The Social Network 2 will be "wonderful," says Jesse Eisenberg, whose reasons for not returning are "completely unrelated" to how good it'll be

There's a sequel to The Social Network in the works, called The Social Reckoning, but Mark Zuckerberg won't be portrayed by Jesse Eisenberg. The actor declined to return for The Social Network 2, and he's now explained a little about why, and apparently it has nothing to do with the quality of the picture.

Eisenberg is doing the rounds for Now You See Me 3 at the minute, and during a stop on Today, he was asked about why he’s chosen not to be involved in The Social Reckoning. "Listen, for reasons that have nothing to do with how amazing that movie will be, really, truthfully," he explained. "When you play a character, you feel, at some point, you've grown into something else."

He calls it a "wonderful movie," and believes Aaron Sorkin, who's serving as both writer and director, is making something worthwhile. "All of the reasons that I am not in it are completely unrelated to how brilliant it will be," he finishes.

Jesse Eisenberg Talks ‘Now Your See Me’ 3, Louvre Heist, More - YouTube

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Succession mainstay Jeremy Strong is taking the baton from Eisenberg, stepping in to portray Zuckerberg this time around. He's joined by Mikey Madison, who's playing Frances Haugen, a former employee of Facebook who became a whistleblower on internal issues within the platform, and Jeremy Allen White, who’s playing Jeff Horwitz, a journalist who reports on her story.

The Social Reckoning picks up years after the first, with Facebook as a behemoth of online discourse that comes under scrutiny from the Securities and Exchanges Commission. Sorkin is expanding his duties this go around by contributing the screenplay and taking the director's chair from David Fincher, who directed The Social Network, but isn't coming back either, for unspecified reasons.

Now You See Me: Now You Don't is in theaters November 14. The Social Reckoning is due out October 9, 2026.

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