6. Jesse Eisenberg – Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
After a breakthrough in 2009’s Zombieland, Jesse Eisenberg earned himself an Oscar nomination for his work in 2010’s The Social Network. While his manic, gently sociopathic vibes perfectly gelled with his portrayal as Mark Zuckerberg, they haven’t always worked in his favor in other genres.
Nowhere is this more evident than in 2016’s ambitious (yet ill-fated) Batman v Superman, which saw Ben Affleck’s iteration of the Dark Knight face off with Henry Cavill’s Man of Tomorrow in a pre-Justice League clash. In one of the strangest casting decisions of recent years, Eisenberg was cast as Superman’s iconic nemesis Lex Luthor. While it was undoubtedly done in order to squeeze another big-name actor into the franchise, Eisenberg’s casting backfired spectacularly. The actor’s take on Lex Luthor was essentially an unhinged mash-up of Eisenberg’s previous characters , making for an incredibly unorthodox Lex Luthor. Naturally, it wasn’t a hit with fans.
Eisenberg’s star power has since faded considerably, but Batman v Superman was where his lack of range was fully exposed. It seems that he’s since learned to stick with roles as a slightly creepy but somewhat endearing weirdo, and hasn’t ventured too far out of his lane since.