's the case.

[–] SolemnMime (174) 5 years ago

Hey. I think I remember you from the IMDb boards.

Didn't you post occasionally on the Arielle Kebbel board there?

I remember this name (or something like it) from like 10 or so years ago.

[–] Xcalat3 (3701) 5 years ago

Yeah I posted all over IMDb back in the day :)

[–] mikethemartian (6063) 5 years ago

That was what popped into my head when I started reading this.

[–] Scorpwanna (66) 5 years ago

First thing that threw me off about him was the beard... I knew right then, no this isn't Lex Luthor.

I've not seen Lyle Talbot's first live action version of Lex so I can't comment on that.

Gene Hackman, having only been the second live action version of Lex at the time, is what the times (late 70s) Lex Luthor was. Which wasn't bad at all, it was his version which spans the ages of time. Which a lot of movies and tv series then had a certain depiction for how things were presented on screen. Kinda all of them had a bit of cheesiness to them.

We'll not get into the Superboy ones, that never happened...

Lois and Clark: The New adventures of Superman. Or as I like to call it "The cheese stands alone" the series. I think it was the way the guy grinned that made me not care to watch him at all. Then again, to me Lois and Clark adventures is another Earth (Earth -3), there were just so many things wrong with that show. Because he never had a Fortress and got his ass handed to him by a Martial Artist, Jonathan Kent never died, Freeze breath had to be in every episode no matter what etc... It never happened either...

Kevin Spacey, well due to legal issues it's best to just leave it alone. He did do an older Lex some justice in my opinion.

Jesse Eisenberg's version killed Lex Luthor in the DCU for me. Though he's not entirely to blame since they gave him direction on how they wanted his Lex to be presented. We'll just say, "a poorly written Lex" and leave it at that.

Rosenbaum or bust... I agree, his portrayal of Lex is by far one of the best live action if not THE best. Well written in the series, followed the comic's more. Had more of a seriousness about it, as you could see things from Lex's point of view and it makes sense to you.

If I left some out it just means I haven't heard of any other live action versions.

[–] ATG6 (3000) 5 years ago

Hackman is a great actor, one of the best ever, but his Lex was a joke. Spacey was suitably evil. Eisenberg was okay, but more like the Joker. Rosenbaum has been the best Lex by far, playing him as brilliant but disturbed, psychopathic with just a touch of humanity left, someone who truly believes he's doing the right thing and willing to do anything to make it happen.

[–] hurricane (1908) 5 years ago

I don't think he was so bad.

I'm not sure how much the character fit the comics, but then that's more of a writing decision than any fault of the actor himself. I think he performed the role, for what it was, very well.

[–] ATG6 (3000) 5 years ago

Michael Rosenbaum set the bar way too high. They're not even trying now.

[–] FFNogoodnik (770) 5 years ago

The actor’s onscreen persona leads me to believe that he will be another in the current trend of nebbishy, nerdy Lex Luthor portrayals. The trend started with Jesse Eisenberg’s portrayal of Luthor in the DCEU as a criminally insane nerd whose lust for power is belied by his skittish, nervous mannerisms.

I will admit I do not follow these shows/movies so I may be 100% wrong here but how many "Lex Luthors" have there been between Jessie Eisenberg and Jon Cryer? I do not know of any and if I am right then how is there a "trend of nebbishy, nerdy Lex Luthor portrayals"?

One person does not a trend make.