Nicholas Hoult may have played fan-favorite Hank McCoy/Beast in the latter X-Men movies, but he’s now set to make the jump to DC as one of the world’s most infamous villains.
According to Deadline, Hoult has joined the cast of Superman: Legacy as Lex Luthor a.k.a. Superman’s archnemesis. We don’t have much detailers about this new Luthor, but we do know that Hoult will be acting opposite David Corenswet who will be playing Superman and Rachel Brosnahan who was cast as Lois Lane.
Oddly enough, the actor had recently auditioned for DC heroes in the past losing The Batman to Robert Pattinson and Superman to Corenswet. Even so, a lot of fans are excited that Hoult got the role for Lex, seeing that he does know how to play a complicated villain thanks to his work on Hulu’s The Great.
The last people to play Luthor on the big screen have been Kevin Spacey way back in the ‘00s with Superman Returns and Jesse Eisenberg in the ‘10s with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Admittedly, not everyone was onboard for Eisenberg’s take of the character, but I was willing to see just how far his Lex went in the original plans—too bad we’re just never going to be able to see it happen.
As for Hoult, his version of Luthor will have to be depend on how Gunn wants to tackle the character. We know that Lex is always smart and conniving, but I would love it if Hoult managed to make the character fun to watch as well.
Catch Superman: Legacy when it releases in theaters on July 11, 2025.
