Jesse Eisenberg says his Batman v Superman Razzie shut him out of studio roles

Jesse Eisenberg says winning a Razzie for playing Lex Luthor in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice closed the door on studio roles, and that he saw it coming. Speaking at a screen talk during the BFI London Film Festival, as reported by Variety and relayed by IGN, the actor said the Worst Supporting Actor award shaped the next stage of his career.

Eisenberg framed the shift as a decision driven by fear rather than choice. “I couldn’t get into movie studio parts anymore because I had won a Raspberry Award from [being in the] Batman movie … and I saw the trajectory,” he said. He described acting as an industry with no plateau, where you’re either climbing or “yesterday’s news”, and said a paranoid person like him spots the downslope early.

His reading of the Razzie was blunt. Eisenberg said the industry tells actors what it wants from them, and that it didn’t want him in a superhero movie. “That’s an award for bad acting,” he said, adding that only an unsuccessful actor insists on doing more of them. His conclusion was that anyone wanting a career in the arts has to follow what they’re told is liked.

That conclusion pushed him behind the camera. IGN says he moved into writing and directing, with 2024’s A Real Pain and the upcoming The Debut among the results. A24’s page for The Debut lists a theatrical date of 11 December 2026, with Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti among the cast. It doesn’t name a market, and we haven’t found a UAE date.

The comments land as the divisive Lex Luthor turn nears its tenth anniversary. IGN notes Eisenberg reprised the role in Justice League, and that it gave Batman v Superman a 6.8/10 on release. The film still splits viewers, and so does the performance that earned him the trophy.

Eisenberg’s recent choices have leaned the same way, away from big franchise returns. He has also turned down a comeback in the Social Network sequel, as we covered in our report on him passing on The Social Reckoning.