Watch out, Man of Steel. There’s a new Lex Luthor coming for you.
That will reportedly be Nicholas Hoult, who is writer/director James Gunn’s choice to portray his new Superman’s arch-nemesis in the upcoming Superman: Legacy. Gunn has already cast David Corenswet as the new Superman and Rachel Brosnahan as the new Lois Lane.
Gunn also recently added Venezuelan actress María Gabriela de Faría to the cast of Superman: Legacy in the role of the Engineer, who was described in a lot of trade reports as the “villain” of the movie, but who is much more typically depicted in DC Comics as a member of the antiheroic team the Authority.
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Deadline says “a movie star was always eyed” for the role of Lex Luthor in the new movie, which will launch the new DC movie and TV universe overseen by Gunn. In the past, Luthor has been played in films by Gene Hackman (in Superman, Superman II, and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace), Kevin Spacey (in Superman Returns) and Jesse Eisenberg (in Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Justice League). Luthor was also very memorably played for seven seasons on Smallville by actor Michael Rosenbaum.
Hoult had his breakthrough role as a child actor in 2002’s About a Boy and he’s worked steadily pretty much ever since. He has plenty of experience in comic book movies; he played the young version of Beast in the Fox X-Men prequel films First Class, Days of Future Past, Apocalypse, and Dark Phoenix. He also had a very memorable role as Nux in Mad Max: Fury Road, and recently held the title role in the horror comedy Renfield.
Superman: Legacy is currently scheduled to open in theaters on July 11, 2025. The final installment in the DC Extended Universe, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, will open in theaters on December 22.
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