Jeremy Strong, taking over the role of Mark Zuckerberg for the Social Network sequel, seems to be heading in a different direction to his predecessor. The Social Network turned 15 years old this month and, luckily, its tale of emotionally stunted social media moguls has proved completely irrelevant to our current cultural Eden. Despite that, ... The Social Reckoning | Jeremy Strong’s Zuckerberg ‘nothing to do with’ Jesse Eisenberg’s portrayal
Jeremy Strong, taking over the role of Mark Zuckerberg for the Social Network sequel, seems to be heading in a different direction to his predecessor.
The Social Network turned 15 years old this month and, luckily, its tale of emotionally stunted social media moguls has proved completely irrelevant to our current cultural Eden.
Despite that, work is continuing apace on a follow-up from original writer Aaron Sorkin – confirmed last month to be titled The Social Reckoning, and to have replaced Jesse Eisenberg with Succession's Jeremy Strong as the world’s richest Mark.
Set 17 years after the events of the first film, Eisenberg would’ve been within the realms of believability for the part, age-wise, suggesting Sorkin might be looking for a slightly different characterisation for the film – which follows a young Facebook engineer (Mikey Madison) who teams up with a Wall Street Journal reporter (Jeremy Allen White) to blow the whistle on Meta’s biggest secrets.
Asked by The Hollywood Reporter if he’d spoken to Eisenberg about taking over the role, Strong said: “No, I think that has nothing to do with what I’m going to do.”
Strong is no stranger to playing incredibly rich business-types. His Emmy-winning turn as Kendall Roy in Succession came to him after a role as a financial analyst in Adam McKay’s The Big Short. In the last year, he’s played Trump mentor Roy Cohn in The Apprentice.
He’s also a clear favourite of Sorkin’s, who’s taking over the directorial reins from David Fincher for Reckoning. Strong starred in the acclaimed writer’s directorial debut, Molly’s Game, and his sophomore feature, The Trial Of The Chicago Seven, playing counterculture activist Jerry Rubin (weirdly, not as far removed from business/finance bro culture as you’d expect).
As it heads towards an October 2026 release, eyes are on the sequel as a major awards contender – and it’s looking to be as zeitgeist-y as we’ve come to expect from the West Wing creator.
“It’s one of the great scripts I’ve ever read,” Strong told THR on Saturday. “It speaks to our time, it touches the third rail of everything happening in our world. It’s a great character — fascinating, complex — and I’m approaching it with great care and empathy and objectivity.
“I’ve made two films with Aaron, and third time’s the charm.” I quite liked The Trial Of The Chicago Seven, Jeremy, but each to their own.
