
We all know to take rumors with a grain of salt these days, and I advise anyone reading this to do just that. However, this doesn’t seem to be just your everyday internet rumor designed to get your favorite entertainment news site some hits.
It seems as though Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad, Seinfeld) and Mark Strong are both up for the role of Lex Luthor in the Man of Steel sequel. Just as an aside, any article I write in the future about the upcoming Superman sequel will refer to the film as the Man of Steel sequel until we are given a definite name from Warner Bros.
As a Superman fan first and foremost, I am excited by both of these choices. Now, it would be silly to assume that there aren’t many other actors up for such an iconic role and chances are that Warners may throw us all a major curveball with the final announcement, but these are both very solid actors and it would make me very happy to see either one as the greatest criminal mind of our time.
Strong was great in Green Lantern and easily the best thing about the film. The fact that he was the villian in a DC superhero film already (flop or not) gives me pause, but his recent “All I can say is, watch this space...” comment when asked about the Luthor role, adds fuel to the fire. As Superman Returns showed, you can have an incredible actor play Lex, but it means nothing if the character is not written well. Let's hope actor and script are both top notch this time.
Cranston would be an inspired choice with the right script, as his work on Breaking Bad has shown. While the show isn’t for me, there is no denying that he has the chops to go head to head with Henry Cavill and whoever is chosen as the next Batman. Cranston is older than Strong, but if they are in fact, going with an older actor as Batman, an older Luthor shouldn’t be an issue. At the end of the day, I’ll always think of Cranston as Dr. Tim Whatley and if a Seinfeld alum ends up as Lex, that’s A-OK with me.
And I’m sure Jerry wouldn’t mind either.