In the month since Jesse Eisenberg was announced as Warner Bros. and Zack Snyder's sequel to Man of Steel, the Social Network star has faced his fair share of detractors. However, he also has some surprising sources of support — namely, two actors who previously played Superman's arch-nemesis.

Ex-Lex Kevin Spacey, who played the character in Bryan Singer's Superman Returns, tells Empire that Eisenberg is "a remarkable actor. He's just going to fucking own it. I think it's a great idea and I wish him the best with it."

Smallville veteran Michael Rosenbaum, meanwhile, says Eisenberg doesn't "need any advice from me, he'll do his homework."

"Jesse's a good actor. He'll do it his own way and that's the best way," he said. "If you can do it your way, if you succeed or fail, you succeed because you are being original. If you're trying to emulate someone, you'll always be compared. That's why I didn't want to be compared during Smallville. I didn't watch any of Gene Hackman as Lex. He'll be fantastic. Great actor, no problem with it."

We'll see if Eisenberg has any problems as Lex when the untitled Man of Steel sequel drops in May 2016.

(via Dark Horizons)