WTF?!

OK, so if anyone was perhaps caught a little bit off guard by my news that Forest Whitaker is being eyed up for a role in 'Taken 3', prepare to be well and truly bamboozled! You ready for this?

Jesse Eisenberg. That's right JESSE F**KIN' EISENBERG has been cast as Lex Luthor in 2016's 'Batman Vs. Superman'.  Just let that sink in for a second ... Even though we're only just leaving January this casting is undoubtedly going to dominate internet forums and interviews on the red carpet for the next year. HUGE, HUGE, HUGE, HUGE, HUGE NEWS!

At first glance - not exactly 'menacing'.

 
If anyone ever said they saw this coming, then they my friend are a liar. If you went into a bookies and tried placing a bet on such an event, you'd probably be laughed out of the establishment with your tail between your legs. However, I must stress that I am not adverse to this unquestionably 'brave' decision. I ,like the majority of you reading this I'd wager, have simply been left dumbstruck. 

Eisenberg, at the tender age of 28, now has an overwhelming weight on his shoulders by trying to bring Superman's greatest foe to life on the silver screen. Yes, those trademark curly locks of his will be first to go, and he'll be looking a little more like 'Heisenberg' than Eisenberg during filming but I'm sure he's up to the challenge. A star-turn as Mark Zuckerberg in David Fincher's 'The Social Network' more than proved his worth, and he also looks promising in upcoming film 'The Double', directed by Brit funnyman Richard Ayoade. Yet, an announcement of such magnitude is definitely going to leave mouths gaping. The decision by the studio to confirm the casting obviously displays immense faith in Eisenberg, but will he be able to handle the pressure? In potentially the biggest superhero movie of all time could he prove to be the proverbial scene-stealer? Or will he prove a miscasting of epic proportions that is simply drowned out by performances from Cavill, Affleck, Gadot et al? Only time will tell.

But that's not all - fans of Michael Caine prepare to weep, because sadly it will be Jeremy Irons who will be taking on the role of Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred this time around. HUGE NEWS once more, but judging by online reaction it doesn't have people quite as startled as Eisenberg's casting. Excited? Yes! Potentially worried? Unlikely! Irons is a magnificent actor, which his Academy award for 'Reversal of Fortune' will no doubt attest to, but I'm sure you'll agree that he's perhaps 'gone off the back burner' a bit in recent years. What with 'The Borgias' being cancelled, and the less said about 'The Pink Panther Two' and 'Eragon' the better - this could be just what Irons needs to catapult himself back into the big picture. I genuinely can't wait for Irons' English gravitas and dulcet tones to ooze into the persona of cinema's most iconic butler. I'd love to see the Irons of 'Dead Ringers' and 'Die Hard With A Vengeance' return to our screens in a big way, and this could be the platform to do it! The best of luck to him, and to Eisenberg who I can see being a magnet to which criticism and internet trolls gravitate over the coming months. To anyone who questions his ability, simply give 'The Social Network' another look over and I'm sure you'll more than agree that he's got what it takes. Oh, and to anyone who wants to have a pop at Jeremy Irons just remember ... he was muthaf**king 'Scar' in 'The Lion King', so stick that in your pipe and smoke it!

Lex Luthor got nothing on this guy!