The Social Network Part II is facing a major casting upset. The movie is a sequel to David Fincher’s Oscar-winning 2010 biopic The Social Network, which starred Jesse Eisenberg as Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg. The upcoming movie will be written and directed by original screenwriter Aaron Sorkin.

The sequel, which was revealed to be in active development in June, is set to take place years after the ending of The Social Network and follow the exposure of the inner workings of Facebook and the harm that the platform has caused.

Per ᴅᴇᴀᴅline, Succession star Jeremy Strong is now in talks to play Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network Part II. The Hollywood Reporter reports that Jesse Eisenberg pᴀssed on reprising the role in the sequel, though they also suggest that this could potentially be “a negotiating tactic.”

This news comes in the wake of the announcement that Anora‘s Mikey Madison and The Bear‘s Jeremy Allen White are also in talks to join the cast as whistleblower Frances Haugen and Wall Street Journal tech reporter Jeff Horowitz respectively. No official casting announcements have been made just yet.

What This Means For The Social Network Part II

Jeremy Strong Is An Offbeat Choice

At first blush, it does not necessarily make sense why Jeremy Strong would be approached for the role. The movie is most likely set in 2021, when Horowitz’s The Facebook Files articles were published, and in the years leading up to their publication. During that time, Mark Zuckerberg was in his mid to late 30s.

However, Strong, who is best known for playing Kendall Roy in HBO’s Succession, is 46 years old at the time of writing, which would make him roughly a decade older than the character he would be playing onscreen.

Casting strong would be a somewhat unusual move, especially considering the fact that it would already be something of a stretch to have Eisenberg step back into the role, as the actor (who was nominated for an Oscar for his performance in The Social Network) is now 41 years old at the time of writing.

Our Take On Jeremy Strong Being Circled For The Social Network Part II

He Could Be A Good ᴀsset For The Sequel

Ultimately, should the original Social Network star be replaced in the role, Strong would still be a solid choice. The actor has played multiple recent characters that have most likely prepared him well for stepping into the role of the Meta chairman.

This includes the role of Kendall Roy, which won Strong an Emmy on top of two additional nominations. The Succession character was a businessman with a challenging personal life who found himself locked in a battle for control of his family’s company, which showed off his facility at realistically portraying a corporate power player.

Additionally, Strong has already successfully portrayed a complicated real-life figure when he played Roy Cohn in 2024’s The Apprentice, a role that earned him an Oscar nomination. Both of these recent performances offer some insight into how he could successfully portray Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network Part II.

Source: ᴅᴇᴀᴅline & THR