Hollywood rumor mill spits out “Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor” for our Saturday enjoyment

Few projects in Hollywood at present are in more of a “We know nothing, but gosh would we like to” holding pattern than Superman: Legacy, James Gunn’s attempt to simultaneously revive the Superman film franchise, and firmly establish his and Peter Safran’s leadership at DC Films, and, we don’t know, cause Warner Media CEO David Zaslav’s black little heart to finally grow three sizes on the day it finally comes out. Despite his typically verbose nature, Gunn has been very quiet on the all-important subject of casting for the film, to the extent that pretty much the only person we don’t know will be playing Superman in the movie is former Snyderverse Supes Henry Cavill.

But oh, do you hear that tinkling, jangly sound, coming down the road? That’s right, kids: It’s the Hollywood Rumor Man! And he’s here to spread a little speculative magic on this high-profile film. See, THR has a new piece today quoting several anonymous people of deeply unknown provenance, all of whom have suggestions about who DC might be looking at/auditioning/screen testing to play the key trio of roles—Clark Kent, Lois Lane, and Lex Luthor—in Gunn’s film, which will reportedly serve as a “Young Clark finds his legs in Metropolis” kind of story.

The Clark and Lois stuff all feels wildly speculative, even by the standards of the usual rumor mill: Pearl’s David Corenswet is supposedly “among the top contenders” for Superman, while the Lois Lane names are a real grab-bag, including Sex Education’s Emma Mackey, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’s Rachel Brosnahan, and Bridgerton’s Phoebe Dynover.

The more interesting bit—not least of which because it feels both a bit more solid, and totally plausible—is the idea that Renfield star Nicholas Hoult is being seriously looked at to play the villainous Luthor. The logic, at least, tracks: Hoult apparently has long-running appreciation from Warner for his (bald!) part in Mad Max: Fury Road, he’s a great actor, and he’s got the name recognition that the part of Metropolis’ richest megalomaniac generally demands.

Gunn, being Gunn, has obviously already responded to all this speculation, writing on Twitter that, “For all of you asking, I would never comment on who is or isn’t AUDITIONING for a role. That’s the actor’s business only & isn’t something I’d make public unless they did it first after the fact.” He then viciously teased the assembled internet by noting that “only one person has been CAST in Superman: Legacy, and it isn’t any of the regular players in the Superman world.” He followed that with a merman emoji, so, you heard it here first, folks: Eugene Mirman is the bad guy in the new Superman movie, playing himself. (THAT’S A JOKE, TRADES, DO NOT PICK THIS UP.)