Superman: Legacy gets its Lex Luthor with Nicholas Hoult

Superman: Legacy has nabbed its Lex Luthor, and the casting is a good one.

Deadline is reporting that sources say that the James Gunn-helmed Superman: Legacy has tapped Nicholas Hoult to play classic villain Lex Luthor. Luthor has a long history in live-action portrayals, having been played by over decades by actors including Gene Hackman, Michael Rosenbaum, Kevin Spacey, John Shea, Jon Cryer, and Jesse Eisenberg.

Hoult himself has plenty of experience in not only big genre franchises (including Mad Max: Fury Road and Renfield) but also superhero movies with his turn as Beast in the X-Men franchise. Most recently, Hoult has starred in The Menu, The Great, and he will voice Jon Arbuckle in the upcoming Garfield movie.

As for Superman: Legacy, we still don't know too much about what to expect beyond what we can glean from casting. For our stars, we have David Corenswet as Superman and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, and to flesh out the rest of the cast, we do know that there will be an appearance of Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), and Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi). The movie will also feature Metamorpho (Anthony Carrighan) and The Authority's technomancer the Engineer (María Gabriela de Faría)... and now, it seems, we'll get to see Lex Luthor as well.

Superman: Legacy will fly into movie theaters worldwide on July 11, 2025. Check out our guide to everything we know about the movie so far.

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