Jesse Eisenberg Passes On Returning As Mark Zuckerberg In ‘The Social Network Part II’ – But Jeremy Strong May Replace Him

Jeremy Strong is the latest star who is reportedly circling Aaron Sorkin‘s upcoming sequel of The Social Network.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Succession star reportedly met with Sorkin, who is developing the cast and budget to later present to Sony Pictures.

While The Social Network chronicled how Mark Zuckerberg cofounded Facebook, now known as Meta, while attending Harvard University, Sorkin’s new sequel will reportedly focus on The Wall Street Journal‘s reporting about the social media platform’s negative effects on users and how the spread of misinformation eventually contributed to the Jan. 6 riot in 2021. Sorkin wrote the script and is set to direct.

It remains to be seen who Strong will be playing. But sources say Jesse Eisenberg has already passed on returning as Zuckerberg, which means the role may be up for grabs. THR also notes that Strong may also play an editor from The Wall Street Journal.

And Strong isn’t the only blockbuster star circling the highly anticipated film, which is reportedly a “top priority” for the studio.

Mikey Madison and Jeremy Allen Strong have also been approached for roles in the film.

Madison is in talks to play Frances Haugen, a Facebook employee who went to The Wall Street Journal with her findings. The role of WSJ reporter Jeff Horowitz, who spearheaded the outlet’s reporting on Facebook, may go to White.

Eisenberg recently spoke out against Zuckerberg and shut down any possible “association” he has with the tech entrepreneur since portraying him in the 2010 Oscar-winning film.

“I haven’t been, like, following his life trajectory, partly because I don’t want to think of myself as associated with somebody like that,” he said earlier this year, later adding, “It’s not like I played a great golfer.”

Eisenberg called Zuckerberg out for “taking away fact-checking and safety concerns” on Meta and “making people who are already threatened in this world more threatened.”

“I don’t think about, ‘Oh, I played the guy in the movie and therefore…’ It’s just I’m a human being and you read these things and these people have like billions upon billions of dollars. Like more money than any human person has ever amassed and like, what are they doing with it?” he said at the time. “They’re doing it to curry favor with somebody who’s preaching hateful things. So to me, that’s what I think of.”