Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor could make an appearance in Warner Bros’ supervillain epic Suicide Squad following his turn in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, according to Deadline.



Suicide Squad was revealed as part of the studio’s slate of 10 movies based around the DC Comics universe – an ambitious bid to take on Disney-owned Marvel Studio’s own hugely successful series of interlinked superhero films – earlier this month. The original comic book, inspired by warsploitation fare such as The Dirty Dozen, is about a team of supervillains recruited to take on suicide black-ops missions in return for the commutation of their sentences.



While the comics have generally featured lesser-known villains such as Captain Boomerang, Deadshot and Nightshade, Warner appears to be targeting more high-profile figures. Eisenberg is said to be in discussions with the studio over playing Luthor in the film, which could also feature Will Smith, Tom Hardy and Margot Robbie in unspecified roles.

Portrayed by Gene Hackman and Kevin Spacey in previous iterations of the Superman mythos on the big screen, Luthor is the man of steel’s best-known enemy. Eisenberg’s appointment has been almost as controversial with fans as that of Ben Affleck as the new Batman, with many considering the 30-year-old too young for the role. Dawn of Justice director Zack Snyder defended the appointment in March.



He said: “We know the material. Unfortunately, the fans don’t know the material. So, we’re casting according to what’s happening in the script … I understand the canon. I’m not crazy. I know what these characters need from a mythological standpoint.”