Here are two arch-villains that have been woefully represented on the big screen. And it's so unnecessary, too - all the filmmakers need to do is to follow the comics. Doom is a disfigured dictator who dabbles in science and sorcery and Luthor is a genius billionaire who ruthlessly uses his resources for personal gain - the further the movies stray from these simple concepts, the less it works. And casting is key - of all the odd choices made for the DCEU, Jesse Eisenberg as Luthor was the most baffling.
These two first met in STF #491...
17 comments:
What you said.
Great cover!
I saw Eisenberg as the dot-com Luthor, compared to the comics’ industrial Luthor. It’s a different take, sure, but it doesn’t have to be a bad one.
This secure number is a collection, and with great value, surprising.
Maybe Lex Luthor could be paired with the Kingpin; obvious shape differences aside the businessman version of Luthor is a lot like the Kingpin. Which reminds me, just as the Daredevil movie had the Kingpin be a black guy, though otherwise not very different from the original, Lex Luthor of the Bruce Timm DC universe had facial features, if not skin color, like that of a black guy.
Technically, Luthor wasn't even a billionaire evil genius during the height of the Silver Age! At least, not when Curt Swan was drawing SUPERMAN. DC only portrayed him that way, post-1978, due to the popularity of the Christopher Reeve movies.
So, it came as no surprise to me that the first FF movie--featuring a pre-CA Chris Evans as the Human Torch--Luthorized Victor Von Doom.
Movie directors often pick actors they "like" rather than actors who fit the role. Heard one bust movie director talk about the star he signed for key role and all he would talk about was how wonderful this actor's previous films were but not once how the actor fit the role. Jesse Eisenberg as Luthor makes as much sense as Arnold playing the president of the United States.
I agree completely about Doom and Luthor. We have yet to see an effective live-action Doctor Doom; as for Luthor, after brilliant portrayals by Gene Hackman (the second Anonymous remark above notwithstanding; see below) and Michael Rosenbaum, it does seem odd to stray so far as to cast Jesse Eisenberg.
Regarding the change in Luthor's status, John Byrne reimagined him after the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Hackman's Luthor wasn't a billionaire industrialist; he was a standard "mad scientist," just like in the comics (though without the super-gadgetry that the comics version sported at the time).
And, of course, I agree with AirDave: this is a great cover! Not only is it nearly seamless, but it also promises a thrilling tale!
Regarding Glenn Host's comments:
I was writing a commentary on this kind of thing this week. The directors and actors, and usually not even the writers, have any interest in the source material. They don't even see their own stories the same way we the audience do. They're more interested in "who do I want to work with?" or "what would be fun to play". I saw that in the responses by the Titans actors who didn't care about the actual comics but did want to make what they hoped was a good story. It's kind of a disconnect that probably hurts any adaptation between mediums.
WOW! The ultimate battle of alpha male reproductive organs!
Nuff said. :-)
Well, I do have one postscript. @2nd Anonymous: Bob Greenwade is right. Gene Hackman was superb as Luthor in the Chris Reeve movies. But, evil billionaire Luthor was definitely post-COIE with regard to the comics. While his first live-action portrayal as a crooked techno-plutocrat was actually on ABC's "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman!"
Yes this is Excellent! Bravo Zulu Ross. I still don't know what a Jesse Eisenberg is supposed to do?
@Brother Barnes: Corrupt the Eye from within, so that all the members become evil magicians subject to Luthor's will?
P.S.---Yes! That was a reference to the "Now You See Them" movies.
Cary Comic Yes I never heard of now you see them movies. Are they based on
the song "Now You See Them Now You Don't" - Ozzy Osbourne? "My blind Ninja Master says the keenest eye is that which looks Inward, now it's time for 'Lights Out'." - Jinx.
@Brother Barnes: Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, and two others played the 4 Horsemen. Crime-fighting stage mages--apprenticed to a secret society called The Eye--who stung corrupt plutocrats like Michael Caine's character. And with the title of both movies referring to the first half of the old saying "Now you see them, now you don't."
A perfect slogan for magicians. Wouldn't you agree?
Cary Comic thanks.
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