--- description: Jesse Eisenberg and Jeremy Irons will join the cast of the upcoming Superman-Batman film as Lex Luthor and Alfred, Warner Bros. announced Friday. Eisenberg and... title: Superman-Batman: Jesse Eisenberg, Jeremy Irons To Join Ben Affleck image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8627311c16de9193/698a8d5e9d83e89a00b9f871/463414955-e1391202276440.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) # Jesse Eisenberg Will Play Lex Luthor in New Superman-Batman Movie by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) Jan 31, 2014 9:00 PM CUT  Jesse Eisenberg is set to play Lex Luthor Jesse Eisenberg is set to play Lex LuthorMat Hayward / 2014 Mat Hayward by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) Jan 31, 2014 9:00 PM CUT Jesse Eisenberg and Jeremy Irons will join the cast of the upcoming Superman-Batman film as Lex Luthor and Alfred, Warner Bros. announced Friday. Eisenberg and Irons will join Henry Cavill as Superman and Ben Affleck as Batman in the highly anticipated sequel to _Man of Steel,_ set to open in May 2016, [_Variety_](http://variety.com/2014/film/news/jesse-eisenberg-cast-as-lex-luthor-in-supermanbatman-jeremy-irons-set-as-alfred-1201079902/ "undefined") reports. Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne and Diane Lane are also set to return to the yet-untitled Superman-Batman flick, while Gal Gadot is set to play Wonder Woman. Nominated for an Oscar for playing Mark Zuckerberg in _The Social Network,_ Eisenberg will play Superman’s nemesis Luthor, while Irons will fill Michael Caine’s shoes in the role of Batman’s trusted friend Alfred. \[[_Variety_](http://variety.com/2014/film/news/jesse-eisenberg-cast-as-lex-luthor-in-supermanbatman-jeremy-irons-set-as-alfred-1201079902/ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7114625/jesse-eisenberg-will-play-lex-luthor-in-new-superman-batman-movie/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7114625/jesse-eisenberg-will-play-lex-luthor-in-new-superman-batman-movie/"},"headline":"Jesse Eisenberg Will Play Lex Luthor in New Superman-Batman Movie","datePublished":"2014-01-31T21:00:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-25T06:06:13.832Z","description":"Jesse Eisenberg and Jeremy Irons will join the cast of the upcoming Superman-Batman film as Lex Luthor and Alfred, Warner Bros. announced Friday. Eisenberg and...","url":"https://time.com/archive/7114625/jesse-eisenberg-will-play-lex-luthor-in-new-superman-batman-movie/","keywords":["Superman","Batman"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8627311c16de9193/698a8d5e9d83e89a00b9f871/463414955-e1391202276440.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8627311c16de9193/698a8d5e9d83e89a00b9f871/463414955-e1391202276440.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"\"The Double\" Premiere - 2014 Sundance Film Festival","caption":"Jesse Eisenberg is set to play Lex Luthor","creditText":"Mat Hayward / 2014 Mat Hayward","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/7114625/jesse-eisenberg-will-play-lex-luthor-in-new-superman-batman-movie/","name":"Jesse Eisenberg Will Play Lex Luthor in New Superman-Batman Movie"}}]}] ```