Justin Timberlake and Other Crazy Ideas On Who Could Play Lex Luthor in ‘Batman vs. Superman’

Paddy Considine is a talented actor who’s done a lot of great movies over the course of his career. From his most recent turn in ‘The World’s End’ to his small appearance in ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’ to ‘Dead Man’s Shoes’ to ‘In America.’ But he hasn’t really been taken advantage of stateside, and he would be the perfect outsider to take on the role. In this case you don’t need star power, you need a good actor, and Considine has definitely proved that he’s gifted over the years. This would all be American accent contingent, of course.

For those who’ve seen his revelatory turn in ‘Roger Dodger,’ this should come as no surprise, but Campbell Scott can totally nail a good talker. And as Luthor doesn’t have the physical skills of Superman, you need someone who comes across as quick-witted and wily. Scott can do that. He’s also someone who hasn’t been over-exposed, so he could really own the role -- even if he’s been Spider-Man’s dad.

Okay, we know this is outside of the box (so’s the next one), but what’s Justin Timberlake’s best onscreen role? We’d say it’s easily his turn as Sean Parker in ‘The Social Network.’ And as cool as Timberlake is, there’s something really appealing about seeing him play an asshole. Timberlake playing a more petulant Luthor could be fun, especially in the context of a story where he’s not the main focus (it will feature both Batman and Superman).

Okay, this one, we know, but two things: Andrew Dice Clay gave the performance of his career in ‘Blue Jasmine’ this summer, which should give him his Mickey Rourke moment. The other thing is that the person who Luthor most resembles in the current world is Donald Trump --down to the hairpiece. So if they’re going for a more Trump-esque Luthor, who would be better than Clay as the tough talking New Yorker Gotham leader of industry?

On television, Walton Goggins has played two of the best anti-heroes/antagonists of recent memory. His Shane Vendrell was a fascinating mixture of incompetence and bravado, while his role as Boyd Crowther on ‘Justified’ has been just as different and as it is brilliant. We’ve seen loud and flamboyant Luthors on screen before, but Goggins has the ability to not only deliver great monologues, but also show a lot of internal dialogue. This could be a more quiet but just as powerful Luthor, one we haven’t seen on screen before.