Jesse Eisenberg believes his role in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice "hurt" his career.

The actor played DC villain Lex Luthor in the 2016 Zack Snyder blockbuster, which starred Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill as Batman and Superman, respectively. Eisenberg went on to reprise his role in 2017's Justice League.

During a recent appearance on the Armchair Expert podcast with Dax Shepard, Eisenberg reflected on the role and said he believes it had a negative impact on his career due to the film and his performance in it being "poorly received" by critics.

jesse eisenberg, justice league
Warner Bros.

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"The Batman movie was so poorly received and I was so poorly received," he said.

"I've never said this before because it's kind of embarrassing to admit, but I genuinely think it hurt my career in a real way because I was poorly received in something so public.

"I've been poorly received in things that just don't see the light of day. For the most part, no one knows.

"But this was so public and I don't read notices or reviews or movie press or anything, so I was unaware of how poorly it was received."

batman v superman dawn of justice
Warner Bros.

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Reflecting on how this reception impacted his career, he continued: "In the industry, if you're in a huge, huge movie and are not seen as good, the people who are choosing who to put next in their movie are just not going to select you."

The Zombieland actor added: "I loved my role and I loved the movie and everything, so I just feel I have myself to blame and not like they did me wrong. But it did feel like I had to climb out again."

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice holds a critics' score of just 29% on Rotten Tomatoes from over 400 reviews, with the site's critical consensus reading: "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice smothers a potentially powerful story - and some of America's most iconic superheroes - in a grim whirlwind of effects-driven action."

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Freelance Reporter, Digital Spy After completing her joint honours degree in Journalism and English Literature at Cardiff University, Iona joined Digital Spy as a Content Production Intern in 2022. In that role, Iona wrote across both news and features, specialising in TV and movies. Following her internship, Iona now contributes to DS as a freelance reporter. 

 Iona has reported from the Black Adam red carpet, and interviewed celebrities ranging from Love Island stars to the cast of Disney's live-action The Little Mermaid.