The passing of Lance Reddick left fans shocked and devastated as the veteran star still had many projects on deck. In fact, he will be voicing one of Superman’s popular villains, and it will never be the same again.
The John Wick actor will be seen as Lex Luthor in the upcoming DC animated series Kite Man: Hell Yeah!, a lesser-known project but equally important in the franchise. This Harley Quinn spinoff was announced in 2022, and finally, it’s now coming to life!
Lance Reddick To Voice Lex Luthor In Kite Man: Hell Yeah!
As per The Express Tribune, the late actor Lance Reddick will be voicing the notorious villain Lex Luthor in this posthumous project. He has appeared in several shows posthumously which proved how prolific he was as an actor.
Animation on Max previously announced Kite Man: Hell Yeah! will be joined by a remarkable ensemble cast. Apart from Reddick, the show will feature Keith David, Natasia Demetriou, Jonathan Banks, and Kaley Cuoco, to name a few.
Reddick’s participation in the animated series gives fans hope that he would nail the performance given how badly Lex Luthor was portrayed in Zack Snyder’s movies. Fans believe Jesse Eisenberg, who played the villain in the DCEU, ruined the character. A Reddit post explained:
Luthor is cold, calculating, and ruthless (with a temper that he loses control of from time to time.) Eisenberg played him as an emotionally unstable nutjob. Basically, he played him like the Joker, not Luthor.
Another fan accused Eisenberg of portraying Luthor as “more neurotic” rather than egomaniacal as the studio tried to modernize the character and make him look like a tech millionaire.
With Reddick taking over the mantle of Luthor in DC’s Kite Man: Hell Yeah!, fans hope the character will be given justice and proper portrayal.
Jesse Eisenberg Responds To Lex Luthor’s Criticism
Jesse Eisenberg was aware of the backlash that his performance as Lex Luthor received, but the actor defended himself and the movie’s writer via Deadline:
I felt very personal about it. The writer, Chris Terrio, is a very serious writer, and he’s a very emotional person. He thought a lot about my character, and I thought a lot about my character, too. I talked with my acting coach about the character a lot, about his backstory with his father and his emotional life—and then people hate me.
Later in the interview, he admitted not being a comic book fan, which is, indeed, a giveaway sign that he really did not have any knowledge of who Lex Luthor was. He further argued that it was not a role he envisioned while growing up.
Eisenberg loved doing the movie, but he was clearly not into the superhero genre after saying, “To play it is a joy, and to not play it isn’t something that I’m going to be ashamed to tell my kids about, because that is not an important genre in my life.”
Hopefully, Lance Reddick will be seen playing Lex Luthor with more conviction than Eisenberg.
Catch Kite Man: Hell Yeah! on Max this July 18.
